Having trouble with my bench press

Deedsie

Hi,

I have a fitness log on Boards:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=64390800#post64390800

I have just got back into training in the last month. Going fairly well. Have no problems on the squat, up to 85Kg, Deadlift 85Kg etc

My Bench is really starting to p*ss me off though. I cant get above 60 Kg and complete 5x5.

My previous best was 65Kg 5x5

Is there anything i can do to better prepare myself. What to eat before hand for extra energy?

People are telling me its all in the head, well my arms are disagreeing with that.

TommyKnocker

Hi Deedsie

I have a similar issue with my bench progressing at a slower rate then my other lifts. I am doing the strong lifts 5x5 progra.

I have looked at you log and am a littel confused. You seem to be only doing workout 1 every second day Whey is this?

I alternate between workout 1 and workout 2, so my week looks like this

Sunday: workout 1
Monday: Cardio & Core
Tuesday: Workout 2
Wednesday: Cardio 7 COre
Thursday: Workout 1
Friday: Off (Stretching and foam rolling)
Saturday; Cardio & Core

So one week I bench twice and the next week I only bench once.

By doing workout 1 all the time, even every second day, you may not be giving your chest enough time to repair and grow stronger.

Also what I have done is bought a set of fractional plates. so I can increase by as little as .5kg at a time now.


Best Regards,

M

Deedsie

B-Builder wrote: »

Hi Deedsie

I have a similar issue with my bench progressing at a slower rate then my other lifts. I am doing the strong lifts 5x5 progra.

I have looked at you log and am a littel confused. You seem to be only doing workout 1 every second day Whey is this?

I alternate between workout 1 and workout 2, so my week looks like this

Sunday: workout 1
Monday: Cardio & Core
Tuesday: Workout 2
Wednesday: Cardio 7 COre
Thursday: Workout 1
Friday: Off (Stretching and foam rolling)
Saturday; Cardio & Core

So one week I bench twice and the next week I only bench once.

By doing workout 1 all the time, even every second day, you may not be giving your chest enough time to repair and grow stronger.

Also what I have done is bought a set of fractional plates. so I can increase by as little as .5kg at a time now.


Best Regards,

M

I only have access to the squat rack and weights i use on Monday and Wednesday evenings. So i can only do weights on those nights. I know you are supposed to train three nights a week, but I cant get near a squat rack on Friday nights. Usually.

My weekly Scedule is

Monday: Workout 1
Tuesday:5 Aside Soccer
Wednesday: Workout 2
Thursday: Rugby training

Friday Saturday and Sunday i havent been doing much. Game on a Sunday.

I might look into the fractional plates

Barry.Oglesby

No need for fractional plates at that weight. Show me what workout 1/2 are.

Deedsie

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

No need for fractional plates at that weight. Show me what workout 1/2 are.

I increase the Squat & Deadlift by 2.5Kg each work out
I increase the Bench and Overhead Press by 2.5Kg each week

Workout 1
Squat
85 Kg
Bench Press
62.5 Kg
Deadlift
85 Kg
Dips/Pressups
10x1 7x1 5x1
Reverse Crunch
3x10

Workout 2
Squat
87.5 Kg
Bench Press
62.5 Kg
Overhead Press
40 Kg
Pull Ups/Chin Ups
3x1 2x1 1x1
Prone Bridges
3x1min

Barry.Oglesby

Deedsie wrote: »

I increase the Squat & Deadlift by 2.5Kg each work out
I increase the Bench and Overhead Press by 2.5Kg each week

Workout 1
Squat
85 Kg
Bench Press
62.5 Kg
Deadlift
85 Kg
Dips/Pressups
10x1 7x1 5x1
Reverse Crunch
3x10

Workout 2
Squat
87.5 Kg
Bench Press
62.5 Kg
Overhead Press
40 Kg
Pull Ups/Chin Ups
3x1 2x1 1x1
Prone Bridges
3x1min

You're not progressing as you're going everything in one workout. If you only have 2 days per week, make 3 workouts and roll them into the next week.

