Intermediate Bench Press Routine - John Kuc

Maurice Jones

The following program is designed for the intermediate lifter. It is based on a 300 lb bench press. I have not taken bodyweight into consideration, but a 165-pounder and a 220-pound lifter will progress at different speeds. As far as gains from this routine, a 220-lb person starting at a 300 bench should look for 325-330, while a 165 pounder might get 310-320. In my mind, a 15 lb increase from this routine should be considered good progress, but 15-30 is the range depending on bodyweight, experience, and effort put into the workouts. Regardless of bodyweight the key to this program is in the work sets. You must really work hard and add weight whenever possible.

One very important rule is do not sacrifice good form in order to handle more weight. All you will do is develop bad lifting habits which will be very difficult to break. A good guideline for adding weight is when you have completed two consecutive workouts.

This is a 16-week program divided into two 8-week sections. The Bench Press workout is to be done twice per week. I advocate training the way you compete. This means all reps should be done with pauses.

For the first 8 weeks do the same bench press workout on both days of the week. The second 8 weeks will have a different routine for each day.


8-Week Build-Up Routine

Week 1:
Bench Press - 135x10, 175x8, 215x6, 235x6, 245x6, 255x2, 215x8.
Dumbbell Flyes - 3x10.
Close Grip Bench Press - 185x10, 205 x 3 sets of 6reps.
Triceps Extension - 3x8.
Pressdown - 4x8.
EZ Curl - 4x8.
Dumbbell Curl - 4x8.

Week 2 and 3:
Bench Press - 135x10, 175x8, 220x6, 240x6, 250x6, 260x2, 220x8.
Dumbbell Flyes - 3x10.
Close Grip Bench Press - 185x10, 210 x 3 sets of 6 reps.
Triceps Extension - 3x8.
Pressdown - 3x10.
EZ Curl - 4x8
Dumbbell Curl - 4x8.

Week 4:
Bench Press - 135x10, 185x8, 225x6, 245x6, 255x6, 265x2, 225x8.
Dumbbell Flyes - 3x10.
Close Grip Bench Press - 185x10, 215 x 3 sets of 6 reps.
Triceps Extension - 3x8.
Pressdown - 3x10.
EZ Curl - 4x8
Dumbbell Curl - 4x8.

Weeks 5, 6, and 7:
Bench Press: 135x10, 185x8, 230x6, 250x6, 260x6, 270x2, 230x8.
Dumbbell Flyes - 3x10.
Close Grip Bench Press - 185x10, 220 x 3 sets of 6 reps.
Triceps Extension - 3x8.
Pressdown - 3x10.
EZ Curl - 4x8
Dumbbell Curl - 4x8.

Week 8:
Bench Press: 135x10, 185x8, 235x6, 255x6, 265x6, 275x2, 235x8.
Dumbbell Flyes - 3x10.
Close Grip Bench Press - 185x10, 225 x 3 sets of 6 reps.
Triceps Extension - 3x8.
Pressdown - 3x10.
EZ Curl - 4x8
Dumbbell Curl - 4x8.


The second 8 weeks will concentrate more on the Bench Press. The reps will be lower and the bodybuilding will decrease. The first and second bench press training day will have a different amount of reps.

Week 9:
1st Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 215x6, 245x3, 265x3, 275x2, 245x6.
Triceps Extension - 3x8.
Pressdown - 3x8.
EZ Curl - 3x8.
Dumbbell Curl - 3x8.
2nd Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 215x6, 245x3, 275x2, 285x2, 285x2, 260x4.
Same  bodybuilding as 1st day.

Week 10:
1st Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 215x6, 250x3, 270x3, 280x2, 245x6.
Triceps Extension - 3x8.
Pressdown - 3x8.
EZ Curl - 3x8.
Dumbbell Curl - 3x8.
2nd Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 215x6, 250x3, 280x2, 290x2, 290x2, 265x4.
Same  bodybuilding as 1st day.

Week 11 and 12:
1st Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 220x6, 255x3, 275x3, 285x2, 250x6.
Triceps Extension - 3x8.
Pressdown - 3x8.
EZ Curl - 3x8.
Dumbbell Curl - 3x8.
2nd Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 220x6, 255x3, 285x2, 295x2, 295x2, 270x4.
Same  bodybuilding as 1st day.

Week 13:
1st Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 220x6, 255x3, 275x3, 290x3, 285x3, 250x6.
Triceps Extension - 3x8.
Pressdown - 3x8.
Dumbbell Curl - 3x8.
2nd Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 220x6, 255x3, 285x2, 300x2, 295x2, 270x4.
Same  bodybuilding as 1st day of this week.

Week 14:
1st Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 220x6, 255x3, 290x1, 300X1, 310x1, 280x3.
2nd Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 220x6, 255x3, 290x1, 305x1, 310x1, 280x3.

Week 15:
1st Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 220x6, 255x3, 290x1, 305X1, 315x1, 285x3.
2nd Day Bench Press: 135x10, 175x8, 220x6, 255x3, 290x1, 305x1, 285 x 2 sets of 3 reps.

Week 16:
Contest on Saturday.
Tuesday of that week:
Bench Press - 135x10, 175x8, 220x4, 255x2, 290x1, 305x1.

At the contest, your attempts in the bench should range something like 280-285, 300-310, 320-330, depending on the progress you've made in the routine.

The weights will have to be adjusted for individual needs. Regardless of weights used strive to complete all sets in every workout. If you can do this you will make progress.