Hello, this is ShinobiBench.
Today, I’d like to share “Top 3 Mistakes I Made Before BenchPress 100kg”
By the way, my current max is 155kg, and it took me about six months to reach 100kg.
I hit the 100kg mark roughly three years ago, and it was a tough process.
I still remember how happy I was when I finally achieved it.
For many people, benching 100kg is a major milestone, but some may give up due to injuries or hitting plateaus.
That’s why I’m sharing my mistakes to help those facing similar challenges.
Please note that these are just my personal experiences and may not apply to everyone.
As for my coaching experience, I’ve provided online coaching via the Line app, working with over 900 subscribers and more than 500 clients.
The success rate for achieving personal records is over 90%, with 1RMs ranging from 30kg to 220kg.
Now, let’s dive into the main topic.
In terms of my coaching experience, I have provided online coaching through the app Line, with over 900 subscribers and 500+ clients.
The success rate for personal records is over 90%, covering 1RMs ranging from 30kg to 220kg.
Now, I would like to dive into the main topic.
Top 3 Mistakes BenchPress 100kg #3: Low-Rep Sets
When I started, I thought doing 10 reps x 3 sets as a beginner and 5 reps x 5 sets as an intermediate, or occasionally doing 3 or 2 reps to train the nervous system, would be a good approach.
As I got closer to 100kg, I naturally would like to lift heavier weights.
I began focusing on low-rep, high-weight sets like 3×5, using weights close to 100kg.
While this isn’t inherently bad, I made the mistake of reducing my total training volume.
To clarify, by “low-rep sets,” I’m not referring to top singles but to main sets.
The issue was combining top singles with low-rep main sets, which compromised my total volume.
To grow your bench, intensity and volume are both crucial.
Low-rep sets provide high intensity, which is great for the nervous system, but achieving sufficient volume with them is challenging.
For example, if your 1RM is 100kg, doing a set of 80kg x 10 reps for 5 sets provides significant volume.
To match that volume with low-rep sets, you would like to do about 15 sets of 92.5kg x 3 reps, which is quite unrealistic.
I was only doing about 3 reps x 5 sets with 90–92.5kg, which was far from enough volume.
While low-rep sets can sometimes boost strength in the short term, I believe they’re more effective after your form is stable and you’ve built a good muscle base.
Otherwise, you risk lacking both muscle mass and benching proficiency, which can hold back your progress.
That’s why #3 is Low-Rep Sets.
Top 3 Mistakes BenchPress 100kg #2: Heavy Lifting with Painful Form
When you’re starting out, your form is often inconsistent.
This was true for me, and even now, I frequently make minor adjustments to my form.
Back then, I would like to push heavy weights with unstable or stiff form, which often led to joint and muscle pain.
The real problem was that I kept training with the same form and weights, ignoring the pain.
This resulted in a repetitive cycle of pain, rest, recovery, and reinjury.
For me, I would always start feeling shoulder pain when I hit around 95kg, preventing further progress.
Eventually, my max even dropped to 90kg.
That’s when I realized I would like to change my form.
While adjusting your form might temporarily reduce your max, it’s much better to lower the weight, fix your form, and build back up.
This approach ultimately helped me reach 100kg without pain.
Now, even as I’ve progressed to 120kg, 140kg, and beyond, I’ve avoided major benching injuries by consistently revising my form when necessary.
So, #2 is Heavy Lifting with Painful Form.
Top 3 Mistakes BenchPress 100kg Bonus: Cutting Weight
While not part of the top 3, cutting weight can significantly slow down your progress toward a 100kg bench.
A lean physique looks great, and I’ve also chased that goal.
However, I found that maintaining a certain body weight (around 70kg for me at 172cm tall) is essential for benching strength.
During cutting phases, not only did my progress stall, but my bench max actually dropped.
At one point, I lost around 10kg on my bench, going from 100kg to just barely 90kg.
It was frustrating, and I even injured myself trying to maintain my numbers while cutting.
If you would like to increase your bench, I recommend focusing on gaining strength and weight first before considering a cut.
Top 3 Mistakes BenchPress 100kg #1: Adding Too Many Accessory Exercises
To build muscle, I believed I needed a variety of accessory exercises, so I incorporated many into my routine.
While accessory exercises can be effective for muscle growth, they often reduced the time and energy I could devote to bench press practice.
For instance, my old chest workout looked like this:
- Bench Press: 3 sets
- Chest Fly: 3 sets
- Dips: 3 sets
This totals 9 sets.
If I had dedicated all 9 sets to bench pressing, I would like to improve my form, focus, and overall performance.
After simplifying my routine to focus solely on bench pressing, my strength and muscle mass noticeably improved.
The better I got at benching, the more my strength and muscle increased in a positive cycle.
That’s why #1 is Adding Too Many Accessory Exercises.
And that’s all for today
Ultimately, the best way to hit a 100kg bench is to practice bench pressing consistently and treat it as a sport, not just a workout.
If you would like to improve your batting, you practice swinging. If you would like to improve your shooting, you practice shooting.
The same goes for benching.
I hope sharing these mistakes helps you avoid similar setbacks.
Let’s keep pushing forward with our bench press goals.
See you next time. Bye!