Off the top of my head:
1.
Bench
some sort of trunk work
Deadlift
Some sort of assitance back work

2.
Squat
Some sort of trunk
Pull Up
Maybe some direct arm work

3.
Overhead Press
Some sort of... you get it by now
Row
Some sort of single leg work.

Just spitballing there but you're doing everything every session which is why you're stalling. Also don't be concerned about increasing your weight by 2.5 or anything like it. If it feels heavy on any given day, take the weight down and get your reps. If it feels light, add a little weight and get your reps.

squod

I'd agree with the previous poster, you're getting no recovery. Stuff gets harder as the weight goes up. My triceps take forever to recover, a split might suit you better.

BobbyOLeary

Deedsie wrote: »

Is there anything i can do to better prepare myself. What to eat before hand for extra energy?

People are telling me its all in the head, well my arms are disagreeing with that.

Barry made some good points about your workout structure so I won't comment on that but watch your food intake and sleep. I've attempted SS a few times in the past and gotten nowhere until I started eating properly and getting my sleep in. At the weights you're putting up fractional plates are not necessary.

ilovelamp2000

Have you ever done any rotator cuff work ?

If the answer is no, do some.

Barry.Oglesby

At 60kgs, rotator cuff work is not the issue. That's not to say he shouldn't do rotator cuff work, but it's not holding him back.

Also squod were you suggesting what I posted was a split or was it just a general observation. I didn't post a split by the by.

squod

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

At 60kgs, rotator cuff work is not the issue. That's not to say he shouldn't do rotator cuff work, but it's not holding him back.

Also squod were you suggesting what I posted was a split or was it just a general observation. I didn't post a split by the by.

General observation, I haven't tried SS so I can't compare. Split suits me.

WHIP IT!

Can someone post a link to the programme the OP is following? Not his programme, the one he is using I mean? Thanks...

Barry.Oglesby

squod wrote: »

General observation, I haven't tried SS so I can't compare. Split suits me.

Okay, I just thought you were referring to my post. That doesn't look like SS by the way but I could be wrong.

d'Oracle

Its not Starting Strength.
Or to be more correct, the linear progression programme described in Starting Strength.

Its stronglifts 5x5.

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

squod

I'll never learn.

BobbyOLeary

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

At 60kgs, rotator cuff work is not the issue. That's not to say he shouldn't do rotator cuff work, but it's not holding him back.

Also squod were you suggesting what I posted was a split or was it just a general observation. I didn't post a split by the by.

Barry, do you find many of your athletes get held back by a lack of rotator cuff strength? Is it that they're more prone to injuries or is that they're struggling to stabilise the shoulder during the lifts?

colman1212

I have had a similar problem lately.
Im doing starting strength and having issues with my bench.
I'm benching 72.5 but when i get onto my last rep my right arm comes in at a weird angle to get the bar up. It feels wrong. could this be a rotator cuff issue? I had this problem before ages ago but i cant remember what i did to get it to go away. I wonder should i just start using a wider grip (outside the rings). I think this helped last time but I was told that you should have your pinky on the rings but not outside..

TommyKnocker

d'Oracle wrote: »

Its not Starting Strength.
Or to be more correct, the linear progression programme described in Starting Strength.

Its stronglifts 5x5.

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

It's not strong lifts either as you do not have bench in both workouts on Strong lifts. Looks like the OP's own version of a 5x5 routine.

Also I would just like to say that I find the fractional plates helpful. Both strong lifts and SS encourage you to add weight to the bar each time you do a particular routine and in most gyms the smallest plates available are 1.25kg. This means adding 2.5kg to the bar each time.

This means that every second week you are benching twice, so are trying to add 5kg to what you lifted the previous week. I am only at 75kg bench (which is body weight for me) and find it hard to move up to 80 over two sessions in one week. So to allow me to keep adding and to put off deloading on my bench for as long as possible I use the fractional plates and don't think they are a waste. I don't think I need to wait until I stall at 200kg before I start using fractionals. I understood they were meant to help you break through a sticking point no matter at what weight that sticking point occurs at.

