What is the Average Rep for Bench Press?

The Average Rep for Bench Press varies from person to person. There are soo many factors to look into when finding the average reps like age, training style, gender, weight and more. So What is …

Average Rep for Bench Press

The Average Rep for Bench Press varies from person to person. There are soo many factors to look into when finding the average reps like age, training style, gender, weight and more.

So What is the average Rep for Bench Press?

  • For Muscle Building (8-12 reps)
  • For Strength Training (3-6 reps)
  • For Toning (10 reps)
  • For Endurance (20-50 reps)
Training Bench Press WeightAverage Reps
Muscle BuildingMedium8 – 12 reps
Strength BuildingHeavy3 – 6 reps
ToningLight10 reps
EnduranceLight20 – 50 reps

How to reduce injury when performing Bench press

Injuries are very likely to occur when bench press. Some of the reasons for injuries are bad for/techniques, Heavyweights, overtraining and warmups. The injury could occur on your chest, shoulders, and arms.

  • Bad Form/Techniques: When performing bench press, you need to ensure that your form is good. You will see a lot of people performing same exercise, but their form is slightly different to others. This is due to bad Form/Techniques. When performing bench press you need to ensure your back is arched, chested is up, gripping the bar evenly, controlled reps, not locking arms and more. (Read more below on How to perform Bench Press)
  • Heavy Weights: There is a limit on how heavy you can go when doing bench press. This is where some people cause injury due to ego lifting. You will see people in the gym lifting weights which are way too heavy from them, and you will be able to see the pain and discomfort. Heavy weight will lead to bad form. Therefore, perform bench press which weight medium/heavy for you. For example, is if you can bench 40 kg with 12 reps then increase benching weight slightly rather than super heavy weight. Remember, training is a long-term investment so you need to make sure you can lift it without getting injured.  
  • Overtraining: Training too often can cause injuries to your muscle group and joint as you need to allow your muscle to repair. Give yourself some recovery time if you have discomfort, continues pain, illness on your forearms. Take few days off, Rest. Put some ice on your forearms as it will reduce the swelling and the pain. If the pain is still there, then seek for advice from health professionals.
  • Warmups: Warmups are important as it will help prevents any pulling muscles/injuries. There some warms exercise you can perform before doing bench press as it will let your chest muscle get ready for heavier sets. Personally for my warmups, I like to do light weight with lots of reps (empty bar and 25 reps).

Injuries can be prevented by performing the workout correctly, doing the right number of reps and set, lifting a weight that is too heavy for you and wearing the right protection wear. Make sure you keep your wrist and forearm protected as it’s required for all exercises which include push and pull.  

Read more on how to avoid injury

How to Perform Bench Press? (Correctly)

1) Wear your Wrist and Elbow wraps before performing Bench Press. Protect yourself.

2) Get a Spotter if required.

3) Lay flat on the Bench press where the bar is aligned to your chin.

4) Position your hand shoulder width from the bar and grip it tightly with your fingers.

5) Push your chest out by arching your back outwards (There should be a gap between your lower back and bench)

6) Perform the Press.

7) Control the weight by bringing the bar to your lower chest and up at a medium pace. (Don’t lock your hand; Keep the momentum going)

8) Perform the right number of sets and reps.

I would recommend you lift heavy on the bench press. However, Take it slow. Build your way up. Lifting heavy weights does not happen overnight. You must put in all the hard work and gradually move one step at a time. An example of this could be bench pressing lighter weight with high reps and focusing on the movements and form. Over time, Increase the weight slowly when you’re comfortable. Remember! This is no racetrack; it’s a marathon.  

How to increase your bench-press?

There are many ways to increase your bench press which are:

Healthy Diet: Diet is the most important part when it comes to increasing your bench press. 70% is diet and 30% is training. Make sure to eat a balanced diet with enough protein and carbs. This is because those meals will help you grow muscle and that will help you increase the bench-press. Best way to ensure that you eating enough food is by tracking your macros and calories throughout. Also, avoid bench press on an empty stomach, you need nutrients/energy in your body to perform a bench press. Without it, you won’t be at your best level.

Rest: Resting is also important but lots of people don’t seem to rest their bodies and end up with injuries. You need to allow your body to rest up after finishing your training session. The reason for this is because while training/bench pressing your chest muscle is broken down and you need to let the muscle recover, in order for them to grow bigger.

