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Benchpress stalling

U

username0

New member
Hi guys,
I have had pretty good growth in the last year
Gone from about 70kg to 80kg body weight eating right and training hard sticking to form and trying different routines.
Usually train 4 times a week plus 3 footy sessions.

I definitely feel my diet could still get better, I still need to add more food to my daily consuming even though people say i eat like a monster.

Anyway my max bench has gone from about 72.5 to 85kg in about a year.
But the last 3-4 months i have not made any progress beyond that.

Any ideas for what to break the plateau?
My usual strength bench training involves 3x5 at 75kg and then further chest training including inclines / dips / flyes + tricep work.
I cant seem to get 5x77.5 and therefore am not improving as I did with the previous 12 months.


Lately ive been trying to really focus on my chest contraction and keep form really strict to get 5 strong reps.

Should i try -
higher rep
lower rep
Different incline variations.


Any other ideas?
 
i suppose i could give that smaller increments a go.
I dont have half a kilo weights but i could add some more bar clips on the sides.
 
another thing i dont do much of is have a spotter,
i could get a few ppl to spot me that next level to aid in getting the balance right and pushing through that last bit i cant get.
 
Lots of dips and pull ups as accessory. If you can dip for plenty of reps with a 20 plate your bench will get a kick in the arse.
 
thanks for the advice ill start doing that on the weekend.

Just a q',
I did try that a while back and got 5 reps on the first set, then got 4 and 4 on the next 2.
Is that ok or does that mean its too heavy?
 
Fluffy said:
Lots of dips and pull ups as accessory. If you can dip for plenty of reps with a 20 plate your bench will get a kick in the arse.
Click to expand...

yea i do that already with 20kg plate.

My triceps feel stronger than my chest i think thats half the problem.
 
What is your grip width like vs shoulder width. Slightly wider will use more chest (hence develop it more) slightly narrower = more tricep.
 
My bench went up over 50kg in the first year but I've never really concentrated on a bigger chest. I've got big triceps and fairly big back which seems to help with my bench.
 
I don't think spotting is your problem. All those assisted reps are not necessary, plenty of people have gotten way stronger than you without them. You SHOULD have a rack though so you don't always stop 1 rep short of your max.

I would bet the problem is your diet or routine.. most likely both.

If you can do 5x5 with 2-3 minute breaks and then after that hammer say 4-8 sets of 8-12 reps of a combination of dips and incline bench you should get it moving. Do this as often as recovery permits, for me it's once every 3-5 days. Make sure you're eating good foods and a bit above maintenance with plenty of protein... and you should be good. I also do military press after bench.

I stalled on 5x5 at around a 120kg bench and got stronger by doing sets of dips and incline bench after the 5x5. I actually used the PPP routine to decide the main low rep bench sets.

By the way do you bench like a powerlifter? Arch back with good technique, and elbows tucked? There's a benching thread in the powerlifting section thats really good for a guide. Also check out Dave Tate's stuff.
 
Last edited:
ok,
so maybe i should go up to 5x5 but i feel that my last 2 sets would probably fail at the 5th rep.

Should i drop back the wieght to make sure im hitting all 5 ?
 
username0 said:
ok,
so maybe i should go up to 5x5 but i feel that my last 2 sets would probably fail at the 5th rep.

Should i drop back the wieght to make sure im hitting all 5 ?
Click to expand...

Yeah.

If I take really long breaks (5-10 mins) I can do 5x5 with about 80% of my 1 rep max.

I've had better results doing it with 2-3 min breaks and lower weight, probably around 70% but you'll have to experiment. It's gotta be a weight you can do for 7 reps (at a guess, for the first set) I would say.

Then after that like I said a few sets of dips and incline bench, 8-12 reps, pushed really hard, with 60-90 sec breaks.

THat's what worked for me anyway. Sometimes I do heavy triples instead of the 5x5.
 
username0 said:
ok,
so maybe i should go up to 5x5 but i feel that my last 2 sets would probably fail at the 5th rep.

Should i drop back the wieght to make sure im hitting all 5 ?
Click to expand...

I would run a couple weeks at higher reps (8-10) then ramp up the weight and allow reps to fall back over 3 further weeks. What other periodisation are you using?
 
gavingc said:
What is your grip width like vs shoulder width. Slightly wider will use more chest (hence develop it more) slightly narrower = more tricep.
Click to expand...

That is incorrect.
The pec receives less work and the arm travels less distance with a wider grip.
 
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