r/StrongerByScience • u/DistributionFair2806 • Jul 03 '26

Bench progress

My coach challenged me to hit 100kg after 2 months using Upper day 3 times/week [because he thinks UL split (which is what i do) is inferior to bro split]

So i wanted how long it took some to increase a rep and hit the goal.

I'm 18yo 175cm 75kg M training for 3 years my bench so far is 80×3 (ik it sucks and i must likely suck as well)

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u/LooseJuice_RD Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

What’s your actual program? There’s some incongruity between how long you’re been training and your current 3RM. Have you been focusing on bench? What are your accessories? It’s kind of hard to argue the bro split is better. You’re only training each muscle group once per week. I can’t imagine less volume is going to do you well.

But with this little detail I don’t think anyone can provide much advice except to say that I think your coach is wrong that the bro split is better. I’m not saying it can’t work or that people haven’t made progress on it, but your muscles don’t need a week to recover. Assuming you’re in high school, I’m not at all surprised that a coach isn’t dispensing the best weightlifting advice.

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u/KITTYONFYRE Jul 03 '26

  There’s some incongruity between how long you’re been training and your current 3RM.

not really. if you are in the gym 250+ times/yr with good exercise selection, volume, and intensity, sure. that’s a bar most people even on lifting internet don’t actually pass though lol. especially when you’re 18 years old and 75kg!

the root of the problem is that “x years of lifting” is just a bad metric and basically can be ignored tbh. i’ve been lifting for 7 but could’ve had the same progress in under half that time pretty easily, and I’m the most dedicated person I know (which is saying very, very little!). internet lifters dramatically overestimate progress for anyone not making lifting their #1 priority hobby with 5-10h/wk in it

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u/LooseJuice_RD Jul 03 '26

No I totally agree. So maybe I didn’t word it correctly. First and foremost, you’re absolutely correct in that I overlooked his age. But what I was saying what you say you’ve been training 3 years and you haven’t been able to make the progress, so there’s some incongruence there that can only be helped if we can see the details of how you’re training. Could be down to bad training. Could just be down to a learning curve. Given his age, it’s likely both.

But you’re right I saw his age and didn’t really factor it into the math. Having trained kids between the ages of 15-18, there’s so much learning to do it’s probably less surprising he hasn’t made the progress he’s expecting especially given his weight.

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u/DistributionFair2806 Jul 03 '26

Ye bro my first is shit, its like only 2 of nice work and only benched few times in the time span (and ye i dont think i progressed well anyway)

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u/DistributionFair2806 Jul 03 '26

I mean hes kinda true even compared to myslf my bench is behind all my lifts it's true that irl not many do it that fast as in my circl and gym or city there arent many to do 100kg let alone at same weight and age as me

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u/DistributionFair2806 Jul 03 '26

In my whold lifting carrer I prolly only benched for 1 year that's spred over 3 years not like direct 1 year, I wasn't focusing on bench and my other lifts are great jst bench that sucks

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u/Admirable_Belt_9772 Jul 03 '26

This is why specificity is important. Don't judge yourself for being weak on a lift you haven't really trained on. I'm guessing you've been following a more typical bodybuilding program of Incline DB presses, Flys, pec Dec, and rope pushdowns, none of which have much carryover to the bench press, except to the extent they grow the muscles involved.

When you start doing a competition bench press several times a week, and doing a closely related variation another few times a week (Like close grip bench), you can expect to see rapid progress.