How Many Times Can Dr. Mike Bench 225? (NFL Combine Challenge)

[00:01] Come on. More. >> [screaming] >> Come on. four total months training for this challenge.

[00:15] All my reps are going to be strict. They're all going to count. That's the situation. All right. Oh, I'm getting nervous. How many reps am I going to get?

[00:28] Um my guess Uh but we'll see. All right. but we'll see. All right. Let's warm up. Let's get it going.

[00:43] bench rep test? The Navy SEAL video, I was doing 240 lbs cuz that was roughly my body weight there. I think I got like two reps.

[00:55] Rack. We doing clusters or you want to like >> What's that? But it got me thinking But it got me thinking 225 lbs is the National Football League

[01:08] 225 lbs is the National Football League NFL Combine test of upper body something. It's a proxy for upper body strength power. It's a really awesome proxy because everybody that plays in the NFL can do

[01:21] everybody that plays in the NFL can do 225 for at least one rep. Rep strength up until 30 reps or so is a really good proxy for size. So, I'm training for size anyway and I figured we got so much interesting feedback from that clip with

[01:34] me and DJ Shipley and the Navy SEALs that I'm like, "Oh, okay. Like, let me see if I can train up for the 225 bench test and see what's going down." Now, the NFL Combine 225 bench press doesn't have a ton of rules in it. They want to

[01:47] see you lock the weight out of the top and then you have to touch your chest and then you can't have your hips leaving the ground. So, your back and your butt have to be on the bench. This is not powerlifting strict rules cuz

[01:59] you're allowed to bounce, you're allowed to heave, you're allowed to put the bar any old way really as long as it touches your sort of chest area. Lockouts don't a pause on the chest. None of that stuff. That's the way the test works.

[02:13] That's how I'm going to be approaching the rule set for myself. For my own actual benching, because I'm doing this as part of a muscle growth program, I'm going to try to make sure that I somewhat slightly at least pause most of

[02:27] and really bounce, I could get more reps. I'm not so interested in that. I technique. I'm going to retract my shoulder blades like a decent powerlifter, arch my back to create a big shelf for the chest. This creates

[02:40] safety and allows you to have tons of leverage. It reduces the range of motion drive mostly cuz I'm just not that good at leg drive and maybe I'll come around in a few months and try the test again with a bit more leg drive. I am a

[02:53] straight-line bencher. I used to be back in the day. I think I'm coming back to and go up and back. I generally touch my chest and go up and forward. I love the entire matter, turns it into a more of a machine-style execution. I can be a

[03:08] fun problem to have, when I arch and retract, which is how you bench biceps are touching my chest. And actually, if I bench this close, actually fighting my biceps into my [music] chest, and that reduces my

[03:23] ability to exert pressing strength, uh lockout strength at the top. And so, I actually have to take a pretty wide grip. I'm taking a like max legal width grip in order to [music] just free my biceps up from not touching my chest.

[03:35] So, the standards for myself are a little bit tighter. The overall standards for the NFL Combine test are pretty loose. Though, I will say, bit of a persnickety point, lots of folks have done the 225 bench test online, and they

[03:48] >> [music] count at all. So, all my reps are going to be strict. They're all going to going to look, but that's the way we're going to be approaching the situation.

[04:06] are, we figured out what I'm training for 225 for max reps, let's talk about my training plan and how I'm going about this. So, basically as you see this video, I will have spent approximately four total months training for this

[04:20] same as it would be. I just sprinkled in a little bit of extra stuff to become a little bit better at the 225 rep test than I otherwise would have been. Let me talk about the two kinds of programs that I used to get in here. One was used

[04:35] other one is going to be used for the last two months of prep. Program number has my push days roughly four or five days apart. On the one day, I'm actually targeting muscle growth specifically.

[04:50] So, I'm using the cambered bar bench press for multiple sets of 15 to 20 That's due to the stretch, due to the crazy tension at the bottom, due to the range of motion, going to put on a load of muscle for me. Chest muscle

[05:02] is what I want anyway. That's actually the really grand goal. And it's going to have a huge impact on my ability to bench four reps because big pecs play a part of how many reps you can do with 225. And then after that, I go in to

[05:18] doing some overhead tricep work and some dumbbell laterals and stuff like that. Good old fashioned push day, nothing too complicated. So, that day is designed to triceps, but it's not bench press specific. The next day, so four or five

[05:32] days later, I'm going to have a day in which I start with relatively heavy One thing I like to do psychologically, and I think cuz I'm more fast switch growth as well, is instead of training close to 225, I'm

