Bench press stuck
MDC2957
Posts: 417 Member
Does anyone else here have a weight that they just get stuck at, that does not seem to get easier week after week?? Because I can't seem to progress, I'll try and add more volume at a lower weight, hoping the next time I train my plateau weight ill be able to break through, but it doesn't seem to happen. How to overcome? I should mention that I am eating at a deficit right now, but it doesn't seem to be affecting other exercises as much as bench press.
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Plateau is normal in a beginner program. First option is deload for a week. Then come back the next week with a lighter weight and build again.2
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The thing that helped me was microloading... to stop trying to make the typical 5lb jumps - my gym has 1lb and half lb plates, I utilize them. I realize not every gym has these but you could always throw some clips on a scale to get thier weight and use them to micro-load.2
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Fairly common especially with bench and eating in a deficit.
Please post your template, e1rm, along with the percentage of intensity you are working with along with how you added volume and I can come up with some suggestions.
Also you might want to post a video of you benching and I can review that as well and see if there are suggestions there as well.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/44226347#Comment_442263472 -
Are you missing reps or are you just waiting for it to feel “easier” before you add weight to the bar?0
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Are you attempting reps and failing to complete them?
If so how many sets/reps?
How many sets reps do you get at -5# from your “rep wall?”
How many sets/reps can you get if you add 1-5# to your rep wall?0 -
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So what happens when you put 180# on the bar?0
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The most I can pull off on the flat bench is 5-6 reps at 175. Here's a couple videos I tried to make this morning on the incline bench (not 175)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l81qn8NPihg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cCx7SZjZGo
I have pretty long arms, so it's quite difficult for me to find a bar position that feels like it gives me power, and concentration on the chest. Beginning to wonder if bench just isn't a good exercise for me. I don't get shoulder pain like a lot of people seem to. I dunno
There are things we can adjust technique wise for the incline.
I would like you post a vid of your flat bench at the link I gave so I definitely notified when you do. One angle directly from the side and one from front please. Please use landscape view and vid your entire body so I can give you more solid options.
What is your current rep/set scheme on flat for the week including all variations including inc or DB work?
I highly suggest not putting 180 on the bar as you would hit two good reps and fail more than likely at four reps and it's not beneficial at this time to add weight to correct issues especially going to failure.1 -
how do you know you are stalled if you haven’t attempted to lift a heavier weight?0
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Just because it “feels” heavy doesn’t mean you will not be able to complete the reps.
You also don’t have to increase by 5# at a time. If you have the right equipment ie microplates you can increase 1# at a time.
If you want to lift more than 175# at some point your going to have to lift more than 175# and it’s going to feel heavier than 175#...1 -
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Plenty of ways to solve this problem.
Here is just one potential solution for your consideration. Keep in mind I don't know what your weekly split looks like so there may need to be some modifications to make it fit:
Start at say 165 and do 5 sets of 3 reps (5sx3r). Then next session add 2-3# and do 5x3 (168x5sx3r). Then next session add 2-3# and do 5x3 (171x5sx3r). Keep doing this until it either gets really grindy (RPE 9+) or preferably you start to miss reps (sets look something like 3,3,3,2,1).
When you get to that point start splitting up into two sessions. Session 1 is a heavy session and you will do 2-3 sets of 2-3 reps. Start at the last successful 5x3 weight. So say you got up to 183x5sx3r do 183x2sx3r. Add 2-3# each time.
Session 2 will be a volume session with 3-5 sets of 4-6 reps. Take somewhere between 70-85% of the weight you did in session 1, so for 183 somewhere between 125-155#. So you could do say 130 for 4 sets of 6 or 140 for 5 sets of 5 or 150 for 4 sets of 4. Plenty of wiggle room to make it work for you. The most important part here is getting all your reps so if it is too heavy take some weight off the bar so you don't miss. Add weight as necessary.
Then alternate between these two so it will look something like this:
Workout 1 - 183 x 2s x 3r
Workout 2 - 140 x 5s x 4r
Workout 3 - 186 x 2s x 3r
Workout 4 - 140 x 5s x 5r
Workout 5 - 189 x 2s x 3r
Workout 6 - 145 x 5s x 4r
Workout 7 - 191 x 3s x 2r
etc...
When you get to the point on the heavy day when your down to say 2 sets of 1 then you can start cycling.
Workout 1 - 2s x 3r
Workout 2 - 4s x 6r
Workout 3 - 2s x 2r
Workout 4 - 5s x 5r
Workout 5 - 2s x 1r
Workout 6 - 6s x 4r
add weight and repeat...
If you feel like you need more volume on the heavy day add a backoff set or 2 of 5-8 reps.
This should keep you progressing for a few months. You can also easily add autoregulation into the scheme if desired. That is not really my bailiwick so I won't comment on that part.
If you are really interested in learning more about training variables and how to manipulate them I highly recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Programming-Strength-Training-Rippetoe/dp/0982522754/
Also lots of good material out there from Andy Baker, Jim Wendler, RTS, Juggernaut, Barbell Medicine, Greg Nuckols...
The more you study the more overlap you see in all the methodologies and the more you learn to incorporate those methods in a way that works for you.
Good luck and let us know how you're progressing!
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Going to or very near failure(>RPE9)doesn't get you stronger. That would be more beneficial for hypertrophy. It fatigues you to the point that recovery will more than likely be comprimised for strength gains.
