Can't gain in bench... (very low bench for my size)

[djeclipse]

Have you ever tried using te Smith Machine? I find that I can lift more and it doesn't compramise my form..

Do a search here, the smith machine does compromise your form. The natural form for any pressing lift has an arc t it, the smith machine doesn't allow for the natural arc. Unless you are injured you should stay away from the smith machine.

 

[djeclipse]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I was doing some searches since I have the
same exact problem. I was 6'5 310lb 35% bf when I started hitting the gym and I benched about the same as you, yes a 310lb man benching 135. Im 240lb 20% bf now and still have trouble with 135lb. I don't know what it is no matter how hard I blast chest/tris I never "feel" it the next few days like I do after any other workout (back/bi/abs/legs/shoulders). Everything on my body is growing except for chest and triceps, Ive tried every excercise mentioned here and definitely find dips to be my favorite.

Im in a little different situation since Im trying to lose weight and not gain it but it is still discouraging to see everything else growing and going up in weight except for chest/tri. Once I get down to about 15% bf I will start bulking, this may help but Im not optimistic.

Also, I think I may have

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Pectus Excavatum

This condition, just from the description I think it applies to me although Ill have to see a doctor about it.

curgeo had the best advice in this thread. You're tall which means you have long arms. Which means you have to move that weight a lot father then somone 5'6. What does your full workout look like.

Currently I am training chest/tries the same day which works great as I only have t do a few movements for tries as they are already worked from the chest exercises.

Doing tries with back and bies with chest sounds like a bodybilder type thing where ego gets in the way of training. Doing bies on back day you won't be able to curl as much as your bies are already tired from doing back... so they do bies on chest day.

 

[harbinator]

curgeo had the best advice in this thread. You're tall which means you have long arms. Which means you have to move that weight a lot father then somone 5'6. What does your full workout look like.

Currently I am training chest/tries the same day which works great as I only have t do a few movements for tries as they are already worked from the chest exercises.

Doing tries with back and bies with chest sounds like a bodybilder type thing where ego gets in the way of training. Doing bies on back day you won't be able to curl as much as your bies are already tired from doing back... so they do bies on chest day.

I've been doing

Mon: Chest/Tri
Tue: Back/Bi
Wed: Legs
Thur: Shoulders/Abs
Fri/Sat/Sun: Off

Im thinking of switching to

Mon: Chest/Abs
Tue: Back
Wed: Legs/Abs
Thur: Arms
Fri: Shoulders/Abs
Sat/Sun: Off

 

[AEKDB]

Interesting read with some good advice. Although a good program for some, I think Westside can be too much for somebody trying to break 200 or 300lbs in the bench. I would like to offer some tips that pushed my bench well over 315lbs.

I found that my bench skyrocketed when I increased weights on other lifts. Too many people worry about the bench. I do not recall meeting a big deadlifter with a small bench and vice-versa.

Eat more. This comes up all the time on the board for a reason. I could lift 275 @ 195lbs but I could easily lift 315 @ 205lbs.

Do clean and presses untill your hands bleed. They build the shoulders, back, tris, ribs, and all the other supporting muscles, and, if you can power clean and press 225+ for reps who cares what your bench is.

Keep the weight high and the reps low (2-3 per set and 1-3 sets). High reps have their place but not here.

Do Bench shrugs. Unrack the bar, keep the arms locked, and shrug the shoulders up and down. Do these along with negatives. Not only are they great excersises but they help overcome the mental barrier associated with heavy weights.

 

[perp69]

Have you ever tried using te Smith Machine? I find that I can lift more and it doesn't compramise my form..

Are you accounting for the fact that the Smith bar weighs less, usually only about 10-15lbs?

 

[Jayhawk21]

Are you accounting for the fact that the Smith bar weighs less, usually only about 10-15lbs?

My friend thought he was a bad ass and mocking me by how he is benching as much as me after only 7 months of training. He says he is benching on the smith at what he said was 255-260 so I said ok fine, come lift free weights with me. I put 210 on there and go how about you start off with this, and he laughs and goes are you kidding me. I asked him if he needed a spot, he's like oh no. He dropped 210 on himself. Oh, it was great watching him struggle. People around expected me to help him get it up, but I just laughed for a while until he about passed out.

