How to increase your bench press

The bench press is the lift everyone wants to improve. It’s the first thing people ask about in the gym, and the one that stalls most frustratingly.

If your bench is stuck while the other 5x5 exercises keep climbing, you’re not alone. Upper body lifts are harder to progress for physiological reasons, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. There are specific, actionable strategies that work.

This guide covers everything: form optimization, programming adjustments, weak point training, and the recovery factors that most people ignore.

Fix your form first

Before adding complex programming or accessory work, audit your technique. Poor form on the bench press doesn’t just increase injury risk - it actively limits how much weight you can move.

The setup

Your bench press is built or broken before you touch the bar. A tight, stable setup immediately adds kilograms.

Shoulder blade retraction. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and down. Think “back pockets.” This creates a solid shelf to press from and protects your rotator cuff. If your shoulders are loose, you’re pressing from an unstable surface - like trying to push a car while standing on ice.

The arch. A moderate arch in your lower back is not cheating. It shortens the range of motion slightly, puts your shoulders in a safer position, and creates a more efficient pressing angle. Upper back and butt stay on the bench. A powerlifting-level arch isn’t necessary, but a flat back is suboptimal.

Leg drive. Your feet should be planted firmly, pushing into the floor throughout the lift. This creates full-body tension that transfers into pressing power. If your legs are just resting on the ground, you’re leaving kilograms on the table.

Grip. Squeeze the bar hard. Neurological irradiation means a tighter grip activates more of your upper body. Grip width should place your forearms vertical when the bar touches your chest - check our grip width guide for detailed recommendations.

A proper setup can instantly improve your bench by 5-10%. That’s free strength from technique alone. Our full bench press form guide covers every detail.

Bar path

The bench press bar path isn’t straight up and down. It’s a slight J-curve:

1. Unrack and hold the bar over your shoulders (arms locked)
2. Lower to your lower chest / nipple line area (bar moves down and slightly toward your feet)
3. Press up and back toward your shoulders (bar moves up and slightly toward your face)

Pressing straight up from your lower chest puts the bar forward of your shoulders at lockout, making the lift harder. The slight backward angle at the top puts the bar directly over the shoulder joint, which is the strongest lockout position.

Touch point

The bar should touch your chest. Every rep. Stopping an inch short reduces chest activation and teaches a motor pattern that breaks down under heavy weight.

Touch lightly - no bouncing. A controlled descent with a brief pause at the bottom builds the strength you need off the chest, which is where most people fail.

Identify your sticking point

Where the bar stalls during a failed rep tells you exactly what’s weak. This is the most useful diagnostic tool for improving your bench.

Stuck off the chest (bottom third)

Weak muscles: Pecs, front deltoids

The bottom of the bench press is where your chest does the most work. If the bar barely moves off your chest on failed reps, your pecs need to get stronger.

Fixes:

• Paused bench press: lower the bar, pause 2-3 seconds on your chest, then press. Use 80-85% of your working weight. 3-4 sets of 3-5 reps.
• Dumbbell bench press: greater range of motion stretches and strengthens the pecs more than barbell alone. 3 sets of 8-10 after your main bench work.
• Wide-grip bench: emphasizes chest by increasing the horizontal range of motion. Use 5-10% less than normal grip weight.

Stuck at mid-range (middle third)

Weak muscles: Front deltoids, upper chest

The mid-range sticking point is less common but usually indicates deltoid weakness relative to chest and tricep strength.

Fixes:

• Overhead press (already in 5x5 Workout B) - the most effective shoulder strengthener
• Incline bench press: 3 sets of 6-8 at moderate weight
• Pin press from mid-range: set the safeties at the sticking point height and press from there

Stuck at lockout (top third)

Weak muscles: Triceps

If the bar moves well off your chest but stalls in the last few inches before lockout, your triceps are the bottleneck.

Fixes:

• Close-grip bench press: hands shoulder-width apart, elbows tucked. 3 sets of 6-8 reps. This is the single best tricep exercise for bench press carryover.
• Board press or floor press: limits range of motion to focus on the lockout portion
• Dips (weighted if possible): 3 sets of 8-12. Excellent tricep builder with the added benefit of shoulder stability work.
• Tricep pushdowns: 3 sets of 10-15 as a finishing exercise

Programming for a bigger bench

Frequency matters

A 2018 meta-analysis published in Sports Medicine by Schoenfeld et al. found that training a muscle group at least twice per week produced significantly better strength and hypertrophy outcomes than once per week.

On standard 5x5, you bench every Workout A - roughly 1.5 times per week. This works well for beginners, but as you advance, adding bench frequency helps.

Option 1: Add close-grip bench to Workout B. After overhead press, do 3 sets of 5 close-grip bench at 80% of your bench weight. This adds a second pressing session without much additional fatigue.

Option 2: Light bench day. On Workout B, do 3 sets of 8 at 60-70% of your working weight. This adds volume and practice without taxing recovery.

If you want to add accessories strategically, our guide on 5x5 with accessories covers how to do it without overtraining.

Volume for intermediate lifters

Once you’ve exhausted linear progression on bench (typically 3-6 months into 5x5), volume becomes more important.

Research consistently shows a dose-response relationship between volume and strength gains up to a point. For the bench press, 10-20 working sets per week targeting the chest, shoulders, and triceps is the evidence-based range for intermediate lifters.

On 5x5, your bench work sets contribute 5 sets per session. Adding 3-5 sets of accessory pressing brings you into the effective range.