Just my 2 cents worth

M

InKonspikuou2

Looking to increase the weight each week should be a goal but it's not always a realisitic one. So don't see it as a failure if you aren't increasing your numbers each week or session. In the past when i've used a 5x5 program i've always done my own thing regarding the bench press. Actually i focused more on the press rather than the bench which i think helped me a fair bit on the bench press in the long run.

Sometimes you hit a brick wall and the only way around it is to try a different approach. No point coming up next week and trying the same weight and not by passing the plateau. Lower the weight if you must. Try more reps, 3 x 12-18. Try drop sets. Increment each set instead of doing all at the same weight. Or even switch to a dumbbell bench press for a week or two. Anything to shock your body and help it past the sticking point.

Transform

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

You're not progressing as you're going everything in one workout. If you only have 2 days per week, make 3 workouts and roll them into the next week.

Off the top of my head:
1.
Bench
some sort of trunk work
Deadlift
Some sort of assitance back work

2.
Squat
Some sort of trunk
Pull Up
Maybe some direct arm work

3.
Overhead Press
Some sort of... you get it by now
Row
Some sort of single leg work.

Just spitballing there but you're doing everything every session which is why you're stalling. Also don't be concerned about increasing your weight by 2.5 or anything like it. If it feels heavy on any given day, take the weight down and get your reps. If it feels light, add a little weight and get your reps.

everything he said - doing all movements 2-3 times per week is fine to begin with but over time it should be cut back to once per week i.e. benching heavy once a week but feel free to throw in some press ups also on other days

Transform

colman1212 wrote: »

I have had a similar problem lately.
Im doing starting strength and having issues with my bench.
I'm benching 72.5 but when i get onto my last rep my right arm comes in at a weird angle to get the bar up. It feels wrong. could this be a rotator cuff issue? I had this problem before ages ago but i cant remember what i did to get it to go away. I wonder should i just start using a wider grip (outside the rings). I think this helped last time but I was told that you should have your pinky on the rings but not outside..

not rotator more stability issues - did a video on it some time ago

grip width depends on shoulder size and making sure your forearms are always pointing upwards also

Deedsie

Hi, i know its neither SS or Strength 5x5. We cant do the press clean as the squat rack and weights are upstairs and were making the plaster fall off the ceiling below. It is also not suitable for an inverted row.

So we decided to squat and bench on Monday and Wednesday. (Workout 1&2)

I have access to a pretty basic gym on Fridays. I could use the machine weights there. Would anyone recommend or argue against lifting Monday and Wednesday as I am and doing the machine weights on a Friday?

I will be lifting the following tonight:

Squat 87.25Kg
Bench 62.5Kg*
Overhead Press 40Kg
Chinups 3xF
3x1 Min Prone Bridge.

I was also gonna go for a run tonight. 2 Miles maybe.

Not really up on the calorie count side of things. I have just calculated my maintenance calorie needs as 3056 cals/day

I want to gain weight by increasing muscle mass throughout my body, But i also have pockets of fat that need reduction. Around my waist, chest etc.

My diet today is gonna be:

Porridge at 9

Orange and a handful of Cashews at 11

Brown bread Sandwich, apple and Yogurt at 1

Banana & Orange at 4 with another handful of Nuts

Weights at 6.
Run at 7

Dinner at half seven. Two chicken Breasts Carrots and a half a bag of mix veg.

And a protein shake.

discombobulate

If your maintenance calories are over 3000 and thats what your eating you're going to lose fat but not put on much muscle there. Can't be much above 2000 cals there unless your going mad on the nuts. If you're trying to get the calorie intake up try add a few litres of milk to your diet every day.

d'Oracle

I'm not sure if I can add anything to what Barry and Dominick have said.
Or should I try to.

But I would point out that SS and Stronglifts (if that what you are basing this on) are basically a Squat + a press +a pull.

You are doing Squat Press Press + a pull.
You are probably knackering yourself out with that.

Can I ask why you can Over-head press one day, but you have to bench both? Just think that if your bench has crashed, it could be that you are not giving yourself the chance to recover.

