[Romulus]

I am 35yrs, 97kg, 6'4". Ex-rower, ironman ie pretty fit aerobically BUT I just cant get my bench press >100kg.
Typically I train chest and arms every 5 days with 4 sets of 10, 8, 8, 6 on Flat bench, incline DBPress and cable cross-overs.
I've been doing this for years but just cant get the weight up on either the bench or the pecs.
I use maximuscle Cyclone and Promax, eat a ton of fish etc - HELP ME PLS!

[ZackKnight]

use lower reps, and widen ur grip. it'll do wonders. the grip widening makes u use more of ur chest and it will build immensely.

Also, u could try doing pause-benching, and even try doing lockouts once in a while to find where your sticking.

[Romulus]

...for the reply pal.

By pause-benching, do u mean kind-of ratcheting up in stages rather than a continuous movement?

[ZackKnight]

no, it's like a powerlifting bench.

you lower the weight, pause on your chest for 1 to 3 seconds and then explode up. this will let all of the backwards energy in your chest to release and then when you press the weight up your chest will be doing all of the work, not the energy and momentum. it works really well.

[Romulus]

ok, cheers Zack, I'll give those techniques a crack for a few weeks.

I appreciate your help.

[ZackKnight]

anytime man. i'm always around if you ever need anything else.

[miggitymags]

another idea would be to do negatives every 4th workout or so as your last bench set: load the bar with 30% more weight than your 1 rep max, lower the weight very slow and controlled, once you touch your chest, your spotter aids you in returning the bar to the top of the movement, and you repeat - down slow! shoot for around 6 reps..

another thing you could do is board workouts -- these allow you to use heavier weight since you aren't lowering the bar all the way to your chest - rather to 1, 2, or 3 boards..