Stalled on bench press
sathor
Posts: 202 Member
I am stalled on progressing on my bench press, and wondering if anyone has any useful ideas on how to get progressing again on it. Yesterday after not getting more in (I tried adding weight the day before) I did some more with half the weight. I am thinking of dropping to half weight and working my way back up.
My routine is the leg work first (in order) then the weight machines (after the first three, I do the back extension, and then the last two weight machines) and finish with a weird looking ab machine.
My should hurt a little yesterday, so I think that might have affected the shoulder press, but the bench press has not gotten better in the last 2 weeks.
(on 7/23 I was recovering from a trail run, so I didn't use the free-weight machines and instead used the stacks)
So... wth is with the bench press!???!?
(and the fickle img tags...)
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Replies
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Ok you got it.
just keep at it,
Wait, do you do this full body kind of workout every day?0 -
Ok you got it.
just keep at it
then I had to go and resize the pic to get the last row to fit, and now it is harder to read. SMH.
Every other day (sometime I take 2 rest days)0 -
whenever i hit a wall like you are on your bench, take a deload week. take a full week and decrease your weights for each set. get a solid week of recovery and let your body rest! then hit it again hard the following week, you'll feel like a monster. good luck with it man!0
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Bench not progressing?
1. You better be over head pressing!
2. Do variants - incline, decline, dumbbell, close grip, unilateral etc
3. Eat more
4. Get a stronger back - Bent over rows, Pull ups, etc
5. Does your lock out suck - use bands, blocks, 1&1/4 reps0 -
I like to think that is doing well, is that not getting some work in the should press? I could do a few sessions on the cybex machine on that, I think the rotator cuff gets used there as well, but the pain I mentioned was in a different part of my back/shoulder. I slept on it funny I think.0 -
Bench not progressing?
1. You better be over head pressing!
2. Do variants - incline, decline, dumbbell, close grip, unilateral etc
3. Eat more
4. Get a stronger back - Bent over rows, Pull ups, etc
5. Does your lock out suck - use bands, blocks, 1&1/4 reps
I have the presses right after the bench, see img above.
The variants might help, I will switch to cybex for a week and see how that goes.
But I don't wanna eat more. And it's ONLY the bench that is a problem right now. If the other exercises were suffering, I'd be downing more protein than I am. (though I should down more)
I would like to get my hands on a real rowing machine version the freeweight machine the gym has. I don't like the pull up machine (can't quite do them on my own yet, and the machine is on the edge of the second floor, and scares the crap out of me)
to the 5th point, I have no idea what you are saying.0 -
that image is hard to read on my screen do you always do bench on a machine? why?0
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that image is hard to read on my screen do you always do bench on a machine? why?
Lack of spotters at the gym, mostly. I have a home machine too, which is more like a traditional bench than at the gym, with a cross bar that keeps it from crushing me when I get to failure.0 -
that image is hard to read on my screen do you always do bench on a machine? why?
Lack of spotters at the gym, mostly. I have a home machine too, which is more like a traditional bench than at the gym, with a cross bar that keeps it from crushing me when I get to failure.
have you tried dumbbells at the gym? im asking because ive heard people say the machine isnt natural and can lead to shoulder problems. especially as you go higher in weight.0 -
All this machine talk is saddening me, Is you goal general fitness or a body builder?
Machines are fine for a body builder since all they need to do is look HUGE and a fit body isn't necessary.
With machines they can easily put your body in a line of motion that isn't correct and takes all the balance work than any fitness athlete needs.
Finding a spotter is as easy as "hey will you spot me, don't touch the bar unless I call out 'help' ".0 -
that image is hard to read on my screen do you always do bench on a machine? why?
Lack of spotters at the gym, mostly. I have a home machine too, which is more like a traditional bench than at the gym, with a cross bar that keeps it from crushing me when I get to failure.
have you tried dumbbells at the gym? im asking because ive heard people say the machine isnt natural and can lead to shoulder problems. especially as you go higher in weight.
Might try that as well, couldn't hurt (unless I dropped one on my face, then it would hurt, but you know...)0 -
All this machine talk is saddening me, Is you goal general fitness or a body builder?
Machines are fine for a body builder since all they need to do is look HUGE and a fit body isn't necessary.
With machines they can easily put your body in a line of motion that isn't correct and takes all the balance work than any fitness athlete needs.
Finding a spotter is as easy as "hey will you spot me, don't touch the bar unless I call out 'help' ".