Would you consider pullups/chin ups to replace the clean?
I.e Weight them when you can get 3x5 or 5x5?

Deedsie

discombobulate wrote: »

If your maintenance calories are over 3000 and thats what your eating you're going to lose fat but not put on much muscle there. Can't be much above 2000 cals there unless your going mad on the nuts. If you're trying to get the calorie intake up try add a few litres of milk to your diet every day.

I understand that

Gain weight = eat more calories
Lose weight = eat less calories

My issue is, I want to gain weight by increasing muscle mass throughout my body. But i also have pockets of fat, mainly around my waist. I dont want to be adding to this.

I could add milk and a couple of boiled eggs no problem to my diet.

Transform

Deedsie wrote: »

I understand that

Gain weight = eat more calories
Lose weight = eat less calories

My issue is, I want to gain weight by increasing muscle mass throughout my body. But i also have pockets of fat, mainly around my waist. I dont want to be adding to this.

I could add milk and a couple of boiled eggs no problem to my diet.

answer the bench press question.

Transform

Deedsie wrote: »

Hi, i know its neither SS or Strength 5x5. We cant do the press clean as the squat rack and weights are upstairs and were making the plaster fall off the ceiling below. It is also not suitable for an inverted row.

So we decided to squat and bench on Monday and Wednesday. (Workout 1&2)

I have access to a pretty basic gym on Fridays. I could use the machine weights there. Would anyone recommend or argue against lifting Monday and Wednesday as I am and doing the machine weights on a Friday?

I will be lifting the following tonight:

Squat 87.25Kg
Bench 62.5Kg*
Overhead Press 40Kg
Chinups 3xF
3x1 Min Prone Bridge.

I was also gonna go for a run tonight. 2 Miles maybe.

Not really up on the calorie count side of things. I have just calculated my maintenance calorie needs as 3056 cals/day

I want to gain weight by increasing muscle mass throughout my body, But i also have pockets of fat that need reduction. Around my waist, chest etc.

My diet today is gonna be:

Porridge at 9

Orange and a handful of Cashews at 11

Brown bread Sandwich, apple and Yogurt at 1

Banana & Orange at 4 with another handful of Nuts

Weights at 6.
Run at 7

Dinner at half seven. Two chicken Breasts Carrots and a half a bag of mix veg.

And a protein shake.

1mins x 3 in plank position = waste of time that could be better spent on exercies like weighted crunches, hanging knees to elbows, heavy side bends, reverse ab curls etc

Deedsie

Transform wrote: »

answer the bench press question.

Truth be told, i just do what the lad i am training with was doing. Its his gym we use. Is it very wrong to bench twice a week? I am always "deflated " on a Mondays training after not lifting for four days.

Would it be better to use machine weights on a Friday night rather than doing nothing? over the weekend or are machine weights to be avoided at all costs?

I have included another bowl of porridge at quarter to five on training days. Hope this helps tonight.

colman1212

Transform wrote: »

not rotator more stability issues - did a video on it some time ago

grip width depends on shoulder size and making sure your forearms are always pointing upwards also

Hi Transform,

That makes a lot of sense actually.
I've been having a lot of trouble with this lately and its really starting to get to me. Do you have a link to that video or have any idea what to do to rectify it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Transform

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l90gwRyERPA

hope that helps and there are other article on shoulder stuff in the blog - injuries section etc

colman1212

Transform wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l90gwRyERPA

hope that helps and there are other article on shoulder stuff in the blog - injuries section etc

Oh okay...so then you would reckon its a shoulder issue and doing exercises such as the one with the elastic band and the press-up still exercise at the end of the vid could rectify it? you wouldnt think its just an muscle imbalance on my right hand side? thanks.

Transform

colman1212 wrote: »

Oh okay...so then you would reckon its a shoulder issue and doing exercises such as the one with the elastic band and the press-up still exercise at the end of the vid could rectify it? you wouldnt think its just an muscle imbalance on my right hand side? thanks.

no i cant say what is right or wrong at all for you as i have not worked or seen you so i am just posting info and help from what i see working with clients day in day out and the problems that show up.