At any rate, I'm curious to know what your wrist angle is? Try bending your wrists towards your head a little bit kind of like you are riding a harley, but I don't know how after six years of training you only bench 150ish. You definitely need to eat more, or work on your form, but it's nice to see others out there that struggle with their bench like I do. It's kind of weird for me though, my chest is the best part of my physique asthetically speaking, but lacks the most in strength comparative to my other lifts.

 

[silver_shadow]

Interesting read with some good advice. Although a good program for some, I think Westside can be too much for somebody trying to break 200 or 300lbs in the bench. I would like to offer some tips that pushed my bench well over 315lbs.

I found that my bench skyrocketed when I increased weights on other lifts. Too many people worry about the bench. I do not recall meeting a big deadlifter with a small bench and vice-versa.

Eat more. This comes up all the time on the board for a reason. I could lift 275 @ 195lbs but I could easily lift 315 @ 205lbs.

Do clean and presses untill your hands bleed. They build the shoulders, back, tris, ribs, and all the other supporting muscles, and, if you can power clean and press 225+ for reps who cares what your bench is.

Keep the weight high and the reps low (2-3 per set and 1-3 sets). High reps have there place but not here.

Do Bench shrugs. Unrack the bar, keep the arms locked, and shrug the shoulders up and down. Do these along with negatives. Not only are they great excersises but they help overcome the mental barrier associated with heavy weights.

bro, i like ur advice... however i think WSB can be done by someone with more modest numbers as well... i think anyone will benefit from this routine or certainly something on WSB lines.

 

[silver_shadow]

Also, I think I may have

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Pectus Excavatum

bro, i don't know how u look or a great deal about this condition. however i have seen something about it on the discovery channel. the kid in the program had it so bad that it would actually compress his lungs and it resulted in severe drop in lung capacity. the result was that he couldn't even play a few minutes of basketball. they should him with his shirt off, and trust me it was very noticeable.

 

[harbinator]

Mine isn't that bad, but I know when I was born my doctor said I had a "collapsed sternum" or "sunken sternum" and it definitely gives me massive moobs because of the sunken area between the nipples. Now that Ive lost 70lb its getting alot better Im just wondering if this has something to do with my extremely low bench numbers.

 

[djeclipse]

I've been doing

Mon: Chest/Tri
Tue: Back/Bi
Wed: Legs
Thur: Shoulders/Abs
Fri/Sat/Sun: Off

Im thinking of switching to

Mon: Chest/Abs
Tue: Back
Wed: Legs/Abs
Thur: Arms
Fri: Shoulders/Abs
Sat/Sun: Off

Personally I wouldn't have an arms day all own. I'd stick with your first workout but do legs before back, the last thing you'd want to do is squats the day after deadlifts.

Like AEKDB said you need to work all the muscles in order to increase your bench. If you don't already have core lifts in your routine add them asap. Doing the clean and jerk may be a little hard for a beginner form wise, but you should have squats on leg day, bent over rows and dead lift for back day and standing military press for shoulder day, and end with shruggs on shoulder day. Start your workouts with the core lifts and then do any other exercises you want after (on back day I do bent over rows first and then deads).

For arms I only do 3 exercises 3 sets of each for tries (on chest day) and 2 exercises for 3 sets of each for bies (on back day). I am experiencing more growth in my arms then ever before doing this.

Also like AEKDB said you need to ramp your weights, start lifting heavier weights for less reps. eg. my chest day last week for bench press was
115 x 10
135 x 8
155 x 3
165 x 1

This past monday was
135 x 10
155 x 6
165 x 3
175 x 2 (thought I'd only be able to get one, what a surprise )
185 x 1 then 155 back off. (I never said I was strong, lol)

Next week I will try to get
155 x 8
165 x 5-6
185 x 2
195 x 1
Each week I try to add reps and/or increase the weight.

So far this is working for me, it may or may not work for you. My week looks like this

chest/tries
legs
back bies
off
shoulders
off
off