need help on bench

[adam241]

i have really struggled with being able to go up w/ weight on
my bench press. ive tried power sets, dumbells, low reps, high
reps just about everything i know with little progress. can anybody recommend any solutions to my problem?

 

[DrBones]

Take in more food and don't do bench more than twice a week....
Back in the day when I used to do a lot of bench this is what I'd do to get my bench to increase.
1 set warmup.
1-2 sets 5-10% more than what you can do for 8 reps
1-2 sets of what you can do for 8 reps

My bench went up around 30-40 lbs in about 3 months doing this.
I don't do bench anymore because it irritates my shoulders.. so I use dumbells..
Hope that helps
Ryan

 

[gettinlarger]

do 5 sets of 5. first and second sets are warmups. for example, if you think you can do 3 sets of 5 with 225, first do a warmup with 135, then 185. i jumped my max up 20 lbs in a few weeks of this. oh, and contrary to what dr bones says ... dont do it more than once a week. once is plenty.

 

[adam241]

re bench press

hey guys thanks for your suggestions, im desperate to find some-
thing to push past this plateau. as far as drbones answer i can understand, but i have a question for gettinlarger, 5 of 5, does this pertain to all benches or just flat? just wondering. i used to enjoy benching but as of recent lack of gains im starting to like it less!!!! whats your opinion on alternating weeks of barbell and
dumbell?

 

[Ingram]

Whenever I reach a plateau with flat barbell bench I hit the dumbells for a couple months and allways come back stronger.

I'm hitting 335 x 5 right now and I'm still under 200lbs so it seems to be working well.

-Ingram

 

[gettinlarger]

Re: re bench press

hey guys thanks for your suggestions, im desperate to find some-
thing to push past this plateau. as far as drbones answer i can understand, but i have a question for gettinlarger, 5 of 5, does this pertain to all benches or just flat? just wondering. i used to enjoy benching but as of recent lack of gains im starting to like it less!!!! whats your opinion on alternating weeks of barbell and
dumbell?

you can do it for all your core lifts. its part of cornholios old school routine. im not an expert, but ask his input. and definitely alternate between dbs and bbs. very smart move.

 

[Robert Jan]

My bench isn`t even not progressing... its plummetting. and i didn`t change my routine since it was progressing... and im actually eating more!

and my deadlift does go up!

I dont understand this shit.

 

[endpoint]

bench press is a compound movement that involves many muscles.
increase the strength in these muscles and your bench will go up
(depends if you find your weakness)

(in no particular order)

Triceps.
delts.
lats. (sort of includes the whole upper back traps and rear delt)
pecs.

many other muscles do play a part (if not only for stability)

 

[powerlifterjay]

I agree with endpoint. There is way more to upping your bench press , then actually just benching. Your tri's are number 1. Period. There is no way around it. Your back, delts, pecs there all important but you need to bring them all up before you make really good progress. You can up your bench , but if you wanna hit freak status up those body parts. I mean strength wise not size.

 

[gettinlarger]

My bench isn`t even not progressing... its plummetting. and i didn`t change my routine since it was progressing... and im actually eating more!

and my deadlift does go up!

I dont understand this shit.

thats because you need to change your lifting routine every so often bro. youve hit a plateau. stop benching for a while. do other exercises.