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Build Muscle And Boost Your Bench in 8 Weeks

What two things do most guys want when they take up weight training? Bigger muscles and a bigger bench. Unfortunately, their enthusiasm for these goals is a big reason most men don't get either. From now on, when you hit the gym, take a look around and start paying attention to what others are doing.

You'll quickly notice some standard muscle building no-no's. First, their weight lifting routines are far from balanced. When's the last time you saw anyone working hard on the deadlift or the free weight squat? Heck, nowadays, how many so-called "gyms" even have a power rack? Not many. By not pursuing a balanced bodybuilding routine focused on the big, basic movements, you're really limiting the amount of muscle you can build.

If you focus on exercises for your biggest muscles, the back and the legs, you'll start building muscle everywhere. You'll also see your strength and poundages shoot up on your other exercises as well. And that includes the bench press.

The other major stumbling block people run into when trying to build a big bench is that they bench too much. They do too many sets too often. They end up overtrained, weaker, and possibly with shoulder and rotator cuff injuries.

So what can you do to build a bigger bench? First, start focusing on deadlifting and squatting. And, more directly, implement power cycles specifically geared toward increasing your bench press. Here's an eight week power cycle you can use today.

You'll be performing five sets each workout. Two of these sets will be warm up sets and the final three will be your work sets. Let's say you start your cycle with 170 pounds. Each workout you'll warm up sets will look something like this:

125 x 10 followed by 140 x 6

Your work sets will follow:

Week 1: 170 x 5 x 3 (3 sets of 5 reps each) Week 2: 175 x 4 x 3 Week 3: 180 x 3 x 3 Week 4: 175 x 5 x 3 Week 5: 180 x 4 x 3 Week 6: 185 x 3 x 3 Week 7: 180 x 5 x 3 Week 8: 185 x 4 x 3

Depending on your current strength levels, recovery ability, and whether you're overtrained at all from your previous routine, you might be able to make better progress by implementing two bench press workouts per week.

After you work through a successful eight week power cycle, you'll want to shift gears for a few weeks and perform sets with some higher repetitions. Shoot for 4 or 5 setes of eight reps per set.

Remember to train your other muscles as well. Properly working your shoulders, triceps, back and even legs will help you build a bigger bench as well as building bigger muscles. Don't be one of those guys that benches and does some arm work and that's the extent of his workout.

Give this power cycle an honest try and see if you don't end up boosting your bench and building bigger muscles.

Gregg Gillies is the founder of Build Lean Muscle.com His articles have appeared in Ironman Magazine. He has written two books and is a regular contributor to Body Talk Magazine. Grab a copy of his free ebook Fast Mass! at Build Muscle

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