I have been very frustrated lately with a lack of improvement in my bench press. IT has remained at 215 for a year…yes a whole year. Last summer i benched 215 at 160 bodyweight this year at 170 im still doing 215.
I have never been so frustrated. I have tried 3-4 week phases of high reps, and low rerps, high frequency low frequency, to just dumbells, to supramax work. Just about everything i can think of and no budge.
Mon: ME
Week 1Work up to a 1RM on incline press
Week 2 Work up to a 1RM on a 3 board press
Week 3 Work up to a 5RM on a bench press
Week 4 Work up to a 1RM on a 2 board press
Week 5 Work up to a 3RM on a bench press
Week 6 Work up to a 1RM on a floor press
Follow with Aux work:
I have tried that. My main reasson for training is football, so theres more than just sprinting. Although i understand what you are saying, but I am so confused that I can be stuck at this weight for so long after gaining ten pounds of muscle. I just feel like there must be something wrong.
UNtil you figure out WHY your bench is not improving, all of this crap generic advice that people is giving you is only that.
How are you training it, what sets and reps, how many times per week, where do you fail on max lifts, what else are you doing in the gym, what’s your technique like, do you have short or long arms.
And about a zillion more questions that these guys would know to ask if they had a clue what thye were talking about. Instead of regurgitating crap internet soundbites and WSBB4lyfe genero-routines.
In response to my training status and such…im 5’10"
weight:173
age:21
training years:2 consistent more or less
-Long arms
What frustrates me the most is I consider myself to have a decent amount of knowledge on strength training as i have read and researched quite a bit. I started off benching around 135 and got up to 155 with a bodybuilding style training. I than made a switch to Westide style which my strength went to 185 fairly quickly. I ended up hitting a wall. Ever since i have gone through periods of alternating between accumulation and intensification, and like i said earlier switching to more dumbell work, ive used pushups and dips. I increased my body weight a little and the strength has not improved.
I have had shoulder issues however for the last months i havent had any issues.
Well, suggestions that these posts are crap notwithstanding, I’ll tell you what I have done in the past when stuck in a deep rut on bench. Take a week or two off from really heavy bench, then start with incline benchpresses and weighted dips. Set definite goals of increasing both lifts. Shoot for a 20% gain in incline bench and something similar in weighted dips. These two exercises will hit all the same muscles as benchpress, and then some. After you have made gains in incline and dips, go back to bench. You may find that after a week or two of benching, you will be able to set a significant PR.
From my own personal experience, I’ve found my way to break through bench plateaus by having isometric holds at the top position of the lift.
I start out doing 3 x 3, using 85-90%, holding the top position of each rep for 3 seconds. Then every time I benched I was able to go up 5-10lbs every time. I’ve used this many times and it has always worked.