Deathbench is a 10 week bench specialization program from Redditor Matt Disbrow (/u/mdisbrow). You bench twice a week for the whole block: one heavy day built on ten ramping top sets, and one volume day where the bench weight stays fixed and the accessory work does the damage. It’s a disciple of the “if you want a bigger bench press, bench more” church.
The heavy day is where the name comes from. You work up through 5 sets of 3, then 3 sets of 3, then 2 sets of 2, ten sets in total, and the weights climb about 5 lbs a week across the block. Everything after that is triceps and midsection volume, and the doses are big: skull crushers for 5 sets of 12, triceps extensions for 5 sets of 20, and ab wheel for 5 sets of 25, every single session.
Matt has stated that he originally intended Deathbench for lifters benching 315 lbs or more, though he’s seen progress from someone benching 275. There’s no magic number, but if you’re well under that, a 3x weekly bench program like Greg Nuckols’ 28 Programs will likely serve you better. This program assumes you can already handle heavy pressing volume twice a week.
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