OHP Weight
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I hate OHP. Ive been stalled at 55/60lbs for a month.0
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I am FINALLY up to 75# on OHP, but it is my nemesis and I have been working for months on this. It finally got better when I started doing clean & press (which I LOVE) and some other accessories. Us women struggle more with upper body stuff (which pisses me off now that I have stalled on bench press).0
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Any progress with the OHP is fully acceptable. If you can add 1 lb per week or 1 rep per week ... pat yourself on the back. Be realistic about progression, practice good form, and let your body catch up like it's going to (meaning slowly, because the OHP is the "purest" upper body lift out of all of them, even though it's technically a full-body lift since you're going to have to keep everything tight to provide yourself with a stable base to lift the bar overhead without dropping it on your noggin).
Some day around Christmas time, when you can haul your Christmas tree box out of the attic without needing help from your significant other, and lift it over your head like a boss, you're going to be like "thank you OHP". Keep it in perspective and don't let the numbers discourage you. :flowerforyou:0 -
Some day around Christmas time, when you can haul your Christmas tree box out of the attic without needing help from your significant other, and lift it over your head like a boss, you're going to be like "thank you OHP". Keep it in perspective and don't let the numbers discourage you. :flowerforyou:
I remembered the press fondly while wrestling a memory foam mattress pad onto the top shelf of my closet earlier this summer. Let's just say that last summer, it was a lot harder.0 -
a grand total of 56.25 lbs here... i did start with 30 lbs preloaded barbell.... progress will happen albeit slowly...0
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Have to chime in - as this lift is my nemesis.
12 weeks in (1 week break), deloaded down and working back up - and I am still stuck at 25kg/55lbs - changed my grip, I clench my bum, tiny hip thrust, tense biceps and nope, stupid thing just doesn't let me get 5x5 in!
one day - reckon I just need to keep chipping away and someday I will get it or get past it.
Would love to get a 5x5 @27.5kg/60.6lbs!!!0 -
This lift is my poorest one. I started with a 26 pound bar and progressed to the 45 # Oly bar. This week was the first time I could successfully lift 50# but only 1x4. Left arm (weaker side) failed. So, I did the remaining sets at 45# but added a sixth rep. Hoping this will get me past the hurdle. Been doing Stronglifts since April.0
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Have to chime in - as this lift is my nemesis.
12 weeks in (1 week break), deloaded down and working back up - and I am still stuck at 25kg/55lbs - changed my grip, I clench my bum, tiny hip thrust, tense biceps and nope, stupid thing just doesn't let me get 5x5 in!
one day - reckon I just need to keep chipping away and someday I will get it or get past it.
Would love to get a 5x5 @27.5kg/60.6lbs!!!
At what point are you failing? I don't do any lift in 5 sets of 5, but the press would be particularly tough to do at such a volume... If you manage to do three sets of five, I would say it's progress.
There are a few variables that can be manipulated to get the upper body lifts unstuck. Small increments are important--if you overreach and try too big a jump, you might not recover in time for the next session, in which case your working weight might not only fail to progress but actually regress. Regression can happen for other reasons (such as the sad end of noob gains), but overly high increments are a major one.
Another variable that really needs to be tracked is rest between reps. I actually time mine now--I didn't before, and now that I do, I realize that my "internal clock" is set to about 1.5 min between reps. Whereas what I need is more like 5 min. If you get through your first work set and fail halfway through the second, or the third, then time between reps might be the limiting factor--smaller muscles get fatigued faster.
The third variable is warm-up structure. If your warm-ups are so heavy that they drain you before you ever get to the work set, adjust them downward. Constructing a proper warm-up structure is especially hard for women on the press. If your work set is 55 lb and you only have a 45 lb bar to work with, I would suggest to not do not do much of a warm-up. If you do your press right after squats, you should be warm from that, so one quick set of 5 at 45 lb might be enough to get you ready for the 55 lb work sets. Or you could do 5 reps of 45, then two reps of 50, then your work set. If you are working at, say, 70, then try 5 reps of 45, 5 reps of 60 (or 57.5), one rep of 65, and then your work set.
And finally, there is the possibility that you have exhausted noob gains and that you need to move to a periodization scheme in order to make further progress. My impression is that many people move to periodization way too soon, before correcting form or addressing the tweaks I mentioned above. But at some point, you will lose the ability to adapt to increases in the manner of a novice, and periodization is the only way to proceed from there.0 -
I am 160 lbs body weight and am at 93.5 lbs (42.5 kg) for reps still...cannot go higher at the moment, so am working on doing more reps each time and pausing at the top of the lift. Someone posted about the hip motion (wiggle?) when doing OHP, and this helps a lot. Am also seeing if clean and press helps me progress higher. I can clean and press more than the static lift (obviously)0
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Bumblebums - thank you for you feedback. Will time my rests better to see if I can break through this - one thing I've not yet done is increase this. Xx0
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I was stuck at 45 for three workouts--finally a full set, went up to 50 for this workout, no go. 4-3-3-4-3. Boooo. But know you're not alone!
