How should bench press be done? Right now I'm doing 4 sets of 10 reps at 50 pounds. Do I increase the weight after each set or start at about 100 pounds and decrease the weight after each set. What would be best to do to build mass?

Just find a weight you can do that allows you to lift and feel a soreness the next day but not going to kill you, Then just do your sets and reps with that one weight, there is no need to move up or down, Once you find that weight to easy to lift then raise the weight.

Different routines work best for different people. Some respond to pyramid style training, some respond to static numbers, etc. Change up your routine every few months and see what works best for you. If your goal is to gain size, stick in the higher rep ranges like you're doing now.

There should be a lot of references on THE CORRECT FORM of doing a bench press.
For mass - low rep, highest weight posssible while maintaing form and safety.
Make sure you have someone spot you correctly.

For tone and endurance - high reps and lower weight.

For the pectoral muscles - do more than flat bench press. There are inclines, declines, flys, etc...

Remember balance between front and back and upper and lower muscle groups as well as cardiovascular conditioning and proper nutrition.



Grace and Peace

Cinabar:

Semantics

Opening poster used the term "mass, " which I take to mean "bulk" or "size" or "larger".
In which case the more weight resistance the better the results.

"mass" also depends on caloric intake being > caloric expenditure.

I doubt atheletes, sans steroids, gain "mass" by using just one set weight and just do more reps per set.


Grace and Peace

Muscle mechanics: adaptations with exercise-traini...[Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 1996] - PubMed Result

"Regular endurance exercise training had no effect on fiber size, but with prolonged durations of daily training it depressed Po and peak power. When the training is maintained over prolonged periods, it may even induce atrophy of the slow Type I and fast Type IIa fibers. "

Here is another , simpler analogy:


Look at the average physique of a marathon runner - thin almost emaciated - they have muscles built for endurance. Slow twitch muscle fibers. More weight and mass is less efficient.

Compare that with the physique of a 100 meter sprinter - again not on steroids - even their arms are muscular and toned.

Sanjay, only you decide which way to train.


Grace and Peace

Ok thanks for all your responses and cinnabar

Quote:

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Originally Posted by inthebox

Here is another , simpler analogy:


Look at the average physique of a marathon runner - thin almost emaciated - they have muscles built for endurance. Slow twitch muscle fibers. More weight and mass is less efficient.

Compare that with the physique of a 100 meter sprinter - again not on steroids - even their arms are muscular and toned.

Sanjay, only you decide which way to train.


Grace and Peace

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What you're posting is irrelevant. Neither endurance training nor muscle fiber types are the topic of conversation. The topic is hypertrophy. Higher rep ranges produce greater sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. This results in greater gains in size. Lower rep ranges produce greater myofibrillar hypertrophy that results in greater strength gains.

Both types of hypertrophy cause an increase in mass but the former is via volume and the latter is via density. It is not a matter of semantics.