new here..not really educated on this subject. I'm 17, an amateur boxer and am looking to get physically stronger.

Im not looking for size, like getting my arms huge or looking to gain 20 pounds, my targeted areas are:

arms
chest
shoulders/back

so my question is about bench pressing, given the fact that I've explained i'm not looking for size/bulk ect, how much weight should I lift and how many reps should I do? also, how many times a week would be ideal?

Thanks

That question can't be answered with a number amount. How much weight you lift and how many times is dependent on your current strength, and the current rep/set scheme you are following.

If you really want to get into good shape, start now with working out your entire body. Why just focus on upper body? You gotta have strong legs to be efficient in almost every sport.

Look into squats, deadlifts, lunges, rows, pullups, dips, overhead presses, bench and its variations...those kinds of lifts will do you good.

Your asking us to tell you how to lift so you get no gains?

I don't get it.

If you want strength you need size.

I think you mean you want endurance? If so do 15+ reps per exercise. On the last reps you should have trouble keeping up good form...otherwise you will not get any gains whatsoever.

To become physically stronger, you NEED size my friend. Endurance is different though....you need to clarify a little more :P


Eric

I'm mainly focusing on my upperbody because my legs are already quite strong and in boxing, when someone is leaning on you, upperbody strength is required to push them off.

sorry for the confusion Eric, I'm not really educated on this subject, so bear with me here.

Yeah, I understand that, but the body works as a whole unit. You'd be surprised at how much work you hips and legs do when you push off. Don't neglect legs! There's just no reason, plain and simple.

Ok, i can do that too. I'm just so confused, from what i described, is it really endurance i'm looking for?

Not true

No, your looking for strength

Just lift heavy in the 3-5 range

Bench
Rows
Squats
Deadlifts
Military Press
Dips

I agree with Phate there is no real need to get bigger to get stronger. You will get heavier with more muscle but size is a completely different thing.

This is explained well in NROL which shows the different between strength (muscle density) and Hypertrophy (Muscle size) of which you want the former. Hypertrophy is about shocking the body past a critical step in the process of muscle rebuilding (and I am not going into detail get the book if you want to know more) that allows the muscle to get bigger without necessarily getting stronger which is why a lot of body builders can look huge but not necessarily be strong. To build muscle density and hence pure strength you need to follow Phate's advise lift low reps, high weight and keep punching through.

I recently did a strength routine which is perfect called the 5x5 method. Search this on Google and see what you find it is based on big lifts doing high weight 5x5 starting at 80% of your max and increasing the weight by minimal amounts every single week untill you manage 5x5 your max and then beyond. I increased my DL alone from 120kg to 160kg in 4 weeks.

Also don't neglect the big compound lifts like squat, deadlift and lunge as these may appear to be leg excercises when done wrong or by newbs but are full body high strength building excercises. Each one requires your legs for movement, your core for stabalisation and your arms to hold and stabalise the weight. Also despite what you may think you use your legs and core plenty in boxing.

Have a go at the 5x5 routine (read my journal if you can't find it on google) and you will see the imrpovements you want. As I said I increased basically all my big lifts significantly in 4 weeks alone and didnt actually put on any size infact I lost some weight around the old gut because I was eating in a caloric defecit. But for best results in a strength program you should eat an excess in calories so you have more fuel to grow those muscles.

thanks for the replies.

I'm just concerned about gaining a lot of weight, which is what I don't wanna do.

Gaining weight is more of a function of diet. If you don't eat enough to get heavier, you won't get heavier.

Since you're a boxer getting more explosive won't hurt. Always lift as fast as you can with good form. And if the weight is heavy for you, focus on lifting it as fast as possible. Both will make you explosive.