I would highly recommend investing in some 1.25 lb fractionals. I bring two sets of fractionals to the gym. Also, watch how you use collars--I didn't use them all the time, and then I found out that even the spring collars weigh 1 lb together, which can be a difference between making a lift and not making it when your starting weight is relatively small.
Another thing I learned recently is that bars and plates can vary quite a bit in weight. If you lift at home, you might want to mark your plates, so you do your upper body lifts with the same set each time. If you lift at the gym, realize that even some bars do not weigh the same amount, and plates certainly don't. That's inherent in the casting process. It also affects trainees like us more than it would a 20-year old boy.0 -
Well - taking a longer break inbetween sets helped (bumble bums - I need you to come live in my shed so I can pick your brains all the time!!)
Managed 5,5,5,4,5 soooooooo close - I just want to hit my 5x5 and I will move on like a happy bunny and struggle at the next step up. I took 2.5 mins between the first 3 sets, then got a bit impatient and went for the lift after 2mins on my 4th - hence whey I failed, then waited 3 for my last one which let me hit 5.
So next time I will be patient...
Stuck for only 3 workouts Amy is fab - i've been stuck for weeks!
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Bumble--we are looking into fractionals--no washers at Lowe's, but we may see if we can just get some on order. (home weights) I am using spring collars and I'm too skeered to go without right now (my left side is weaker than my right and there's usually some angling before I get it above my nose). But I'll follow up on fractionals and mark my weights for sure.
Daisy--Congrats on the progress! You made me realize that I really haven't been timing my rest periods like I should. Gonna grab the kitchen timer and start today.
If you use collars, that's fine, just as long as you do so consistently. I would find out how much they weigh exactly and add them to your total weight.0 -
I hate OHP so, so much. Like mostly everyone here it doesn't seem to progress as much as the other lifts. Sigh. I'll have to work on forcing myself to take a full 5 minute rest between sets.0
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After lifting a humongous cooler on top of a very high toolbox in our garage, all by myself, feeling like a boss, I thought about this thread.
Keep that OHP up, ladies, and don't let the frustration get the better of you. You will reap the benefits if you stick with it. :flowerforyou:0 -
So, I've been doing SL for about 5 weeks. I still haven't increased my weight on it. Do I just keep doing the 5x5 of 45#, until I can do all 5x5? Also, on the bench press... I went up to 65# today. Could only do 4x4x3... do I lower my weight back down to 60# and keep it there until I can do 5X5? Is it ok to stay on those weights until you can get a full 5x5 set in? Thanks for the help!0
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So, I've been doing SL for about 5 weeks. I still haven't increased my weight on it. Do I just keep doing the 5x5 of 45#, until I can do all 5x5? Also, on the bench press... I went up to 65# today. Could only do 4x4x3... do I lower my weight back down to 60# and keep it there until I can do 5X5? Is it ok to stay on those weights until you can get a full 5x5 set in? Thanks for the help!
How many sets/reps are you failing on with the OHP?
With the bench, once you fail on a weight keep that weight for next time after you fail at the same weight 3x deload the weight for the 4th session by 10%0 -
I'm at 45kg now (99lbs) for 1 rep, and training on 35-40kg (77-88lbs) but I've been at it for a good few years.
When I was just a few weeks into OHP (for 6th session) I was training with just the bar (44lbs) and my max was probably about 5kg higher than that (55lbs) so it sounds like you're doing very well. Also consider I didn't go into OHP with a bar straight after I started lifting, I used to do shoulder work with dumbbells for a few weeks first as I didn't feel confident that I'd be able to lift even the bar!
Focus on your progression and not so much the weight / where you wanted to be at. Are you improving as the weeks go by? If so, that's great. It doesn't matter how slow the improvement, even if it's just in a rep or 2. OHP is a tough exercise and probably the weakest of all the main ones so don't expect the world, just improving upon your best.0 -
I just did a deload on the OHP again and am rediscovering the fabulousness of it rather than letting it frustrate me. I really do love that lift and its benefits to my functional strength overall.
So I decided that, rather than struggle and cuss the thing out at 55 lbs, I'll reset to something I can actually manage, and actually enjoy myself. Taking the reps up each week and progressing that way. Because why not? These are my goals and my life, and it makes me happy, not to mention stronger.0 -
I managed to get up to about 22.5kg on the OHP when I was doing stronglifts 3x a week. From 12.5 to 20 was textbook linear progress. Then just kept plugging at it with extra reps etc. I have been playing at a couple of other programs too recently and am finding 2 8kg dumbells pretty tough although that is 8 reps and 3 sets.
I love love love what it does to my arms though. I have some very vain moments at the gym when I am doing it and even in my rests as it leaves my arms and shoulders so pumped. Well worth struggling to get the bar up for that extra rep0
