progressing on the bench

[hli1022]

hey guys i have been lifting for a year now and my bench press been going up in a medicroe pace for the past year but recently my bench has not increase at all, if anything i think its decreasing. can someone please help me increase my bench press?

[mitchcumstein]

whats your diet and routine look like?

[VBigNate]

your probably at a plateau or your overtraining...whats your routine?

[jlozan84]

Hard to tell without your routine and diet info.

You could always just call Miss Cleo and her Tarot cards might tell you.

[hli1022]

my diet i try to aim for 1.5 times my body weight for protein about about 150 grams of carbs on days that i workout and on off days i take in under 100 grams of carbs. my routine for chest is: 5 sets of 5 on the the flat bench at 175 and then incline dumbell press 55 lbs, decline dumbell press 50 lbs and then i finish up with push ups

[Papasmurf]

why so few carbs? Your off day should be the same as your work days- lots of protein, and suficient carbs. 175 is a small bench, so whats probably happened is you hit a plateau due to poor diet and recovery.

[wnxmaximus]

Get some Leukic. Mad pumps, and the pumps will make you grow.

For real though. Maybe change your routine up. I was kind of stuck for a while. Then i started doing 9 sets of 3. I would do 3 sets of 3 with close grip, 3 sets of 3 with medium grip, and 3 sets of 3 with wide grip. STart with a weight that seems "easy" at first, but by the last set or two, you are barely making it, you dont want to fail though. I am not suggesting that routine, but my point is, sometimes a change is nice. Diet has to be in check as well. Just sort some stuff around, I am sure you will break through it.

[NiteHawk]

I can see your carbs are low. Why are you restricting them ?

Are you trying to gain weight, if so, you should be taking in 2-3 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight.

[NiteHawk]

What is your max bench and your best set of 10 reps ??
Take those numbers and do this formula. This is a way to increase your bench. Below is the example...


Lets say your 1 rep max on bench is 225 and your best set of 10 reps is 185. Do the following:

On Monday perform 185x5, 190x4, 195x3, 200x2, and 205x1. Rest 3-5 minutes between sets. You wont go to failure on each set but thats part of this strategy.

On Wednesday add 5 pounds to each set, so it will look like this:
190x5, 195x4, 200x3, 205x2, and 210x1.

On Friday, add another 5 pounds to each set, so it will look like this:
195x5, 200x4, 205x3, 210x2, and 215x1

On the next Monday, you go back to the weights you did on Wednesday and work up from there. Every week you add 15 pounds to your sets and take 10 pounds off and build up again. This is called wave cycling. If you look at your 1 rep weights after your weeks, it will look like 205, 210, 215,:210, 215, 220:, 215, 220, 225.

After the 3rd week you will have worked up to your max and will get to a personal best of 230. You can even try 235, if the 230 goes up easy. Or you can weight and the following Monday, try this: 135x5, 185x2, 205x1, 225x1, 235x1 and 240x1. You will be lifting 15 pounds more than your previous best of 225.

[Babbs]

Originally Posted by hli1022

my routine for chest is: 5 sets of 5 on the the flat bench at 175 and then incline dumbell press 55 lbs, decline dumbell press 50 lbs and then i finish up with push ups

Are you doing 5 sets of 5 for incline and decline as well? 15 sets is a lot and then push ups on top.

[VBigNate]

hmm have you been using that same routine for the whole year? if so you need to change it up because your body is used to it..throw in some incline DB presses and take out the push ups

[adrenaline]

Originally Posted by NiteHawk

What is your max bench and your best set of 10 reps ??
Take those numbers and do this formula. This is a way to increase your bench. Below is the example...


Lets say your 1 rep max on bench is 225 and your best set of 10 reps is 185. Do the following:

On Monday perform 185x5, 190x4, 195x3, 200x2, and 205x1. Rest 3-5 minutes between sets. You wont go to failure on each set but thats part of this strategy.

On Wednesday add 5 pounds to each set, so it will look like this:
190x5, 195x4, 200x3, 205x2, and 210x1.

On Friday, add another 5 pounds to each set, so it will look like this:
195x5, 200x4, 205x3, 210x2, and 215x1

On the next Monday, you go back to the weights you did on Wednesday and work up from there. Every week you add 15 pounds to your sets and take 10 pounds off and build up again. This is called wave cycling. If you look at your 1 rep weights after your weeks, it will look like 205, 210, 215,:210, 215, 220:, 215, 220, 225.

After the 3rd week you will have worked up to your max and will get to a personal best of 230. You can even try 235, if the 230 goes up easy. Or you can weight and the following Monday, try this: 135x5, 185x2, 205x1, 225x1, 235x1 and 240x1. You will be lifting 15 pounds more than your previous best of 225.

Bump.. that looks asum.. gona save it for the future...

I just do 6,6,6,3,3 ... 6 would be at e.g 100 pounds and 3 would be then at 105 pounds... and then the week after i would take the 105 and use it on the 6 and the 3 would be at 110... ?? I dunno if thats anygood never really thought about it

[Deklon]

yeh, NiteHawks idea sounds good, knackering but good.
I'll b up for when its chest day...

[Will100]

i used to do bench 3 times a week and i hit a long plateau...i only do chest once a week now, and i consistently see improvements (usually 5 lbs added a week) nite knows alot more then me...but this worked for me..i was just overtraining

another thing that might help is doing RGBP in ur tricep workouts.

[Patrick_Bateman]

Originally Posted by hli1022

hey guys i have been lifting for a year now and my bench press been going up in a medicroe pace for the past year but recently my bench has not increase at all, if anything i think its decreasing. can someone please help me increase my bench press?

Having a big bench is about: Diet, dead lifts, squats, rows, benching and many other things.

Post all your workouts for the week in detail so we can help.

[Will100]

Originally Posted by Patrick_Bateman

Having a big bench is about: Diet, dead lifts, squats, rows, benching and many other things.

Post all your workouts for the week in detail so we can help.

hes right, since i put squats i started benching more...when i added deadlifts into my work out i improved bench even more. dont focus on ur bench. focus on ur whole body and everything will go up if ur resting and eating well

good luck

[hli1022]

thanks for all your help guys. but i was wondering does anyone else have any three day chest routine in mind?

[jlozan84]

3-day chest routine? You want to work chest 3 days a week? Why? WTF?

[skullmurdoc]

Originally Posted by jlozan84

3-day chest routine? You want to work chest 3 days a week? Why? WTF?

Exactly what I thought but could talk back to the mighty NiteHawk.

[wnxmaximus]

Originally Posted by hli1022

thanks for all your help guys. but i was wondering does anyone else have any three day chest routine in mind?

that would be your problem! 3 day.....ya, no.