bench plateau

itsallaboutheL

I'm getting no movement out of my max bench and havnt for a few months now, i've tried everything i can think of but need some new ideas?

I've done:
neg-reps
forced reps
german volume training
low volume training
assistance work
left benching altogether for a while
Dbell benching
Inclines
etc.

The only positive gained is im now feeling mad strong under 100kg after the Volume training

Help

Hanley

What are you benching at the mo?

aye

try drop sets and pre exhaustion sets.

do more rotator cuff work, and tricep work.

itsallaboutheL

Hanley: 130kg

Other dude, believe me i have, what i tried the other day was wide grip benches, i thought id be weak in them because i normally bench very close but i felt dam strong, even though i had done them after a big bench session and just out of curiousity, would you recommend just doing them for a while hanley

kevpants

You're a pretty strong guy so you'd be well able for a Powerlifting style program like Westside or Sheiko. I know nothing of the Sheiko (see Hanley's log) but I started a Westside program several weeks back, AlFernz has a log of his in the fitness logs section too.

I know I was stuck at 115kg @90kg bodyweight for about 6 months and one of the first things I learned was that training the bench week in week out at max effort will result in strength LOSS after about 3 weeks. I have to keep changing from flat bech to incline to close grip and rotate. I haven't flat beched in a few weeks but I close gripped 123kg the other day so I'm looking forward to what I'll manage with my optimum grip.

Got me over a hump anyway. I'm sure other more learned ones will advise more but thats my 1/50th of a euro.

Degsy

I'm making very slow headway with my bench too.In fact i can decline bench nearly as much as my flat bench and that seems to be improving week on week.Cant figure it out at all.

Roper

I'm no expert on benching big numbers but have you tried teeny tiny increments? Have a buddy who swears he got to 120 having been stuck at 115 for ages by adding a kilo and even 0.5kg a week. He used random stuff in the gym tied on to the bar.

itsallaboutheL

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh im still stuck!

WHIP IT!

kevpants wrote: »

You're a pretty strong guy so you'd be well able for a Powerlifting style program like Westside or Sheiko. I know nothing of the Sheiko (see Hanley's log) but I started a Westside program several weeks back, AlFernz has a log of his in the fitness logs section too.

I know I was stuck at 115kg @90kg bodyweight for about 6 months and one of the first things I learned was that training the bench week in week out at max effort will result in strength LOSS after about 3 weeks. I have to keep changing from flat bech to incline to close grip and rotate. I haven't flat beched in a few weeks but I close gripped 123kg the other day so I'm looking forward to what I'll manage with my optimum grip.

Got me over a hump anyway. I'm sure other more learned ones will advise more but thats my 1/50th of a euro.

Woah, Woah, Woah! Back the truck up there Kevpants... where did you hear this? I guess it depends what you mean by working it to the max "week in week out". I work mine up to max once a week every week and have improved it gradually each of the last four weeks.

I'm not sure if what you said applies to everyone, it certainly doesn't seem to work that way for me.

brianthebard

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh im still stuck!

Maybe post up the programme you've been doing the last while? As kev said you are obviously strong, but have you identified your weakpoints? Tris, upper back? Is it the lockout or the push off the chest that's giving you bothers?

kevpants

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Woah, Woah, Woah! Back the truck up there Kevpants... where did you hear this? I guess it depends what you mean by working it to the max "week in week out". I work mine up to max once a week every week and have improved it gradually each of the last four weeks.

I'm not sure if what you said applies to everyone, it certainly doesn't seem to work that way for me.

What I meant was going for your absolute max for singles or even doubles with 90%+ of your 1RM. If you keep doing it on exactly the same lift, for example the flat bench, you'll overload pretty quickly. You are meant to rotate i.e. Flat bench, Incline Bench, Floor Press, Close Grip etc.

This is the basic principle behind Westside.

Of course this is the theory of Louie Simmons one of many experts, most of whom are full of crap (Louie certainly is) but the guy churns out champions and turns girly men into grizzly men with some aplomb.

It works for me.

Hanley

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Woah, Woah, Woah! Back the truck up there Kevpants... where did you hear this? I guess it depends what you mean by working it to the max "week in week out". I work mine up to max once a week every week and have improved it gradually each of the last four weeks.

