Bench Press Question

[scottninpo]

you can build strength and muscular endurance at the same time if you do low reps heavy weight and do strip sets, i run almost every work set this way, for instance on incline, i'll do 275 for 6, strip to 225, do another 5 to six reps to failure, stip to 135, do super slow reps to failure, i'll wind up doing about 25 reps, after this, i'll do two or three negatives with 275 after a couple seconds rest

[cb25]

you can build strength and muscular endurance at the same time if you do low reps heavy weight and do strip sets, i run almost every work set this way, for instance on incline, i'll do 275 for 6, strip to 225, do another 5 to six reps to failure, stip to 135, do super slow reps to failure, i'll wind up doing about 25 reps, after this, i'll do two or three negatives with 275 after a couple seconds rest

i like scott's advice. i would try to train a couple ways. First, definitely hit high weights, low reps - train like a powerlifter to increase overall strength. Then, hit another group of sets, using 225 or a bit heavier for higher reps to increase endurance.

as far as why they use the 225 method, there is a formula that was concocted to determine someone's max bench press (i believe it's called the NFL formula, since it was developed for them). Basically you press 225 for as many as you can, and they take that number and calculate your max press. It's safer than maxing out, and is usually somewhat accurate (i believe)