can't increase max flat bench

robarmstrong

Hi all,

Been getting overly frustrated on this for a while now.

I've hit my 1 rep PR for a flat bench but I've been stuck on it for around 3 months now which is a bit bizarre. I've tried many exercises to try improve it but can't seem to break through this time, I've tried negative lifts, different chest exercises to help increase strength along with shoulders and triceps. Anyone any ideas?

Cheers,

Reps4jesus

Gonna need more info. are you following any specific bench program or just going in and trying to work up to a 1rm each time? how long have you been training, whats your current 1rm. What is your general sticking point?

Generally i have found that the key to increasing bench is just volume. Loads of sets, low reps, not hitting failure.

Stuff like overhead pressing, dips, floor pressing etc can obviously make a big difference too but for me the more often i bench the more progress i make

robarmstrong

Just trying to work up to a 1rm, been training about a year now. My current 1rm is 125kg but want to hit 135kg.

I've tried lots of sets with low reps too but no joy. I haven't actually tried overhead pressing so I'll give that a bash and see if that will help contribute to getting the 1rm up. Nice one!

endacl

125kg is decent. Maybe turn the gravity down?

Brian?

How much upper back work are you doing?

Edit: lay out your whole program.

robarmstrong

Plenty, close and far grip lat pulldowns, bent over barbell & dumbbell rows, rack cable flies for delts etc. I've covered pretty much all upper back excercises along with shoulders, chest and triceps, the only thing I actually neglected was overhead pressing, I don't really do that as much as I should so I might start to include that in heavily.

I work traps quite a bit with shrugs, dumbbell only though so I feel maybe they need to be worked on a tad more.

Mellor

robarmstrong wrote: »

I've tried many exercises to try improve it but can't seem to break through this time, I've tried negative lifts, different chest exercises to help increase strength along with shoulders and triceps. Anyone any ideas?

Have you tried actually bench pressing.
As in a proper progressive overload over 4-8 weeks?

robarmstrong wrote: »

Just trying to work up to a 1rm, been training about a year now. My current 1rm is 125kg but want to hit 135kg.

Does that means every session you just try and lift a 1rm?
If thats the case I'm not surprised its not moving. Intensiy too high, and Volume will be way too low.
That stuff will work for a begineer, when you only have to think about lifting to get stronger. But at 125kg, that way too often for 1rms.

How many times a week do you bench press, or how many can you?

LincolnHawk

Agree with above. You have a very good bench, now you need to be smart with your progression.
The Ed Coan peaking cycle is good. But there are loads of options and different approaches you could take

robarmstrong

Brian? wrote: »

How much upper back work are you doing?

Edit: lay out your whole program.

Back & Biceps workout:

6 x 6 rackpulls/deadlifts
4 x 10 wide grip lat pulldowns
4 x 10 close grip lat pulldowns
4 x 8 bent over dumbbell rows
4 x 8 cable grip rows
4 x 8 barbell rows
4 x 8 t-bar rows
4 x 6 weighted pull-ups
4 x 8 dumbbell curls
4 x 8 hammer curls
4 x 8 concentration curls
4 x 8 preacher curls (varies between dumbbell and barbell depending on how I feel that day tbh)
4 x 8 cable curls
4 x 8 cable hammer curls

Chest Shoulders & Triceps
4 x 8 Flat Barbell Bench press
4 x 8 flat dumbbell bench press
4 x 8 incline barbell bench press
4 x 8 incline dumbbell bench press
4 x 10 incline dumbbell flies
4 x 10 flat dumbbell flies
3 x 20 chest press machine (alternating grips at 10 in an intense superset)
4 x 8 incline shoulder press
4 x 8 front raises dumbbells
4 x 8 front raises with a plate
4 x 8 cable front raises
4 x 8 cable side raises
3 x 20 pushups hands normal distance apart with 4th set being until failure
4 x 8 seated shoulder presses
4 x 8 overhead triceps extension (cable)
4 x 8 overhead triceps extension ( single arm dumbbell)
4 x 8 close grip bench press
4 x 8 triceps cable pulldown
4 x 15 dips

Now that I'm looking at the upper body program laid out, I can see I'm lacking a good bit on shoulders, particular pushing methods which would definitely need overhead pressing added in!

I don't try for a new 1rm max every session, I bench one day a week for chest, whenever I do chest any other day that week I avoid benching and focus on other movements.

Blacktie.

robarmstrong wrote: »

Back & Biceps workout:

6 x 6 rackpulls/deadlifts
4 x 10 wide grip lat pulldowns
4 x 10 close grip lat pulldowns
4 x 8 bent over dumbbell rows
4 x 8 cable grip rows
4 x 8 barbell rows
4 x 8 t-bar rows
4 x 6 weighted pull-ups
4 x 8 dumbbell curls
4 x 8 hammer curls
4 x 8 concentration curls
4 x 8 preacher curls (varies between dumbbell and barbell depending on how I feel that day tbh)
4 x 8 cable curls
4 x 8 cable hammer curls

Chest Shoulders & Triceps
4 x 8 Flat Barbell Bench press
4 x 8 flat dumbbell bench press
4 x 8 incline barbell bench press
4 x 8 incline dumbbell bench press
4 x 10 incline dumbbell flies
4 x 10 flat dumbbell flies
3 x 20 chest press machine (alternating grips at 10 in an intense superset)
4 x 8 incline shoulder press
4 x 8 front raises dumbbells
4 x 8 front raises with a plate
4 x 8 cable front raises
4 x 8 cable side raises
3 x 20 pushups hands normal distance apart with 4th set being until failure
4 x 8 seated shoulder presses
4 x 8 overhead triceps extension (cable)
4 x 8 overhead triceps extension ( single arm dumbbell)
4 x 8 close grip bench press
4 x 8 triceps cable pulldown
4 x 15 dips

Now that I'm looking at the upper body program laid out, I can see I'm lacking a good bit on shoulders, particular pushing methods which would definitely need overhead pressing added in!