Foam rolling and rolling shoudlers with a tennis ball will help also - done a vid on this already.

Deedsie

I dunno what it was, porridge at qurter to five or what, but i Benched 62.5Kg last night. Was a struggle but i got through it ok.

Thanks for the advice here.

Barry.Oglesby

BobbyOLeary wrote: »

Barry, do you find many of your athletes get held back by a lack of rotator cuff strength? Is it that they're more prone to injuries or is that they're struggling to stabilise the shoulder during the lifts?

Just saw this now but I think you've mailed Will.

Anyway without being too cheeky, link about 5 paragraphs down is the pertinent info.

d'Oracle

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

Just saw this now but I think you've mailed Will.

Anyway without being too cheeky, link about 5 paragraphs down is the pertinent info.

I'm not sure that post is as smart as you thought it was.

That is basically a guy saying that there is something significant about a online culture reflecting an aspect of everyday human culture which would still be the case if the internet didn't exist.

Not to mention its clear lack of relevance, when you remove the preconceptions that I'm almost positive you have put in there.

BobbyOLeary

Just saw this now but I think you've mailed Will.

Anyway without being too cheeky, link about 5 paragraphs down is the pertinent info.

Could have just said that you'd rather keep Informed Performance stuff private but I guess posting obscure links to what you'd like to say works too.

Barry.Oglesby

d'Oracle wrote: »

I'm not sure that post is as smart as you thought it was.

I didn't even know I thought it was smart.

That is basically a guy saying that there is something significant about a online culture reflecting an aspect of everyday human culture which would still be the case if the internet didn't exist.

I wholly disagree. But then that's probably for another topic in another forum.

Not to mention its clear lack of relevance, when you remove the preconceptions that I'm almost positive you have put in there.

It's actually fairly relevant, though I'll admit I'm grafting it onto our experience.

BobbyO'Leary wrote:

Could have just said that you'd rather keep Informed Performance stuff private but I guess posting obscure links to what you'd like to say works too.

I could have, but this way is more fun. Informed Performance stuff is not secret, as you've probably seen from our website, I just think there should be a limit to the amount of our intellectual property we give away. I'll give you an example. One of our guys trains in another (big) gym when he can't get to us. Last week he saw a PT there walking around with his client and a sheet printed off our website (iPrograms discussed here before) taking him through a strength session written by Will for our athletes. The guy hadn't even bothered to remove the header. I suppose it's in the public domain so it's not for us to say who uses it, but we're going to have to limit what we give away at some stage. This is our living after all. That's not the first instance of that. boards.ie we've always considered a quid pro quo situation, where we're happy to share information and help people out on here and in turn people get to see our name. However we also have to consider the risk and potential pollution of our reputation when people go into the gym, make a fvcking hames of what they think they've seen us do on the internet, and then say "I saw it on Informed Performance.com!"

I was sort of trying to avoid saying that by pointing to the link, but since it probably got people's knickers in a twist more than me actually saying this outright, I suppose I should have posted this first.

really, really OT sorry mods.

BobbyOLeary

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

I just think there should be a limit to the amount of our intellectual property we give away.

That's fine, I can understand it completely and I'm not put out by that at all. It's just a bit of a pain in the hoop to ask a simple question and get some convoluted answer back. Cheers for clearing that up.

d'Oracle

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

I could have, but this way is more fun. Informed Performance stuff is not secret, as you've probably seen from our website, I just think there should be a limit to the amount of our intellectual property we give away. I'll give you an example. One of our guys trains in another (big) gym when he can't get to us. Last week he saw a PT there walking around with his client and a sheet printed off our website (iPrograms discussed here before) taking him through a strength session written by Will for our athletes. The guy hadn't even bothered to remove the header. I suppose it's in the public domain so it's not for us to say who uses it, but we're going to have to limit what we give away at some stage. This is our living after all. That's not the first instance of that. boards.ie we've always considered a quid pro quo situation, where we're happy to share information and help people out on here and in turn people get to see our name. However we also have to consider the risk and potential pollution of our reputation when people go into the gym, make a fvcking hames of what they think they've seen us do on the internet, and then say "I saw it on Informed Performance.com!"