I'm not sure if what you said applies to everyone, it certainly doesn't seem to work that way for me.

How much are you currently pressing?? I'd hazard a guess that it's not around what Kev or L are, because once you do get up to that level you'll see what Kev is saying is perfectly true.

qt9ukbg60ivjrn

happened to me to on 85kg, gave up for a two months
picked up the gym again with a friend training with me and got up to 100kg, but got stuck there, relaly good help having someone with you to load the wiegh ton and not worry about dropping it

i'm wondering is there a limit that you hit when you can't go higher,

i'm not taking supplements and dont' want to but surely my body just can't keep growing and growing to accommodate what i am trying

brianthebard

Well if you are eating enough protein and food in general to not need supplements, then you don't need them. But if you are stuck at 100kg I would think there is a lot of growth left-what weight are you?

kevpants

Thatcher Shapely Ballpark wrote: »

happened to me to on 85kg, gave up for a two months
picked up the gym again with a friend training with me and got up to 100kg, but got stuck there, relaly good help having someone with you to load the wiegh ton and not worry about dropping it

i'm wondering is there a limit that you hit when you can't go higher,

i'm not taking supplements and dont' want to but surely my body just can't keep growing and growing to accommodate what i am trying

I can safely say that you or I will never hit that limit. You can ALWAYS get stronger. If you get stuck it's up to you to get around it but you definitely can.

It's a defeatist attitude to think it's your body that's limiting you and not your resolve when it is quite literally the other way around.

qt9ukbg60ivjrn

brianthebard wrote: »

Well if you are eating enough protein and food in general to not need supplements, then you don't need them. But if you are stuck at 100kg I would think there is a lot of growth left-what weight are you?

74 ish kg

5ft11

good point about the protein intake, never really dedicated myself to a strict and healthy diet, but i'm putting one together by trawling through the countless info on the internet to make a good one that suits what i need and want

brianthebard

100kg at 75 is a very good bench imo, but you are still well off hitting the limit as Kev said. Have a look at your diet, and consider what are your sticking points and weakspots, and address those. You could put a lot more weight on at 5'11" tbh, that would also help (not just fat, there's space for muscle I'm sure too).

Hanley

kevpants wrote: »

I can safely say that you or I will never hit that limit. You can ALWAYS get stronger. If you get stuck it's up to you to get around it but you definitely can.

It's a defeatist attitude to think it's your body that's limiting you and not your resolve when it is quite literally the other way around.

That's a good post.

itsallaboutheL

took a week off last week ate like a horse and lost weight for some reason, went in to check my max yest, 120 was grand as it should be but was buried at 130, fuking loosing strenght, its pissin me off massively, my triceps would be pretty strong, am having trouble at bottem, getting it off my chest was, thinking of doing doggcrapp but mite give westside a go

kevpants

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

took a week off last week ate like a horse and lost weight for some reason, went in to check my max yest, 120 was grand as it should be but was buried at 130, fuking loosing strenght, its pissin me off massively, my triceps would be pretty strong, am having trouble at bottem, getting it off my chest was, thinking of doing doggcrapp but mite give westside a go

Cool. Ya just have to promise to keep your log up to date! Be great to compare notes with someone at my level on Westside.

itsallaboutheL

Kev i think its actually you thats motivating me to do it! its killing me that we would have been at the same level 4 or 5 months ago and ive gone nowhere, while you've been wrecking the place!

itsallaboutheL

quick question OH squats wouldnt be having a detrimental effect?? would they? overstrenching the pecs or some such

kevpants

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

quick question OH squats wouldnt be having a detrimental effect?? would they? overstrenching the pecs or some such

Thanks for the kind words man.

I've never even done an OH squat, I've never seen them mentioned as a bench no no but I've never seen them recommended as an assistance exercise in Westside either.

When I was stuck at the bottom it was all about back back back. I kinda ignored my tri's on upper day and it really worked. I bet your lockout at 125 is really strong? That annoyed the hell out of me. Your tri's are there waiting to lock out but you can't get the weight up. You just gotta find the weakpoint and make it pay for all the frustration it's caused you!

I do alot of rotator cuff work in my warmup too. I don't bother putting it in the log.....secret weapon

Let me know if you've any questions on Westside, anything I can't answer Hanley can so you should be sorted.