benching

[Papa Lion]

seems like this is the only exercise that I have to constatntly practice to be good at!!... everything else I can switch up routines still work the same muscles and when I rotate a specific exercise back in I'm still shovin the same or more... but bench on the other hand always seems to drop dramatically in comparison... anybody else have this problem?? seems like I take a few weeks off and do weighted dips I come back to bench and I've lost major lb'age... makes me want to drop flat bench entirely!! like I said everything else is just fine... military press, deads, weighted dips, weighted pull-ups, etc, etc, etc everything except bench!! wtf??

 

[ChinkNasty]

hm...maybe you need to identify your weaknesses and address them accordingly. That is, are you weak off the chest, weak at lockout? Also, make sure to work your back to avoid imbalances and focus on pinching the lats when benching as this will help tremendously while benching.

 

[Jimbo15]

i've have similar problems. even my dumbell bench stays constant, but if i stay off the barbell too long it feels like the first time all over again.

 

[skullcrushin22]

Yeah that is one of the major reason why I hate taking a week or two off. And if I get injured and have to take 6 weeks off or so I might as well say goodbye to my gains from the past 2 months. I tell you what has helped is doing bench twice a week, one day heavy barbell inclines and then chest day later in the week.

 

[Papa Lion]

don't get me wrong... I didn't mean time off from the gym... and I wouldn't say my chest is weak, tonight I was doing repped sets on weighted dips of 64kgs so I wouldn't say that strength is nec my problem... and it's not any one part of the rep... it's just if I trade out exercises it's like my bench drops and it's not any other exercise like I said. I've been focusing on my form quite a bit lately but it's just as I said if I don't continually practice that one exercise it seems like I lose alot of my gains, not all but definitely a noticeable amount a very very frustrating amount!!

 

[skullcrushin22]

don't get me wrong... I didn't mean time off from the gym... and I wouldn't say my chest is weak, tonight I was doing repped sets on weighted dips of 64kgs so I wouldn't say that strength is nec my problem... and it's not any one part of the rep... it's just if I trade out exercises it's like my bench drops and it's not any other exercise like I said. I've been focusing on my form quite a bit lately but it's just as I said if I don't continually practice that one exercise it seems like I lose alot of my gains, not all but definitely a noticeable amount a very very frustrating amount!!

Oh. I see what your saying. I have never tried to sub bench out before so I dont know what would happen. But when my back was bothering me and I didnt deadlift when I came back to it I wasnt as strong. I guess its just expected when you stop doing anything and come back its not going to be like it was until you build it up again.

 

[Papa Lion]

Oh. I see what your saying. I have never tried to sub bench out before so I dont know what would happen. But when my back was bothering me and I didnt deadlift when I came back to it I wasnt as strong. I guess its just expected when you stop doing anything and come back its not going to be like it was until you build it up again.

I almost never have a training partner and I like to almost always hit my maxes or very near my maxes... and that makes it hard because it's only fun having a bar rest on chest 2-3 times and then it starts gettin old real quick!! don't I'll bench... but it's never been a favorite exercise... and those are the two main reasons... I train alone more than 90% percent of the time and if I lay off it for a bit I back up my process to a great degree!! I understand the backproblem that kinda falls under the injury category, I always expect some loss of strength post-injury, it's just I've been watchin my dips go up and I was thinkin ahh yeah bench sould be good!! WRONG WRONG WRONG!!! it dropped again and I was like wtf!!! how did that happen if I've still benn increasing weight on my dips?? and yeah even if I take a break I knwo that I'll be a little weaker for one or two lifts but even then sometimes I surprise myself and come back in right where I left off with a little more ease... I've put that down to the body just needing more rest between training though!!