Near impossible in best situation to hit 175x5 reps at RPE9.5 and then hit 180×5 at RPE8 the following session/week. Perhaps if he was geared and tapered his volume dramatically. That still wouldn't make him stronger per sae at 5 rep scheme.
Those numbers don't add up.
If he could do 180×5@RPE8...then he would be close to 175×5 @RPE7 the week before, not RPE 9.5.
That equated to a 17lb e1rm jump which is highly unlikely without technique adjustments. Which isn't a strength gain, just more efficient.
175x5 @RPE 9.5= 205 e1rm
180×5 @RPE 8. =222 e1rm
175×5 @RPE 7. =222 e1rm1 -
Sorry, I missed the part where 175x5 was @9.5?
OP said "the most I can pull off on the flat bench is 5-6 reps at 175".
If this is interpreted as OP can definitely do 5 reps @ 175, maybe 6 reps @ 175, then in RPE terms 5 reps @ 175 is RPE 9.5 (could maybe do 1 more rep i.e. 6 total).2 -
Ah yes but he never said he tried 7 and failed so perhaps he did indeed have more than maybe one or two reps left...
Of course it is all relatively pointless speculation the only way for the op to know for sure he is stuck at 175 is to put 176 on the bar and give it a whirl!0 -
Ah yes but he never said he tried 7 and failed so perhaps he did indeed have more than maybe one or two reps left...
Of course it is all relatively pointless speculation the only way for the op to know for sure he is stuck at 175 is to put 176 on the bar and give it a whirl!
Maybe!0 -
Besides maybe the 175 was a really crappy day and the 180 is attempted on a stellar day.
Isn’t that what rpe is about?0 -
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RPE stands for rated perceived exertion, and is a scale on which you rate each set. An RPE 9 would mean you could have completed 1 more repetition at that weight in that set, 8 that you could have completed 2 more repetitions at that weight in that set, and so on. An increment of 0.5, such as 8.5, would mean that you definitely could have completed 1 more repetition, and maybe 2.
In my experience, RPE based training usually works around setting a target number of sets and reps, and a target RPE for those sets and reps. The athlete then determinines the appropriate weight, based on the target sets, reps and RPE. Looking at your most recent training logs, you might decide that 1 set x 6 reps @ 175 was an RPE 10 (maximal effort, couldn't have completed another rep). If your coach told you to do 5 sets of 5 reps @ RPE 8, you might then predict that 170lbs would be a good weight. If you were having a bad day (e.g. a bad hangover), and were feeling weak, maybe you'd choose 165 or 160 instead. If you were having a great day (full of beans), maybe you'd give 175 a go.
RPE is necessarily subjective, and people make mistakes. A beginner might estimate that a set was RPE 10, when in fact he/she just wasn't used to pushing him/herself, and gave up. Conversely, a beginner might estimate that a set was RPE 9, when in fact there is no way that he/she could have finished another rep. The more you train and assess your RPE, the better you get at estimating.1 -
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6r at 175 for me, that's really struggling, form breaking down just to get the weight up. I don't consider them 6 perfect clean reps. That's why I call it a wall. It sounds like some here are saying the way to overcome that is to increase the weight and do less reps.
I mean, if you want to bench more than 175, one way would be to do fewer than 6 reps, but then you're just trading off more weight for fewer reps, and you're not necessarily getting any stronger.
When I was progressing from a novice lifter to a more intermediate lifter, I followed a free program called "the bridge" by barbell medicine. Broadly speaking, the key ideas that I took from the program (in respect of benching) were to bench press twice per week (a handfull of sets each time, not counting any warm up sets), with most of my sets being done @ around RPE 8 (i.e. 2 reps left in the tank). I would aim to get stronger, and increase my weights each week, even if only by 2.5 or 5lbs.
I understand that this kind of training is heavy enough to force the muscles to become stronger, while not being so heavy that you can't recover before the next session. If you stick to RPE 8, most people can also complete 5 sets x 5 reps at a single weight, rather than having to drop the weight to complete the reps.
Looking at your training logs from 30 September, I see a huge difference between how I progressed my bench press and what you're currently doing. I would have said that your first 3 sets were warm ups only (too light to make you stronger), your next 2 sets at 175 lbs were probably maximal effort (too heavy to get enough volume without negatively affecting the rest of your sets), 8 reps @ 155 lbs might have been a good weight (but may have been too heavy if you were exhausted from the prior 2 sets), and the rest of your sets were just too light again.
The free program can be found here if you're interested. It might not necessarily be the right program for you, but it's a 30 page PDF with a lot of good information about training philosophy so I think it's a worthwhile read regardless.
https://www.barbellmedicine.com/the-bridge/1 -
OP I’m nowhere near as well versed as others who have advised but I ran the bridge with good results and RPE is a useful way of training if you are semi serious about lifting. Barbell medicine has great resources on line some free and some paid. There’s a good Facebook page as well.2
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Pretty much every program I have ever seen incorporates some method of increasing intensity and reducing volume, including The Bridge:
Bench
W1 - 1x5@8
W2 - 4x5@8
W3 - 4x5@8
W4 - 5x5@8
W5 - 4x5@8
W6 - 4x4@8
W7 - 4x3@9
W8 - 1x3@9
Do volume and also go heavier for less reps is one of those common overlaps in methodology...0 -
Not that one can surmise much from two days of logs, but what I see is little rhyme nor reason in your warmups or load, rep and set selection.
You might consider running a standard linear progression program for a few weeks in order to establish some organized training patterns in your routine:
https://blackironbeast.com/starting-strength
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