Bench press issues

mperrott2205

Hello everyone,

So I'm about 4.5 months into my weight lifting career and it's going well in most areas and I'm seeing a noticeable change in most places, especially my arms and shoulders which is nice. The weight is progressively getting heavier too in most places - Apart from the bench press.

Does anyone have any advice in getting stronger at the bench press? Atm the most I can properly do 4 sets of 8-12 reps is 35kg, which is quite a small amount, but a significant step up from when I started (I was doing 15kg).

Oh also, I am trying to lose weight so I am in a caloric deficit which I know can impede on my strength and muscle gains but still I would like to be doing at least 50kg asap.

Many thanks

Philllbis

Are you working your back with other lifts or rows? A stronger back helps your bench.

nadz6012

Why such high volume?

MG_Fit

What are your goals?

JenMc14

If you can do 4 sets of 8-12 reps, I think I'd up the weight and drop some reps/sets.

jwdieter

Up the weight with lower reps.

ItsCasey

If strength is your goal, you need to stop with the high-rep sets at low weights. That's not going to make you stronger. Give Starting Strength or Stronglifts a try.

stephenszymanski

Look into stronglifts. I'd drop the reps and increase the weight.

james6998

3-6 reps builds power but not so much size. Bodybuilding is about strict from, getting as much as you can out of each muscle. The rep range you are using is perfect for building muscle mass. Strength training is a whole different game. Many people bench with the weight too close to the neck. The bar should drop just below the nipples. Shoulders should be back and down. Chest stuck out but not in an unnatural way. Personally i have made much better gains using dumbbells not to mention less stress on the shoulders. Remember the amount of weight doesn't mean anything if its not right. If you want the best workout ever try this once at least. either bench or dumbbell. set up to do 4-5 sets. 8-12 reps. Make sure the weight is set so you can drop 20lbs off of each set really fast. Or if u really like pain only 10lbs off. Now what you do is you take the weight you normally use for your set. Do your first set. Without rest or any time wasted at all. Drop the 10-20lbs and do your second set. Repeat dropping the weight and doing the sets. Tell me how your chest feels after that. Btw if you dont feel it in your chest and instead feel it in your shoulders. Your doing improper form for the exercise. Perfect form reps is the key to Bodybuilding, shame i only learned this after 25+ years of lifting.

michaelmadonna

First, I agree with some of the other posts - lower the reps and increase the weight.

Second, a "tweek" I learned from my trainer to increase strenght in the bench press was to stop doing the flat bench press for about 4-6 weeks and work on increasing strength in your shoulders with progressive loading on Overhead Press and Shoulder Press (and probably others, these are what we focused on) - I did this and came back to the flat bench about 6 weeks later and broke through a plateau and then continued to make some gains. He had an explanation of why it worked but that, I don't remember.

kevinjb1

How much gain can he really expect while eating at a deficit and cutting weight?

whierd

What are your fitness goals?
What does your overall program look like?

michaelmadonna

How much gain can he really expect while eating at a deficit and cutting weight?

OP has only been lifting 4.5 months, he can still make gains in strength that early on even at a deficit. I agree he won't be building much if any additional LBM but the question OP posed was essentially how to get over a plateau on a particular exercise. Just saying what had once worked for me.

K_Serz

Regardless of your goals. Heres some advice someone gave me once.

Assuming you do flat, decline, and incline..... Do your worst exercise first, and save your best one last.

Most people suck at incline.....myself included. I started doing incline first, then flat second. Never saw such amazing gains in my bench or shoulder press until I started doing that.

Be safe and good luck!

ironanimal

First step is to video yourself if you can and see if there's any glaring issues with form.

Last2bfirst

As has been said, working secondary muscles, Biceps, triceps, Front Delts, triceps etc is going to improve your over all bench, especially the fast twitch muscles. Also you may add flys to your chest work and/or incline bench. Dont stop doing the bench. It is an over all resistence exercise adn works, at least at some level all the muscles I listed above. If I only had three-four resistence exercises I could do it would be bench, incline bench, seated rows and squats.

Drej3735

For me, the way I got stronger over time was to drop the weight and increase the reps! It helped me but everyone's body is different and it's all trial & error, trying to find out what works best for u..good luck tho!

jdm_taco

My bench went up considerably with dumb bells.

I like rep range of 5-8

LolBroScience

How much gain can he really expect while eating at a deficit and cutting weight?

Depends what you mean by gains: Size or Strength?

Size, not much at all - especially with a larger deficit. If he was hovering closer to maintenance it would be possible (although very slow... much like a recomp).

Strength - Possible, but more difficult. I've been at a deficit for 13 weeks and I'm still making strength gains on all core lifts while leaning up. It's more or less about your nervous system adapting to the weight though and being able to more efficiently recruit fibers.

Danny_Boy13

8-12 reps is more volume or hyperthrophy (muscle building) training. If your goal is strength then the reps should be under 5 reps at about 80-85% of your 1RM. Since you are new I would recommend StrongLifts 5x5 or Starting Strength. Both are very good reads and I have done both programs. I usually switch btwn the two of them though and I have seen all kinds of gains from starting both early in the year. StrongLifts has a very nice iPhone app that coaches you on what days you should do what lifts and how many sets, reps and weight. I'm still waiting for the Android app (plz hurry on that Mehdi) but know the program enough off memory. In short you really cant go wrong with either plan listed above in regards to strength.

Now if your goal is muscle size then just keep doing the volume training like you are, eat a lot of clean food and don't over train your chest. Some guys just have a hard time developing their pecs.