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Forum ยป struggling with bench press. wut do?
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Thread: struggling with bench press. wut do?

post 1704392561 07-31-2024, 09:35 AM
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struggling with bench press. wut do?

Over last few years I've been maintaining weight and focusing on keeping muscle mass while doing cardio.
During this time I've kept or slightly improving all my lifts besides bench press, which has declined dramatically. Went from 185 3x8 to barely able to finish 155 and feel pathetic... Today felt a lot of tension in my front delts and tri's. Is there any hope?
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post 1704393421 07-31-2024, 09:53 AM
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Probably need to gain weight, do less cardio, and possibly increase bench frequency.
post 1704393581 07-31-2024, 09:58 AM
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  1. omnip0tent
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At those weights its likely your form/technique is just terrible.

- Pinch shoulder blades
- Feet flat on floor
- Remember to brace/tense body before lift
- Try to keep elbows from flaring out too much
- etc etc etc
Are you not entertained?

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It's All About the U
post 1704393611 07-31-2024, 09:59 AM
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Assuming that's in kg? If not toasting in a roll bread
post 1704393781 07-31-2024, 10:04 AM
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Time to rope.
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post 1704393821 07-31-2024, 10:04 AM
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Originally Posted By omnip0tent⏩
At those weights its likely your form/technique is just terrible.

- Pinch shoulder blades
- Feet flat on floor
- Remember to brace/tense body before lift
- Try to keep elbows from flaring out too much
- etc etc etc
Yeah I flex my upper back so its tight if that's what you mean by pinch shoulder blades. I do have a slight arch, but nothing crazy.
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post 1704393951 07-31-2024, 10:06 AM
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Originally Posted By GaryRidgway⏩
Probably need to gain weight, do less cardio, and possibly increase bench frequency.
Is 2x a week enough? I only go in 4 days a week right now. Flat barbell bench and incline DBs.
Originally Posted By johnvee73⏩
Time to rope.
never
Originally Posted By HateLiberals⏩
Assuming that's in kg? If not toasting in a roll bread
sheet man that bad huh.
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post 1704394181 07-31-2024, 10:14 AM
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its not always about pushing harder. Most guy will max out every workout session for years without and decent gains.

Think about it. Does usain bolt set a world record every training session? do marathon runners run full marathons every day?

of course not. they work up to it with smart training. Most marathon training is done around the 7-12 mile range. seems illogical but thats how its done as you need time to recover.

If you are maxing out all the time, then switch it up some. Lets say you want to hit a max of 5 reps. 3 reps works the same way with this set up..

The first workout should be around 60-70% of that max number for 3 sets of 8 reps

next workout 80% or so of your max with 3 sets of 6.

The next set will be max effort with 3 sets of 5 at 100% or 5 lbs over your last max.

You will get plenty of work in and not be exhausted all the time. You can make steady gains with this method for a much longer time. a bit slower gains but gains none the less.

What also works is doing overhead presses everytime you train bench with the same scheme. light , medium , heavy but offset from the bench so its not heavy for both on the same workout.
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post 1704394271 07-31-2024, 10:17 AM
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Originally Posted By mezner09⏩
Is 2x a week enough? I only go in 4 days a week right now. Flat barbell bench and incline DBs.



never



sheet man that bad huh.
You are probably severely lacking in volume. And you aren't going to get stronger unless you're in a calorie surplus. Add a couple shakes to your day and do 12 sets for chest
post 1704394351 07-31-2024, 10:19 AM
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Originally Posted By crupiea⏩
its not always about pushing harder. Most guy will max out every workout session for years without and decent gains.

Think about it. Does usain bolt set a world record every training session? do marathon runners run full marathons every day?

of course not. they work up to it with smart training. Most marathon training is done around the 7-12 mile range. seems illogical but thats how its done as you need time to recover.

If you are maxing out all the time, then switch it up some. Lets say you want to hit a max of 5 reps. 3 reps works the same way with this set up..

The first workout should be around 60-70% of that max number for 3 sets of 8 reps

next workout 80% or so of your max with 3 sets of 6.

The next set will be max effort with 3 sets of 5 at 100% or 5 lbs over your last max.

You will get plenty of work in and not be exhausted all the time. You can make steady gains with this method for a much longer time. a bit slower gains but gains none the less.

What also works is doing overhead presses everytime you train bench with the same scheme. light , medium , heavy but offset from the bench so its not heavy for both on the same workout.
I'm very familiar with programming for endurrance athletes (see sig), but i guess i always thought the point of a 3x8 bro split was to add or maintain lifts + change routine? I only saw powerlifting plans ever really quote % of maxes. Guess I've been doing it all wrong
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post 1704394781 07-31-2024, 10:30 AM
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Originally Posted By mezner09⏩
Is 2x a week enough? I only go in 4 days a week right now. Flat barbell bench and incline DBs.
Yeah 2x is fine. Are you saying one day you do barbell and then one day you do incline db? If so do barbell bench both times and use dbs as a supplemental movement.
post 1704395531 07-31-2024, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted By GaryRidgway⏩
Yeah 2x is fine. Are you saying one day you do barbell and then one day you do incline db? If so do barbell bench both times and use dbs as a supplemental movement.
I do 1 day currently with barbell and incline db, with some dips and tricep extensions or skull crushers. pretty much doing a bro-split. chest, back, legs, shoulders/arms.
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post 1704399651 07-31-2024, 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted By QuickShotSteve⏩
Are you working other parts of the chest muscle group? Cable flys, fly machine, dumbbell flys, dips, facepulls, etc?

Between your highs of 185 to your current 155, how has body weight changed? Ever have a dexa and see if you lose fat or muscle (or both)? New bodyfat scales are getting pretty accurate, maybe something you want to consider to track muscle mass.
I will throw in cable flys and/or dips, depending on how sore i am after my main sets. I try limiting myself to 40 min at the gym. no more than 2min rest between sets (sets only take 30 sec to rep out).

Weight hasn't fluctuated too much over the last 3 years. I'm 175 right now (5'10) since i just finished a triathlon. normally low 180s when im not competing. I haven't done any sort of scan, just use the mirror and scale to gauge. All my other lifts have remained or slightly improved.

It's not just the 155 vs 185, but my 3 rep max is very low too. Like I cant engage my chest or something. idk
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post 1704400011 07-31-2024, 12:28 PM
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i would watch some bench press form videos from bench experts and take notes.
even over time, there are form tweaks that can be useful as we forget small details over the years.

for ex, chin up
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post 1704400311 07-31-2024, 12:39 PM
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My best ever progression for bench has always been doing 5x5 and adding 2.5kg to the bar once 5x5 is reached. So add the 2.5kg then maybe you'll hit 5x3. Keep trying until you hit 5x5 then throw about 2.5kg on.
Standard progressive overload but worked for me great. I also do machine flyes and narrow grip bench, and thats about it for chest.
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