Workout plan: Having a workout plan will always help you increase your bench press over time. This is because you will have the number of sets and reps, you’re working towards depending on your goal. To create a workout plan so may 12 reps with a medium weight and increase the weight over time.

Benefit of Bench Pressing

Bench Press

The bench press is one the most commonly used machine in the gym as it does the work. Benching has many benefits. As it is a compound exercise, you can target your chest area, triceps and front shoulders with this classic equipment.

Here are some of the benefits of bench pressing the next time you hit the gym with a goal in hindsight:

  • It helps increase your upper body strength.
  • It improves your muscular endurance, making other exercises like push-ups easier.
  • It is an effective exercise to help you train for sports such as football, hockey, or sprinting.
  • You can build on your chest muscles, giving your body a muscular look.
  • Strong triceps make your arms look in great shape (perfect for impressing the ladies)

However, before you begin, there are some precautions that you must take. Even though it is a traditional exercise machine, you must start after making sure that you are ready for the load. Otherwise, you might tear your muscles. It will be a sharp pain or swelling across the area if you do not build up your strength and bench press according to your age and weight.

Here are some essential points to consider if you are a beginner bench presser, an intermediate one, or are pressing on the advanced level.

How to Improve your Bench Press?

Elite Gym Lad

Now that you’ve read about the average bench pressing for beginner, novice, intermediate, advanced, and elite levels, here are some tips that can help you transition from one level to the other. Remember, it is not just about increasing your weights steadily, but improving your upper body strength takes a combination of a lot of other factors, including your nutrition intake.

Scale-up Gradually

It is important that you understand that once to take up strength training, there should not be any immediate expectations. It takes time to see results because the strength is built up gradually. Therefore, at least a period of 12 weeks at each level is necessary to ensure that you are moving at the right place.

Consistency is Key

Consistency is the key to achieving your fitness goals. Whether it is weight loss or muscle building, you should stay consistent. Otherwise, it does not take long for your muscles to unlearn what you have worked hard for. Small gaps in between can be covered. But month-long or year-long gaps are not good for retaining your muscle strength, nor will they help in transitioning to higher levels of training.

Eat Right

You must include foods in your diet that build lean muscles. This includes healthy carbs, proteins, and fats. You could include eggs, fish, chicken, and milk in your diet which would really help you to improve your workout and increase your strength. Also, plenty of fruits and vegetables are necessary to ensure that you are getting the fibre and organic nutrition that you need.

Also, you should ensure that you drink enough liquids before, during, and after the workout. This would assure that all that exercise does not dehydrate you.

Use Appropriate Form

You must be using the correct form to get the maximum benefits from this classic exercise routine. The good form is pressing your feet onto the floor, arching the lower back, and pressing your glutes and shoulders onto the bench.

Also, overexerting yourself and pushing to lift beyond your limits is unhealthy too.

Vary your Training Routine

It is important that you don’t only stick to one kind of exercise. Target your whole body so you can increase your flexibility. This includes involving yoga and aerobic exercises, which help increase your endurance.

Also, between weightlifting sessions, it is important to take breaks in between. You need at least one full day of resting for major muscle groups so you don’t overexert yourself.

It is also important that you practice correctly inhaling and exhaling techniques. You should exhale when lifting the weight and inhale as lowering it down.

Work with a Trainer

As stated, all of these figures of the weight that you should lift according to your weight and age level are averages. It is important that you have a trainer who can help you in following a program consistently as well as develop a workout that is most efficient for you.

Trainers can make sure that your body is positioned rightly, so you avoid any injuries to your body and muscles. Slight-off angles can be noticed by a trainer only.

They also give the moral support that you might need to push for that goal. 

EndNote

It is important to ensure that once you set your mind to strength training and muscle building, you should not expect anything immediately. As a 16-year-old, you can start and progress along with the levels quite quickly because you have the ability and strength in your muscles to do so.

However, if you tune your mind for immediate results, you will not receive any benefits that bench-pressing gives. In the long run, it is an exercise that you would want to include in your routine. This is because it helps you keep away from bone issues such as osteoporosis and arthritis.

However, with the right guidance from a trainer, you can add the right nutrition plan to your routine that complements your workout and makes your strength training most efficient.