What am i doing wrong?

[ajaygill]

i kinda find this all weird. my flat bench is my weakest point out of everything. My max is about 165x1. For some reason it wont just go up. My DB presses all of gone up but at the bench im just stuck..

Also i military pressed 135x1 today. And thats only 20off from my bp. There's gota be something wrong here that i am doing. Ive been consisntley moving up in all my main excerises eg deads, squats, rows, military press but my flat bench just wont budge.

So now ive just moved to incline bench with a little bit closer grip then normal. Just to see how that works out. But i just kinda find this out of the ordinary.

 

[joe d]

i kinda find this all weird. my flat bench is my weakest point out of everything. My max is about 165x1. For some reason it wont just go up. My DB presses all of gone up but at the bench im just stuck..

Also i military pressed 135x1 today. And thats only 20off from my bp. There's gota be something wrong here that i am doing. Ive been consisntley moving up in all my main excerises eg deads, squats, rows, military press but my flat bench just wont budge.

So now ive just moved to incline bench with a little bit closer grip then normal. Just to see how that works out. But i just kinda find this out of the ordinary.

are you working with a spotter?

add some variety. train to absolute failure with a neg. for 6 reps 1 day then do a 20 rep the next chest day. be explosive and keep your grip wide on the heavy sets.

 

[thebigoz]

What are your PR's for other lifts? Incline press, Deads, Squats etc

What are your stats? How long have you been training?

You form could be contributing, but it should never be so bad that it constitutes a major plateau. Might be time to change it up. I.e. switch to flat DB press for a while, then switch back to the bar down the track.

You don't have to do flat bar. A lot of tests out there show that flat DB press actually activates your chest to a greater degree.

 

[thebigoz]

are you working with a spotter?

add some variety. train to absolute failure with a neg. for 6 reps 1 day then do a 20 rep the next chest day. be explosive and keep your grip wide on the heavy sets.

Totally agree.

As an example - I only max out at 265 on bench, however quite often my sets on 245 or thereabouts feel HEAVIER than my next set at 265 because I'm not getting into it enough.

I quite often sound like a madman in the gym...

GET ANGRY!

 

[Powerlifting57]

I would honeslty first check your form. Where are you hitting on your chest? Are you benching with a narrow grip? Are you going to wide? Where are your elbows in space?

There are alot of factors that can change exactly how much you bench. If you were at my gym i could change your form and add 15-30lbs on your bench in 5 minutes.

What does your chest work out look like?

 

[ajaygill]

are you working with a spotter?

add some variety. train to absolute failure with a neg. for 6 reps 1 day then do a 20 rep the next chest day. be explosive and keep your grip wide on the heavy sets.

i usually dont have a spotter but i just ask someone on my last two sets to come and spot me

 

[ajaygill]

What are your PR's for other lifts? Incline press, Deads, Squats etc

What are your stats? How long have you been training?

You form could be contributing, but it should never be so bad that it constitutes a major plateau. Might be time to change it up. I.e. switch to flat DB press for a while, then switch back to the bar down the track.

You don't have to do flat bar. A lot of tests out there show that flat DB press actually activates your chest to a greater degree.

stats righ now are

175pounds/ about 5,6ish. My bf i dont know but im getting it tested right when the other gym by my house opens up about a week or two.

My PR's right now are around:

ATG Squat: 185
Deads: 255
Rows: 145
Flat bench: 165
Military: 135

I have been working out for about almost a year and a half and have defiantly come a long way strength wise. just the flat bench is being a bitch.

 

[ajaygill]

I would honeslty first check your form. Where are you hitting on your chest? Are you benching with a narrow grip? Are you going to wide? Where are your elbows in space?

There are alot of factors that can change exactly how much you bench. If you were at my gym i could change your form and add 15-30lbs on your bench in 5 minutes.

What does your chest work out look like?

Right now my routine is looking like flowing:

Incline bench 5x5
Flat DB`s:3sets till failure
BW dips: 3sets till failure
Pullovers: 3sets

Sometimes if i still have some energy ill throw in some flyes.

 

[thebigoz]

Your max lifts seem pretty normal to me in comparison.

If you have plateaued then I would suggest changing it up to a different exercise (flat DB) as I said previously. Do them as your first exercise on chest day. Ramp up the weight and see if you can start making gains on flat DB.

After a month or so - or if you plateau again - hit flat BB and try your max. See how you fair.

 

[Powerlifting57]

Right now my routine is looking like flowing:

Incline bench 5x5
Flat DB`s:3sets till failure
BW dips: 3sets till failure
Pullovers: 3sets

Sometimes if i still have some energy ill throw in some flyes.

TBH i think the 5X5 method is over hyped. Jump it up to 4X8 as heavy as possible on bb flat 4X8 incline and 4X20 flys. Then in 2 weeks do 6 reps then 2 weeks do 3 reps so on down to 1 rep max. I bet you will put 10-20lbs on your bench.