[05:48] is instead of training close to 225, I'm training a bit closer to 250 to 280 lbs. So, on this day, I'm going to go roughly in the 260s, 270s. Obviously, I'm progressing slowly each time by by 5 lbs and shooting for somewhere between 15

[06:00] and 20 reps. It's in that general rep range of what I want to get good at, but it's a bit heavier to add more beef. Also, psychologically, it's really neat to be able to bench, you know, 265 for a set of 18 and think, "Oh, 225, man, I

[06:12] Prepares your joints and connective tissues to handle slightly higher forces. So, when I actually have eventually 225 in my hands for the bench press test, I'm sort of like over prepared for that. So, I do just one

[06:24] hard set of that and then I go into doing a bunch of skull crushers and some incline dumbbell work. Why? The bunch of skull crushers are going to nuke my triceps. But, what I've noticed over my entire career of pressing is

[06:36] especially from lots of camber bar work. And if I was to do multiple reps of relatively heavy high rep bench, my chest would get cooked twice in the same week and then it ends up just getting hurt. And boy, oh boy, is getting hurt

[06:50] part of my career for chest. So, what I'm doing instead is doing camber bar bench focused chest growth workout and then one show-off set practice the metabolic stuff for the bench, and a little bit of chest

[07:05] stimulus, mostly triceps, and then some delts and stuff like that, and I'm just alternating those workouts. So, I have a workout that grows muscle, bench, a workout that grows muscle, a workout that lets me practice the bench.

[07:18] That's the first 2 months of my prep. The next 2 months and the last 2 months Here, I'm optimizing just a little bit more to get more practice on actually that heavy set of bench and I put it right before camber bar bench. So, I'll

[07:34] right before camber bar bench. So, I'll do 270, 275, 280 for something like 15 to 20 reps just for one set, practice the bench, get a good PR, and then switch out the bars, go to cambered bar pressing, and just do camber bar for,

[07:47] you know, two to three sets, really pump up the chest, huge stimulus, do some triceps work, do some shoulder work, leave the gym. >> [music] >> So, I did 265 last time for 18.

[08:00] 275 this time. Somewhere between Somewhere between 16 and 18 would be nice.

[08:19] flat pressing in my training normally. The amount of >> cognitive bandwidth that you spend re-aligning the bar guidance from optimal is a two-part problem. One, every time you deviate from the optimal

[08:32] path, you're shaving off reps. The other thing is, re-aligning to the optimal thing is, re-aligning to the optimal path takes effort and shaves off reps. path takes effort and shaves off reps. So, it's like a double problem.

[08:49] If you're running on a trail and you're being timed on how long it takes to complete this trail through the woods, if you get off the trail, you're running on a sub-optimal vector, but also getting back on the trail costs you

[09:02] time. Same idea. And so, every warm-up set is a technical Every single technical set that I do in this prep for the 225 thing makes me this prep for the 225 thing makes me better at not deviating as much. It is a

[09:15] huge difference is what I'm trying to say. would warm up with the camber bar,

[09:27] good enough. Let me look at my RP Hypertrophy app to see what my Hypertrophy app to see what my personal best is. 225 16 is the most I've ever gotten it for. And I also did 240 for 16 fresh. I can

[09:42] going [music] to happen. Nice and easy.

[10:14] >> Overall pressing strength, pec, shoulder, triceps size, not terrible. And then the second day in that plan is going to be taking about 235 lb, which is really close to 225. Positioning, bar weight, everything is super close. A

[10:30] little bit higher just for that little psychological edge for me so when I do 225, it's very, very light. So 235 I'll do for one high rep set. Again, good metabolic work, good time to work on technique, on pacing, on bar positioning

[10:44] to cost you like a rep or two if you're actually doing the test.

[11:13] I think is anything over 25 reps. I may be inclined to be happy with it. Scott looks pissed. >> You don't do this 30.

[11:30] chest too much on that day. I do two more sets with 235, but each one's just a set of five reps. It's two sets of five reps right after a set of like oh, [snorts] about 20 or so reps with 235. So, now in the second half of the plan,

[11:44] every single chest day that I have is also a bench press technique practice day. That will give me a slight edge. It'll put a few more reps onto my ultimate 225 bench press test because I'll be that much more prepared

[11:57] that, I do a crap load of biceps, a little bit of upper pecs, and then I leave the gym. That is how my training is structured for the entire roughly situation. We'll see how it turns out. I mean,

[12:11] We'll see how it turns out. I mean, we're seeing that now. All right, folks. Here is the day. I'm going to take my shot at 225 lb for

[12:25] {question mark} number of reps. How many reps am I going to get? My guess? 24. 24. Uh but we'll see. All right.

