What Happens If You Bench Press Every Day? New Research Says You'll Make Serious Gains

There has been a new project going around stating that maxing out on bench press can increase your 1RM significantly. While that sounds crazy, it's not the only study.

But is this enough to suggest we max out our lifts on a daily basis with no rest? Probably not, but we're still going to check out the study.

Efficacy of Daily One-Repetition Maximum Bench Press Training in Physically Active Males and Females (2025)

This study was published in the Journal of Exercise Physiology. However, as of now, it's not indexed in PubMed or with a DOI. While the Journal of Exercise Physiology is a legitimate, peer-reviewed publication, it's not considered to meet the highest standards of scientific research.

So keeping that in mind, here's what they did;

1. Used a case study design with seven physically active individuals: 3 males and 4 females.

2. Each participant bench pressed every day for 34 consecutive days. 

3. Every session, the participants worked up to their daily 1RM. They then performed 5 volume sets of either 3 repetitions at 85% or 2 repetitions at 90% of that day's 1RM. 

4. On day 35, the participants completed 5 sets of 1 repetition of 90-100% of their first day's 1RM

5. Days 36-37 were rest days

6. On day 38, they worked up to a new 1RM

Results Of The Study

At the end of the study, all of the participants significantly increased their bench press. 

• Males increased their bench press by an average of 50lbs
• Females increased their bench press by an average of 33.75 lbs
• This was an increase of about 29% for both

While they don't give the exact numbers, using the percent increase probably looks like this

• Males: 170lbs → 220lbs
• Females: 116lbs → 150lbs

So basically, all 7 trainees made significant improvements.

Unfortunately, there's very little other information to dissect the project any further.

What About Squatting? Can You Squat Every Day?

The results of this study are surprising and really fly in the face of everything we know about fatigue and recovery.

However, it's not even the first time something like this has been done. In 2016, Zourdos et al. (2016) conducted a similar case study with 3 elite powerlifters squatting with their 1RM every day.

In fact, it seems as though 2025 copied the squat study, as they, too, performed 5 back-off sets, with volume sets of 3 repetitions at 85% or 2 repetitions at 90% of the daily 1RM.

As with the bench press, all participants in the squat study made significant gains.

So, Does This Mean We Can Max Out Every Day?

While these studies are interesting, it's important to note that between the two, there are only 10 subjects. While they have 100% success, it's still a very small group.

Further, as mentioned, the rigor behind the studies is questionable.

With all that said, we wouldn't give a blanket recommendation for anyone to max out their 1RM lifts every single day for 30 days.

For the average lifter, there's really no need to perform 1RM ever. And if you wanted to, once a month would likely be max.

Now, if you're an experienced lifter and want to conduct an experiment by yourself, you could try, just be very mindful of your body. It should be noted that it doesn't seem like they did any other work for the muscle group, so after your 1RM and back-off sets, you're done.

With that said, it would be interesting to see a larger study with the same design performed. 

References

1. Cox, J., Chism, K., Pritchett, L., Ward, C., Barker, B., Greganti, J., Killingsworth, D., Robbins, D. E., Bickel, C. S., & Washmuth, N. B. (2025). Efficacy of daily one-repetition maximum bench press training in physically active males and females. Journal of Exercise Physiology Online, 28(1), 1–10.
2. Zourdos, M. C., Dolan, C., Quiles, J. M., Klemp, A., Jo, E., Loenneke, J. P., Blanco, R., & Whitehurst, M. (2016). Efficacy of daily one-repetition maximum training in well-trained powerlifters and weightlifters: A case series. Nutrición Hospitalaria, 33(2), 437-443. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284179354_Efficacy_of_Daily_1RM_Training_in_Well-Trained_Powerlifters_and_Weightlifters_A_Case_Series