bench press plateau

kdowling

i have been stuck on 120kg bench press for the last 7 years!!

i'm 6ft, 13.5 stone.

i just realised the last day in the gym that i have made no real effort to blast through this plateau.
i had the mindset that this is a relatively good weight to be lifting and just do the same thing every time.
i do three sets of 8=10 reps bench press 100kg, 110 kg and finish with 120kg. i also do incline bp, db presses and flys.
how do i blast through this plateau?

Dermighty

If you keep doing what you've always done then you'll always get what you always got.

That's a well worn phrase and is up on the wall in my local gym.

The fact of the matter is you've probably been doing the same thing for the last 7 years, for whatever reason. If you're absolutely maxing out at 1 rep of 120kg then the easiest thing to do would be stop doing 100kg x 8-10 reps and instead do it for 4-6 reps before increasing the weight. You're still working but you're also saving energy which could be put to better use by trying to bench 125kg.

That's just an idea, the other idea would be start doing forced negatives of 130kg (with a spotter!) in addition to regular benching, this would force your body to adapt to handling a heavier weight and after a few cycles you'd be in a better position to bench 125 or 130.

Hanley

Short on time - but I'd stay away from super-max negs. The shoulder is a fragile unit.

How often do you bench? What's a normal workout look like?

What's your back strength like? How many chins/pull ups can you do? Do you do inverted rows, if so, how many? Where do you miss your benches?

I'll reply properly tonight if you answer those

Dermighty

Hanley wrote: »

I'll reply properly tonight if you answer those

Well la dee da! :P

kdowling

Hanley wrote: »

Short on time - but I'd stay away from super-max negs. The shoulder is a fragile unit.

How often do you bench? What's a normal workout look like?

What's your back strength like? How many chins/pull ups can you do? Do you do inverted rows, if so, how many? Where do you miss your benches?

I'll reply properly tonight if you answer those

i bench once a week
rarely do back, the only body part i really neglect.
could prob do around 20+ pulls up, not sure really, don't do inverted rows
didn't think back affected bench press but obviously it does!

Mellor

Stop neglecting your back. It's probably as simple as that.
And not just a few pulls up once a week, give it a session or split-session just like chest, legs, shoulders etc. Watch the Dave Tate "so you think you can bench" series on youtube. Look how much time he talks about the back in relation to benching.

The Guvnor

You are doing roughly:

1. 10 x 100kg
2. 9 x 110kg
3. 8 x 120kg

Based on this your 1RM could easily be 150kg.

You can do more than 120kg imo by just changing your reps and sets.

Hanley

I’d be utterly shocked if you never train your back and can do 20+ full range of motion pull ups.

Anyway, it’s beside the point. Trying to bench bigger numbers with no back training is like firing a cannon out of a canoe. No point having all the power if you can’t control it - and that’s what your back is supposed to do. So train your back, lots of rows - inverted rows, DB rows, Pendlay rows, face pulls etc etc… Pick 2, do em one day. Do the other 2 on another day. And push them hard w/ good form.

The other option is to increase volume and bench more frequently. Or put a progressive periodised plan in place. Seems like you’re kinda just going thru the motions at the mo reading your post.