I was sort of trying to avoid saying that by pointing to the link, but since it probably got people's knickers in a twist more than me actually saying this outright, I suppose I should have posted this first.

really, really OT sorry mods.

I think I see your point now.
I still think its a big, big stretch, but as you point out its not the place for debate.

Barry.Oglesby

I probably should have just said it outright, but I'm often accused of being too frank on here and that was an attempt not to put noses out of joint.

d'Oracle

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

I probably should have just said it outright, but I'm often accused of being too frank on here and that was an attempt not to put noses out of joint.

If you had been good 'ol roper, I probably would have laughed.

Not that this is anything for you to consider in future or anything....

Barry.Oglesby

d'Oracle wrote: »

If you had been good 'ol roper, I probably would have laughed.

Not that this is anything for you to consider in future or anything....

I'll take that under advisement. I'll have to resurrect that username just for smart-assery.

You Are Not A Gadget is a good book by the way. Not as good as Real Ultimate Power, but close.

d'Oracle

I have read an article and a few bits by him in the past. Might check it out

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

Not as good as Real Ultimate Power, but close.

He wrote a book?!! That is brilliant.

Barry.Oglesby

d'Oracle wrote: »

I have read an article and a few bits by him in the past. Might check it out



He wrote a book?!! That is brilliant.

It truly is an excellent tome.

If you want to have the Lanier discussion off topic stick it in the OT thread. A very interesting man is Jaron.

d-sher

HI OP,

Without knowing anything about you and Assuming your nutrition is spot. Try increasing your daily caloric intake by 10% - 15% for a week prior to benching your target weight. Again without know anything about your diet, I would say 3%-5% from lean protein, 3%-5% Complex carbs, 3%-5% good fats. This should cover all the bases and make up for any areas in your diet that is lacking.

With regards to water intake - Double your current levels for that week also (unless your already drinking 3 or 4 ltrs a day of course) Some say you dont need that much but personally I preform a ton better with high water intake.

Also, about 20 mins or so before you lift eat a bowl of porrdige with low fat millk and an over ripe bananna. Should do the trick! Very interested to know how you get on with this if you use it.

Deedsie

d-sher wrote: »

HI OP,

Without knowing anything about you and Assuming your nutrition is spot. Try increasing your daily caloric intake by 10% - 15% for a week prior to benching your target weight. Again without know anything about your diet, I would say 3%-5% from lean protein, 3%-5% Complex carbs, 3%-5% good fats. This should cover all the bases and make up for any areas in your diet that is lacking.

With regards to water intake - Double your current levels for that week also (unless your already drinking 3 or 4 ltrs a day of course) Some say you dont need that much but personally I preform a ton better with high water intake.

Also, about 20 mins or so before you lift eat a bowl of porrdige with low fat millk and an over ripe bananna. Should do the trick! Very interested to know how you get on with this if you use it.

Ill try that trick with over ripe banana. I am already having a bowl of porridge an hour before lifting. Ill try increase the caloric intake aswell. Im a big fan of Eggs but i dont eat them as much as i like woul a couple of boiled eggs a day be sufficient?

d-sher

Deedsie wrote: »

Ill try that trick with over ripe banana. I am already having a bowl of porridge an hour before lifting. Ill try increase the caloric intake aswell. Im a big fan of Eggs but i dont eat them as much as i like woul a couple of boiled eggs a day be sufficient?

Not really a huge fan of Boiled Eggs to be honest. Ok in moderation but as a day on day staple im not so sure. But, If eggs are your thing why not try something like this:

Egg white omlette 5/6 eggs (if you must use the yolk, 1 yolk to 3 whites)
Tiny splash of low fat milk
Red & Green peppers
Tomato
Onion
Break up a few Brazil nuts really small into it
add a few small brocolli florets.

Sounds like a lot of hassle but its literally a 5 or 6 minute job and suprisingly filling!
Granted a couple of boiled eggs would be easier.... But......
Who ever said this was going to be easy?!