OHP is hard for us ladies to progress on. I've been stuck at 60lbs forever.
I agree with maybe deloading a bit and working back up.

Perhaps it's your form maybe?

I'm with you on that too. I get through 45# then go up to 50# but can't get 5x5 and have to deload again.

Without reading everyone’s comments, please know that OHP is the freaking lift from hell for me. I thought I was all bad *kitten* and such until I found out I was actually doing a “push press” rather than a straight OHP. Those &&**%$ things. :grumble:

I’m stuck at what? 50-55 lbs. I am thinking (even tho the hubs doesn’t think I need them) about going ahead and ordering some fractionals, simply because a five lb increase is just too danged much.

Now I’m going to go back and read comments.

:flowerforyou:

ETA: haha…Auddii and I are on the same page…Yay…it’s not just me…(So I am either really smart, or Auddii is a freak, LMAO! I you, Auddii!)

A woman bodybuilder and I just recently had a long chat and she suggested that for OHP I should be using a pyramid. I'm not sure but I'm thinking I might see progress doing this. She admitted she is old school and said she would start at 50 until failure then go to 45 and go until failure. I started the whole conversation with her because aim suffering the same problem with OHP.

I watched a video on form (Starting Strength video) over and over. I will keep at it. My gym only has 2.5 weights

I bought my own 1.25lb weights off amazon, and they weren't too pricey. Other girls have bough washers from a fastenal store with a 2 inch inner diameter. They're made from zinc, weigh anywhere from 0.6-1lb, and can be used in multiple combinations to add different amount of weight.

It takes time. As I said to another lifter on here, I have been lifting heavy in total for 10 years. Strength is not an overnight thing, neither is any type of fitness or health thing. It is not only about the form, the weight on the barbell or your muscle's ability to lift that weight. If things get tough, there are other things that may or may not help (if you are prepared to be flexible and experiment). These are food intake (calories and macros)...are you eating enough carbs? protein? calories? I know for upper body lifts I need more calories...especially carbs. Are you resting enough? Getting enough hydration and sleep? Are you warming up adequately, stretching the muscles before and after lifts? Are you taking enough rest between sets? Are you trying smaller increments at a time than 2.5 kg - 5 kg?

Yes, there are a lot of variables...in order to build overall strength, you need time and patience. (hell, it would be fantastic if we could just BAMF every lift, doesn't quite work out this way in reality) If everything in the above paragraph is in order, then maybe it is time to try madcow or Wendler's 5/3/1, just for the OHP. I was shocked at how just warming up properly and resting long enough between sets has made a big difference...that and upping my calorie intake a smidge or two. : )

I'm having trouble progressing quickly in OHP too. I'm only at 60lbs. And my last rep was hard.

I spent two sessions at 55lbs... and now I've spent two sessions at 60lbs.

Longer rest times between has helped.... And I can tell when my form wasn't good based on difficulty too.

We'll all get there..... It just takes time. :-)

I've been stuck on OHP too...deloaded again last week due to form, so back to 60 pounds. I agree on patience and fractional plates (or socks filled with pennies in my case!).

Good to know I'm not alone!

I've finally said @&$# it today, and I'm started 3x5 for my overheads. I'm hoping it'll help me progress more as I've been on 25kilos for months

I started the OHP at 45 pounds last May...I was just able to finally lift 80 pounds last week. I was stuck at 70-75 FOREVER! I didn't think I'd ever be able to do 80. I was only able to do 3x5, but I'll take it! lol I'm sure it will be another few months before I'm able to make 85 pounds.

I've been stuck @ 60 lb. on OHP for a few weeks too. Last time, I decided to drop down to 55 lb. again, and that was STILL a struggle. I have to remember not to make it a push press just to get the reps out. I feel like I'm cheating myself if I stop after 2-3 reps, but I'm trying to get over that and focus on good form and doing the move RIGHT.

just to put things in perspective
according to this nice calculator http://www.strstd.com/ if you are 140 lbs women, 45lbs OHP for 5 reps puts you right in the middle of untrained and novice. Novice means 6-9 months! of training. Half way there would be 3 to 5 months.
I am lifting for almost a year. I can do only 55 lbs for 5 reps. That is almost intermediate level (up to 2 years! o f training).
It sucks when you look at other women here and see they can OHP 100 or 80 or even 60 lbs, but don't measure your progress against others. It's awesome that you managed to start with the oly bar, most women can't even do that. I couldn't, I was using 22 lbs bar in the beginning.

ooh nice, thanks! it puts me below untrained for bench, 2/3 of the way towards novice for squat, 1/3 towards intermediate for deadlift and 1/4 towards intermediate for OHP..

my bench is also my worst. I'm over intermedita for deads and squats, slightly under for OHP but not even novice when it comes to bench :sad: I hope I'll get to intermidiate during the next year

I'm stuck at 55 for OHP, I can just squeak 5x5 out (with grunting) and rows are stalled at 80. I think fractional weights to take to the gym are next on my list. Others are still going up alright, but I've only been doing this for a couple of weeks. I have the sneaking suspicion that my squats aren't quite proper form, but I don't see others in my gym squatting. Actually, I've only seen one other woman trying the weights, and she was doing deads.