The question shouldn’t really be can you but should you bench press every day. Of course you can, nothing or no one is stoping you from doing the bench press every day, however that does not mean it is a good idea.

When we are trying to optimally improve one of our primary lifts like the bench press, squat or deadlift it can be tempting to do it very often. However we need to be optimally recovered in order to be able to perform the movement with the correct level of intensity. If we perform the bench press everyday we really are going to accumulate to much fatigue and eventually risk injury.

When we are really trying to put emphasis on an exercise like the bench, doing it say three times a week would be the best option. Although this option would only be available for individuals with a high training age and beginners would likely run into some repetitive injury issues. The current literature outlines that we want to be using a muscle group through a working set between 12-18 per week. There is such a large difference between these number of sets because of individual differences.

So when designing a bench press programme, maybe consider doing it for a maximum of three times a week for a total of 18 sets in the week. If you can manage this amount of volume for an extended period of time and you are nailing all of the other factors that go into adaptation (sleep + nutrition) then you will see fantastic progress.

Often times when we see people doing something “everyday” it can mean doing the movement with an empty barbell twice per week, which is essentially pointless. Training should be intense, with a specific adaptation in mind, not just throwing things into a programme and seeing what works. Good programming should be elegant, well structured with periods of work and rest, using the principles of strength and conditioning. Don’t bench press everyday. Design a full programme that takes you through all the movement patterns and progresses your full body, including your bench press.