I don't try for a new 1rm max every session, I bench one day a week for chest, whenever I do chest any other day that week I avoid benching and focus on other movements.

Jesus man that's some amount of volume you got there!

On the advice side of things have you tried altering your benching rep and set schemes? Or hopping on a specific bench peak program?

Caliden

OP, do you enjoy eating ice cream?

robarmstrong

Haha the pre-workout I take is pretty strong so it helps quite a lot!!

I like ice-cream the odd time, hoping that's not a suggestion to go on a bulk!!

drdeadlift

Reducing the amount of volume in your training is key,you might be spreading yourself too thin.
125kg is a great bench btw.

Mellor

That's a very different program than I what thought you were saying. Where's the 1RMs fit in.

I think you've actually got the opposite problem. Volume is so high that intensity can't be that high. The above is very very bodybuildery rather than strengthy.
The following is a genuine question and not in any way backhanded - are you on any sort of "pharma assistance"?

robarmstrong

I dedicate one session for 1rm, sorry should have mentioned that!

The intensity is actually pretty high due to the pre workout though, it's fiercely good and diet is also good so energy levels are pretty high.

No pharma assistance at all! Just hit a plateau and from the advice so far it seems I've been neglecting certain exercises and should be alternating different plans/methods which I'm chuffed to hear so I can take it onboard and try it out

Reps4jesus

Mellor wrote: »

That's a very different program than I what thought you were saying. Where's the 1RMs fit in.

I think you've actually got the opposite problem. Volume is so high that intensity can't be that high. The above is very very bodybuildery rather than strengthy.
The following is a genuine question and not in any way backhanded - are you on any sort of "pharma assistance"?

I agree with this. Thats a whole lot of volume. If you just want to focus on strength and increasing your bench i would cut out some of the bodybuilding movements there and focus on benching and similar movements. Standard benching (try doing 10x3 reps at a weight that you dont have to grind out any reps), close grip, floor press, pin press, overhead press and then do a whole load of rear delt work to go with it.

Alf Veedersane

robarmstrong wrote: »

Back & Biceps workout:

6 x 6 rackpulls/deadlifts
4 x 10 wide grip lat pulldowns
4 x 10 close grip lat pulldowns
4 x 8 bent over dumbbell rows
4 x 8 cable grip rows
4 x 8 barbell rows
4 x 8 t-bar rows
4 x 6 weighted pull-ups
4 x 8 dumbbell curls
4 x 8 hammer curls
4 x 8 concentration curls
4 x 8 preacher curls (varies between dumbbell and barbell depending on how I feel that day tbh)
4 x 8 cable curls
4 x 8 cable hammer curls

Chest Shoulders & Triceps
4 x 8 Flat Barbell Bench press
4 x 8 flat dumbbell bench press
4 x 8 incline barbell bench press
4 x 8 incline dumbbell bench press
4 x 10 incline dumbbell flies
4 x 10 flat dumbbell flies
3 x 20 chest press machine (alternating grips at 10 in an intense superset)
4 x 8 incline shoulder press
4 x 8 front raises dumbbells
4 x 8 front raises with a plate
4 x 8 cable front raises
4 x 8 cable side raises
3 x 20 pushups hands normal distance apart with 4th set being until failure
4 x 8 seated shoulder presses
4 x 8 overhead triceps extension (cable)
4 x 8 overhead triceps extension ( single arm dumbbell)
4 x 8 close grip bench press
4 x 8 triceps cable pulldown
4 x 15 dips

Now that I'm looking at the upper body program laid out, I can see I'm lacking a good bit on shoulders, particular pushing methods which would definitely need overhead pressing added in!

I don't try for a new 1rm max every session, I bench one day a week for chest, whenever I do chest any other day that week I avoid benching and focus on other movements.

So do you just workout two days or are they just the 'relevant' days?

There's too much volume and there are too many exercises that overlap so far with others that the law of diminishing returns is strong there. You don't need to work every muscle in every angle in every session.

Start with a 4-8 week progressive overload with your benching. Pick 2 bench variations to accompany it and pick 2 accessories.

Mellor

robarmstrong wrote: »

I
The intensity is actually pretty high due to the pre workout though, it's fiercely good and diet is also good so energy levels are pretty high.

I'm sure it's an intense session. But by intensity I was referring to the relative load of each set. To get through that many sets, the intensity has to be sub max - 8rm or whatever reps. You are doing 74 sets on chest day, unless you are in the gym 4-5 hours, you have to be keeping rest short, which also drops intensity.
You can testvthat pretty easily. What weight do you use forbthe 4 x 8 flat barbell bench?

The reason I mentioned pharma is because the is very much a bodybuilder millions of reps of type approach that's only possible to recover from due to the "assistance". If your goal are slightly bodybuildery, then so whatever suits. But if your goals are purely about getting stronger, then I'd change up a lot of the above. Whats your main goal and how many days do you workout per week?