Help my bench - stronger than workout parter in pretty much everything else.

[the.gladiator1987]

I would def do a 5x5 bro. Or at least something that has you benching heavy twice a week with little assistance work. My bench last time I did 5x5 went from 275x3 to 315x2

 

[pdaddyII]

No offense bro but it's not everyones goal to be able to lift a car off the ground. I personally want to be strong AND look sexy as hell. Some people don't want to risk an injury and are just going for the functionality of the muscular physique, I don't see a problem with that.

 

[pdaddyII]

Well, over a month has gone by and there really has been very little improvement. I am having a hard time lifting the bar from the chest. Once I get half way the rest becomes easy(due to bowflex no doubt).

My diet is good, my sleep has been ok, and I have had 10-30% increase in pretty much every other lift in the past couple months with the exception of bench. I just don't get it. I even took 2 weeks off from doing any chest workout to remove some tension off a stiff shoulder(which is better now), but only minimal increase.

What are all of your lifting numbers like?

 

[gstacker]

Post up your set and rep scheme, might be able to tweak somthing there... Include the lbs

 

[SPEKTOR-AAA]

Bench. Make sure form is good. Start weights that are functional. Take your time, and make sure you understand your body. Good luck bro

 

[JDid23]

Well, over a month has gone by and there really has been very little improvement. I am having a hard time lifting the bar from the chest. Once I get half way the rest becomes easy(due to bowflex no doubt).

My diet is good, my sleep has been ok, and I have had 10-30% increase in pretty much every other lift in the past couple months with the exception of bench. I just don't get it. I even took 2 weeks off from doing any chest workout to remove some tension off a stiff shoulder(which is better now), but only minimal increase.

what's your diet? a lot of the time, even though you think it's good, there might be some ways to improve it.

Also, the fact you took 2 weeks off could be a reason why your bench has suffered. I went on vacation and didn't lift for 2 weeks, and it drastically hurt my DL #s.

how is your form? tell us how you set up for your bench and what you do during the lift.

 

[stevesmi]

start running pushing splits and vary the workouts

1. do 10X10's (these are called centuries) do these maybe once every month
2. heavy sets with heavy weights for 4-5 reps, 15 sets total
3. lots of dips, lots of pushups, lots of tricep pushs

 

[johnnyrockit8665]

So I got a slight problem, and I am unsure how to solve it, and it could be I just need to get used to the range.

I have been training on a bowflex for the last 5 months and decided I needed to get to the gym to really push myself further, and besides, the bowflex was causing shoulder problems.

My parter can bench a good 20lbs more than me, and incline 10lbs more than me. Decline we are about the same. On dumbell flys I can do 15lbs more than him, and triceps about 10%-15% more weight on any given lift.

What gives, and what do I need to do to fix this?

whats up bro? welcome to EF. I started my rehab from a broken leg on a bow flex. When I was finally able to make it to a gym again I have had a tough time getting my main lifts back up. Watching Dave Tate's training videos on you tube has helped me out alot with my technique and the weight has started to go up again. Here is a link to one of his videos. Most important is to be patient shoulder injuries are a pain in the ass......good luck bro! I hope this helps out.

‪Dave Tate's Six-Week Bench Press Cure‬‏ - YouTube

 

[treadlite]

Thanks for the responses guys and I have taken some advice as well a just personal knowledge. I believe it has been a combination of too many variables all at once.

current stats
178 ~15-16% BF 5'11"

My diet up until 2 months ago was 3000-3500 cal a day. I then dropped it to 2800-3000 a day to attempt a cut. This hurt me bad and gains across the board were. I hit 170 3 months ago and was stuck at that weight for 2 months. I then decided to add calories back in about a month ago and got awsome gains on all but chest, so I took two weeks off on doing any chest. Two weeks later...no gains in chest at all. I have tried 5x5's, supersets, 3x8, deloading, pyramid's, nothing has worked......UNTIL my last workout earlier this week.

only change

SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!

I made it a goal to get a min of 7 hours. If I went to bed too late, I would switch working out in the morning to working out in the afternoon so I would get 7-8 hours of sleep.

WOW, did that make a HUGE difference. Just in the past 2 weeks it feels like I have gained what I would have in the past 2 months of minimal gains and I jumped nearly 20% on my bench.

Current diet and routine

Diet - average cal is 3400 cal with a 40-40-10 protien-carb-fat ratio
3-6 eggs a day, mostly whites
12-16 oz of chicken
4 servings of whey
1 serving of casien
48 oz of milk
650 cal wieght gainer
1 beagle with cream cheese
1/2 cup of cottage cheese
1 spinich salad
pre-workout shake(glyco/bcaa's)

My diet does not vary much from this at all, over the years I have adapted well to eat ing the same things over and over and over again.

my current workout - I am going to create a new thread for this but I will post it here as well.

Monday - chest/tri's
flat bench - 5x5
incline or decline - 5x5
narrow grip bench - 3x8
dumbbell flys - 5x5
dips - 3x8
skull crushers 3x8

tuesday - back/bi's
widgrip pullup - 3 sets to get between 40-50
deadlift - 5x5
bent over barbell row 5x5
narrow revers grip pull-down 3x8
v-bar(not sure v-bar is best) seated cable row - 3x8
shrugs 3x8
dumbbell curl 3x6
hammer curl 3x6
incline seated curl 3x8
preacher curl 3x8
wrist curls(whatever they are called) 3x8 for each direction

Wednesday - Legs/shoulders
squat - 5x5
leg curl 3x8
leg ext 3x8
leg press 5x5
calves 3x8
Dumbbell shoulder press 3x8
Dumbbell front raise 3x8
dumbbell lateral raise 3x8
dumbbell reverse raise 3x8

Thursday - Rest

Friday - repeat Monday
Saturday - repeat Tuesday