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Boost Your Bench

by Men's Health

Editors of Men's Health

Simple steps to take you from basic to advanced exercises--building new muscles along the way.

Progressive Gains: Strong, Stronger, Strongest

Variety keeps your workouts fresh, but there are limits. If you try the reverse Canadian windmill extension before you've mastered the basics, you'll end up kissing the mat. That's why we asked Houston-based personal trainer Carter Hays, C.S.C.S., to develop a series of 6-week workout progressions. Each will take you from traditional, simple exercises to more advanced--and more rewarding--moves. The result: You'll beat boredom and improve as a lifter. With weight exercises, use an amount of weight that allows you to complete the sets with perfect form. Starting in week 2, you'll do two exercises. Do these routines once or twice a week.

Weeks 1 and 2:

Pushup - Do three sets of pushups to failure. This prepares your rotator cuffs for heavier loads. Lie facedown with your hands just outside your shoulders. Tighten your core and glutes and push away from the floor until your arms are straight. Lower your body to lightly touch your chest to the floor.

Weeks 2 and 3:

Barbell Bench Press - Keep doing pushups in week 2, but add this. Do three sets of 12 repetitions to improve chest strength. Lie back on a bench with your feet flat on the floor. Remove the bar from the uprights using an overhand grip (palms facing away from you), your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Slowly lower the bar to your chest, just below the nipples. Pause, then press the weight back up until your arms are straight again.

Weeks 3 and 4:

Dumbbell Bench-Press Progression - Keep the barbell bench press in your week-3 routine and add this progression, which will help stabilize your arms, increase range of motion, and balance strength on each side of your body. Do three sets of 12 repetitions. Lie back on the bench, holding the weights alongside your chest. Press the dumbbells straight up, lower them, and repeat. Alternate: This time begin with both dumbbells overhead. Lower one to your chest and press it back up. Repeat with the other arm. Unilateral: Hold one dumbbell overhead and place your other hand at your hip. Keep your abs drawn in as you lower and press the weight with one arm. After 12 reps, switch the weight to your other hand and repeat.

Weeks 4 and 5:

Stability-Pushup Progression - Combine this pushup routine with the dumbbell workout in week 4 to strengthen your chest and core. Do to failure, but in the first set, for safety, stop one or two reps before failure. Perform pushups on a balance board. Next, position yourself so your shins are resting on a Swiss ball, hands on the floor. Lower your body until your arms form 90-degree angles. Finally, with your toes on the floor, place your hands on the ball, directly under your shoulders. Bend your arms until your chest touches the ball, then push back up.

Weeks 5 and 6:

Swiss-Ball Chest-Press Progression - Continue the stability-pushup routine and add these Swiss-ball presses. Perform the same progression as with the dumb- bell bench press. You'll increase neuromuscular control, which will improve your overall chest development. Lie back on a Swiss ball. Contract your abs and glutes to extend your hips so your body forms a plank. Press the dumbbells overhead. Pause, then slowly lower the weight back down. Next, switch it up by using the same techniques as in the alternate dumbbell bench press and then the unilateral bench press.

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