[13:04] there. >> A little dance. People, the bar for 30, 135 for 12, 225 for six, the bar for 30, 135 for 12, 225 for six, 275 for four as an overweight warm-up.

[13:19] I really, really like when I'm doing high reps to take a warm-up that's heavier than the actual reps. Once I get in my next set, I'll be doing 225 for whatever 20 something.

[13:32] It's going to feel ultra light my hands. Because that 275 now it's a downshift your own training. It's going to be a bit emboldening to be like, "Hey, get all the reps I need and I'm not scared of the weight.

[13:46] reps. I don't want it also to feel heavy."

[14:09] video about?" >> All right. >> All right. Oh, I'm getting nervous.

[14:31] >> One. Five. Let's go down count. There we go.

[15:06] >> More. Six. >> Come on. >> No, let's go. >> No, let's go. >> THAT'S IT.

[15:29] You guys want to know something real up? So, my last workout I did 240 for 22.

[15:41] And the RP Hypertrophy app auto predictor algorithm legitimately predicted 26 reps. And I was like, "Wow, I think I'm going I think that's ambitious." And then like, "Oh.

[15:55] RP Hypertrophy app, this has been a promo all along. >> All right. Let's say you want to bench 225 as many times as you can. Forget

[16:10] about 225. Let's say you're not that jacked. You want to bench 135 as many times as you can. On Monday, what you're going to do is you are going to bench standard good technique, but it's going to be a little

[16:24] trying. So, if you're going to be doing 225, I want you to start your plan at about 250 to 275 and slowly work up by 5-lb increments over time. After that, crap ton of volume, smash your triceps with a crap ton of volume. On Wednesday,

[16:41] tired from that Monday workout. You are going to go to something close to 225 or if it's 135 close to 135. Just a little bit above, again for that psychological edge. So, 230 or 235 would be great places. And there, you do

[16:57] multiple sets of close-to-failure work specifically for really that technique that you're going to be trying. You're going to do some chest work and some triceps work after that. You're going to be nuked after those two workouts. So,

[17:11] we have a Monday we go a bit heavier than we need to. Wednesday. and check out Friday. Friday you come in, you either put the same weight on the bar or even lighter. Ideally it's the same weight. So now you

[17:24] that's what you're shooting for for max reps. You do literally like three sets of three to five reps but with exactly that perfect technique and cadence that you want to practice. Practice, practice, practice. Then what you do is

[17:38] out of the gym or do some other muscle groups like shoulders or biceps training. It is critical that that Friday session is the easiest super super low volume thing that you do. You have to feel stronger after that workout

[17:52] back to the real heavy you're completely recovered for another amazing and you're gone. When it's time to do the bench press test, you do something real simple. On Monday, you want to do 235 for about as many reps as you can do

[18:07] and a little bit of assistance work. On Wednesday, you're going to do 225 for 3 workout and move it to Wednesday. And that's it. It's going to be the easiest going to come in, you're going to warm up, you're going to do the thing. As

[18:21] soon as you're done wrapping out the bench with as many reps as you can, start immediately talking You better have individuals you need to talk soon as you rack it, turn to the camera,

[18:33] this workout yourself. You can tailor it to yourself but we have the verbatim do as many reps of 225 workout as you can in the RPE hypertrophy app. You just you're good to go. It's going to take care of the rest. [music] So get on the

[18:49] description, give it a download, give it a look through. You can do this entire workout verbatim and when you get the template, you can actually modify the lifts in, all the other days and even these days but the core of the bench

[19:02] there. 225 lbs 26 reps. I think most of them were paused. Pretty cool. Paused and full lock out. Jesse James West, I'm looking at you,

[19:14] pimp. How many you got? Jeff Nippard, come on. Ain't nobody playing out here. So, we're cooking up another challenge. non-validated gym bro challenge.

[19:28] you can do, how many strict lateral raises you can do, and how many strict incline close-grip bench presses you can do. And so, that'll be another cool challenge you guys should look out for, and

[19:41] uh bench for reps 225. See if I can't get 27 or 28 next time. And, uh yeah. videos of you guys doing this Like, in the grand scheme, is 26 reps

[19:55] impressive? No. It's like halfway to the best in NFL thing, but for a balding 42-year-old Jewish man, yeah, it's all right.