3 Steps I Used to Increase my Bench Press to 225 pounds

When I wanted to hit 225 on bench press for the first time, I started following a 9 week plan to conquer this goal. I knew I was just a few weeks away from hitting my goal, but I felt like I was plateauing just using the barbell to train bench press. Every week, I was doing 5-10 reps on bench for 5 sets and saw my press increasing slightly, but I still was not able to hit my 225 goal. Once I put into place this 9 week training plan, I was able to hit my 225 goal in under 5 weeks and feel substantially stronger from it. Here’s how I did it:

For every exercise I did, it was 3 sets of 8 reps (if bench press was included in the workout afterwards) or 5 sets of 8 reps (if bench press was not in the workout afterwards). The first three weeks I did single arm dumbbell press, with 8 reps on each arm. When doing this exercise, I did it on a bench and made sure to keep my feet flat against the ground. Then I would pull the weight to the bottom part of my chest with my shoulder blades together and then press up. Then I would switch arms. After doing this for three weeks, I still had not hit my goal, but I was able to bench heavier weight at for more reps.

The second set of three weeks was for alternating dumbbell press. This exercise consisted of holding two dumbbells compared to only one, and I would hold one dumbbell in the air while another was pulled to my chest. After I had pressed one of the dumbbells back up, I would alternate to the other dumbbell. After doing two weeks of this exercise, I reached my goal of benching 225! I not only was able to do 1 rep, but 3 reps benching 225. After only 5 weeks of this program, I felt substantially stronger in my bench.

The third set of three weeks is a classic dumbbell press. This just consists of, you guessed it, pressing both dumbbells at the same time. Even though I’ve hit my goal, I will still continue in this 9 week program of dumbbell progression. I want to see how much I can improve my bench press in this progression. Maybe by the end of it I will be able to add another 20-30 lbs. Only time will tell. You should try this for yourself if you want to increase your bench press, and see how much you could improve it by. Reach out to us on instagram @lovelystrengthandconditioning and let us know if you have any questions about this program or similar programs, and also reach out to if you do this progression yourself and saw results. Thanks as always for being apart of the Lovely Strength Family, peace out.

— Isaiah Lovely