Microloading

Standard gym plates make the smallest possible bench press increase 5kg (2.5kg plate per side). For a 70kg bench, that’s a 7% jump - aggressive for an upper body lift.

Microplates (1.25kg) cut that jump to 2.5kg (3.5%). This extends linear progression by months.

Buy your own set. They’re $15-30 and the single best investment for upper body strength progression. Read more about weight increments in our how much weight to add guide.

Accessory exercises that carry over

Not all accessories are equal. These have the most direct carryover to bench press strength.

Tier 1: High carryover

Close-grip bench press. Narrower grip (shoulder width) shifts emphasis to triceps. If your lockout is weak, this is your primary accessory. 3 sets of 5-8 reps.

Dumbbell bench press. Fixes imbalances between your left and right side, increases range of motion, and builds the pecs through a greater stretch. 3 sets of 8-10.

Overhead press. Already in the 5x5 program. Builds the front deltoids and triceps that support heavy benching. Don’t neglect it.

Tier 2: Moderate carryover

Dips. Weighted if possible. Builds chest, shoulders, and triceps in a different pressing angle. 3 sets of 8-12.

Incline bench press. Builds the upper chest and front deltoids. Especially useful if your mid-range is weak. 3 sets of 6-8.

Face pulls or band pull-aparts. Not pressing exercises, but they balance shoulder health. Strong external rotators let you bench pain-free for years. 3 sets of 15-20 as a warm-up or finisher.

Tier 3: Supplementary

Tricep pushdowns / skull crushers. Direct tricep isolation. Useful when triceps are the clear weak link. 3 sets of 10-15.

Chest flyes (dumbbell or cable). Isolate the pecs through a full stretch. Useful as a finisher, not a primary builder. 2-3 sets of 12-15.

Pick 2-3 accessories total. More than that spreads your recovery too thin and detracts from your main lifts.

Recovery: the overlooked factor

You don’t get stronger while benching. You get stronger while recovering from benching. If your recovery is poor, no amount of technique work or accessories will help.

Sleep

A 2011 study by Mah et al. at Stanford found that extending sleep to 8-10 hours per night improved reaction time, sprint speed, and athletic performance in athletes. A separate study in the Journal of Sports Sciences found that partial sleep deprivation (6 hours vs 8) reduced bench press performance by an average of 20 lbs within one week.

Sleep 7-9 hours. This isn’t optional advice.

Calories

You cannot bench press more while eating in a significant caloric deficit. Your body needs energy to repair muscle tissue and generate force.

This doesn’t mean you need to eat 5,000 calories. But if you’re trying to lose weight and wondering why your bench is stuck, the diet is the reason. A small surplus (200-300 calories) or maintenance calories support strength gains. Large deficits do not.

Our nutrition guide for 5x5 covers the eating side in detail.

Protein

The meta-analysis by Morton et al. (2018) in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that 1.6g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day was the threshold for maximum strength and hypertrophy benefits. Going above this showed diminishing returns.

For an 80kg lifter, that’s 128g of protein daily. Not complicated, but you have to actually hit the number consistently.

Stress and fatigue

Mental stress raises cortisol, which impairs recovery. Physical fatigue from other training or life demands competes with your gym recovery.

If your bench is stalled and everything else checks out, look at your total stress load. Sometimes the answer is sleeping more or stressing less, not training more.

Breaking through bench plateaus

When your bench truly stalls after deloading, try these strategies in order. For the complete plateau-busting framework, read our guide to breaking through strength plateaus.

Step 1: Microload

Switch from 2.5kg jumps to 1.25kg jumps. This alone can extend progression for weeks or months.

Step 2: Fix the sticking point

Identify where you fail (bottom, middle, top) and add one targeted accessory exercise. Give it 3-4 weeks to show effect.

Step 3: Add volume

If you’re only benching once per week on 5x5, add a second lighter session. More practice and more volume drive adaptation.

Step 4: Improve recovery

Audit your sleep, calories, and stress. Fix any deficiencies. Sometimes a week of better sleep adds more to your bench than a month of extra training.

Step 5: Intermediate programming

If you’ve genuinely exhausted linear progression (you’ve deloaded multiple times, tried microloading, and still can’t add weight session to session), it may be time for weekly progression. Programs like Madcow 5x5 or the Texas Method use weekly rather than session-by-session progression.

Realistic progress expectations

How fast your bench press increases depends on bodyweight, training age, genetics, and recovery. But general benchmarks exist.

Beginner phase (0-6 months)

Adding 2.5kg per session, benching 6 times per month:

• Monthly progress: ~15kg / 33lb
• 6-month total: ~60-90kg added from starting weight
• Typical range: 60-100kg bench for men, 30-50kg for women

Late beginner (6-12 months)

Progress slows. You might add 2.5kg every other session:

• Monthly progress: ~5-10kg
• Typical range: 80-120kg for men, 40-60kg for women

Intermediate (1-2 years)

Weekly progression or slower:

• Monthly progress: ~2-5kg
• Typical range: 100-140kg for men, 50-70kg for women

These are averages for consistent training with reasonable nutrition and sleep. Individual variation is wide, but the trajectory is the same: fast early, gradually slower. See our 5x5 results timeline for more detail.

Build your bench

The bench press responds to the same principles as every other lift: progressive overload, proper technique, adequate recovery. There’s no secret exercise or magic program.

Fix your form. Identify your weak point. Add weight when you earn it. Eat and sleep enough. The bench will go up. For proper technique on the bench press and every other lift, see the complete exercise guide.

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