Bench press stuck

Another question would be how much time are you resting between sets of 175#?

5+ minutes is likely appropriate in this case...

I know less about this stuff than people you’re already getting advice from, but I’d say don’t back off weight just yet. You can optimize your warmup and work sets and probably make more progress. I think many people would probably agree:

1. Limit warmup sets to as many reps as you work sets. Get rid of the high rep warmups. Those might possibly cost you a work set rep.

2. Add a couple of reps closer to you work set rep. 40 lbs is a big jump. Today for 4x5 @205, I did 5@45, 5@95, 5@135, 3@175 and 3@195. Lots of people do better with fewer heavy warmup sets, but I wouldn’t do lots of light reps then jump to your work weight with one 40 pound jump.

4. Take longer rests to go up in weight.

5. I’m coming back from an injury and having luck with a two day a week higher rep/lower rep plan like wiggelec suggested.

Yeah, assuming some of the 20 or 21 reps are really light, sure.

I am probably different than many people in adding that last heavy warmup set (and it’s probably costing me a work set rep), but I find that a heavy last warmup set helps me focus on form (shoulder blades back, everything tight). I’ve hurt my shoulders a lot previously benching wrong, so avoiding injury is my priority. Many people would probably not do that set and be fine.

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I agree that the warm ups must largely be about personal preference, given the relative weights.

For me, assuming that my working sets are 5 reps at around RPE 8, I like to set my last warmup at around 10% less than that (just like @wiigelec EDIT: & Andy Baker!), but I like to match the reps in my warmups to the reps in my working sets (maybe one or two less on the last warmup, particularly if I am working at more than RPE 8). Because my working set rep schemes change (between exercises, and over time), I find that keeping my warmups consistent with my working sets helps me to remember the right number of reps to do.

But again, it must mainly be personal preference since the weights are comparatively light.

MDC2957 wrote: »

Here's the log from last flat bench

Would I be correct that this isn't the complete volume of benching of all variations during your microcycles?

I need a complete picture of what is going on and then I can give well rounded advice. With bits and pieces of info, it's a dart board of fixes that isn't efficient on solving your problem.