The other day, the only other person at the gym was a 'rotund' person (made me look like a stick) who freaked out that I started using the leg extension machine at 130#. Some days are better than others there though. ( I got the leg extension up to 170# in under a week)
It seems like the other muscle groups are building fast, but not the bench. It's annoying me.0 -
A woman can spot you, She doesn't have to lift all 150 pounds, just 10 - 20 pounds worth while you lift the rest.0
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If you are so scared to use a spotter, like the other guy said, "use dumbbells" There are a lot of dumbbell exercises you can do to help build a strong chest/bench.0
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I switched to a pec machine and a different shoulder machine, as well as the rowing device. I dropped the weight on the arm curls and tricep press, and am moving those up by 5~10 each session so far (depending on machine setup)
I also dropped the lex curl and extension to 110 +5 each time, leg press is still at 450. The ab machine I have been adding 10# each time, and I am at just shy of my bodyweight on the back extension. I will keep up the adding weight (aside from leg press) by the 5# mark untill I stall, drop back a bit, and do that again, and then go back to the other machines. At least it's a change of pace.0 -
If you are eating a surplus and gaining body weight and that is the only lift you are stalled on, deload by ~20% and work back up. If you are around 1.2xBW for your max then linear gains may be ending.0
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I'm going to ignore the fact that you're using machines instead of free weights and point out that you're doing too much work instead. If your dates are correct you're hitting it every other day, if not every day. Where is the time to rest, recover, and grow?0
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All this machine talk is saddening me, Is you goal general fitness or a body builder?
Machines are fine for a body builder since all they need to do is look HUGE and a fit body isn't necessary.
With machines they can easily put your body in a line of motion that isn't correct and takes all the balance work than any fitness athlete needs.
Finding a spotter is as easy as "hey will you spot me, don't touch the bar unless I call out 'help' ".
I've hard the hardest time trying to get the fitness coaches to help me with dumbbells. I want to do upper body exercises with light (5 - 8 lbs) with dumbells. Twice they put me on machines despite me protesting it. I quit trying to use the weight room but I went back today. Today was the third one that was insisting I use the machines and I had to keep saying No. Even when I was on the weight bench he was trying to tell me to use a machine. The problem is I need help with positioning so I need to ask them for help. I want to keep going to the weight room but this is difficult to deal with.0 -
All this machine talk is saddening me, Is you goal general fitness or a body builder?
Machines are fine for a body builder since all they need to do is look HUGE and a fit body isn't necessary.
With machines they can easily put your body in a line of motion that isn't correct and takes all the balance work than any fitness athlete needs.
Finding a spotter is as easy as "hey will you spot me, don't touch the bar unless I call out 'help' ".
I've hard the hardest time trying to get the fitness coaches to help me with dumbbells. I want to do upper body exercises with light (5 - 8 lbs) with dumbells. Twice they put me on machines despite me protesting it. I quit trying to use the weight room but I went back today. Today was the third one that was insisting I use the machines and I had to keep saying No. Even when I was on the weight bench he was trying to tell me to use a machine. The problem is I need help with positioning so I need to ask them for help. I want to keep going to the weight room but this is difficult to deal with.
Then why use the coaches if you don't like their methods? And why do you want to use 5 lb weights! Your purse weighs more. A bag of groceries weighs 4x more. It's actually harder to teach form without weight.0 -
I need help positioning is why I ask them for help.
I was hoping to do the BFL journal where you start out light and keep increasing it. Both times I've insisted on dumbbells they gave me such a hard time I was happy to finish 1 set with them. Twice they would not help me unless I used the machines. I refuse to use them again though.0 -
I'm going to ignore the fact that you're using machines instead of free weights and point out that you're doing too much work instead. If your dates are correct you're hitting it every other day, if not every day. Where is the time to rest, recover, and grow?
every other day with low volume is ok for a beginner who can't move a lot of weight. EVERY day isn't good for anyone.0 -
Be sure to change up your routine every 8 to 12 weeks.
Maybe try something like 5X5 workouts for a while....that routine is supposed to be very good for building max strength.0 -
Bump...some good information here.
My bench hasn't stalled, but it's VERY slow...one of the things I'm currently researching
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Bump...some good information here.
My bench hasn't stalled, but it's VERY slow...one of the things I'm currently researching
perhaps you are strong enough that it is just going to be slow? what is the ratio of your 1rm to bodyweight?0 -
BuMP0
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I'm going to ignore the fact that you're using machines instead of free weights and point out that you're doing too much work instead. If your dates are correct you're hitting it every other day, if not every day. Where is the time to rest, recover, and grow?
This^^^ With more rest you will progress in a better way.0 -
So, would it be better to do
Day 1 5 of 10 exercises
Day 2 the other 5
Day 3 rest
Day 4 = day 1 etc?0 -
So, would it be better to do
Day 1 5 of 10 exercises
Day 2 the other 5
Day 3 rest
Day 4 = day 1 etc?
Better to do day 1, 5 of the 10 (workout A).
Day 2 rest
Day 3 the other 5 (workout
Day 4 rest
Day 5 the first 5 (workout A)
Day 6 and 7 rest
Day 1 of the next week, workout B
Day 2 rest
Day 3 workout A...
You get the idea?0
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