plateau on bench

[beastmode99]

I have been lifting for 3 months straight after football ended and have about 2 solid years of weightlifting experience. I have been gaining ever since the end of football on every compound workout, I have gained in my squat, deadlift, and powerclean consistently but for about a month I have not increased my benchpress at all. I have gone from benching 185 for 5 x 5 to 215 for 5 x 5 in two months but ever since that I have not made any gains. Any help on what may help, any workouts or any experiences with plataeus would be greatly appreciated.

[AllMaxBrian]

Do you normally train to failure? If not, switching to a failure routine can help you bust through plateaus - I like to do my first set to failure then do a drop set to squeeze every last ounce of power out.

[beastmode99]

Do you normally train to failure? If not, switching to a failure routine can help you bust through plateaus - I like to do my first set to failure then do a drop set to squeeze every last ounce of power out.

no I normally don't but yeah I'll try that, thanks

[AllMaxBrian]

no I normally don't but yeah I'll try that, thanks

No problem. You could also try a deload week.

[MMAMONSTER19]

Food need more carbs for more energy, and also try doing pyramids what i started when i hit a freeze point (plateau) i started this 12,8,6,6 goes 155 for 5 for warmup then 185x12, 205x8, 225x6 225x6 extremely difficult the first time i tried it but after i did this for a bit and made sure i hit every mark went to my old bench routine and added on 5lbs per set and set my new max at 260 last month cant wait to find out what it is now!! check it out

[buuzer0]

I feel your pain, I don't regularly bench much over 5 reps of 225... ever... and i've been there for probably a year or so, though i have gotten gains in other areas.

Mainly my wrists hurt like hell if I go much over that.

[jtp217]

Be careful going to failure on flat bench. When pushing that hard flat bench can become a real shoulder wrecker. I'd drop flat bench for a while and focus on a different movement for chest (incline/decline barbell or incline/decline/flat dumbbell bench) and heavy shoulder and tricep pressing before coming back to regular flat bench.

[beastmode99]

Thanks for your guy help, I was able to slowly break through my plateau by focusing more on my breath and form which has helped me bench more and more reps.

[elementrip]

Be careful going to failure on flat bench. When pushing that hard flat bench can become a real shoulder wrecker. I'd drop flat bench for a while and focus on a different movement for chest (incline/decline barbell or incline/decline/flat dumbbell bench) and heavy shoulder and tricep pressing before coming back to regular flat bench.

My thoughts too... If you are getting stuck on your barbell, changing something as simple as working on DB's for a couple weeks even can improve support muscle and tendon strength. Then when you go back to try your bench again it'll have a slight increase in ease. Works visa versa as well DB-BB.
My max bench was 225 for 8 for the longest time and my DB had been at about 75's before i reverted to barbell bench due to boredom. But when i went back to DB's i was pressing 105's for a solid 6 and worked up to 110's for 6 in about 3 weeks. When i went back to barbell my new 8 rep was 245. and my max had increased by 20 as well.... Not saying my statistics should be expected but it should at the very least alleviate strain and provide an extra 5 per set if you hit DB's for 4 weeks or so.

[jsl]

Tri work will help. Close grip benches, floor presses, brain crushers can all help to increase your bench.

[buuzer0]

Yeah... lately I have gotten away from flat bench so much and started doing more incline (DB some days, BB others), which I always hated so neglected. Really need to develop my upper chest.

Will take the other advice in this thread as well.

[rccratch]

or just bring your elbows in and take a closer grip to take away some of the shoulder pressure

[brk_nemesis]

Back in the day, Partials have helped me break plateaus on bench. I would do my normal routine,.. then at the very end I'd put on 135-155 and do partials. I would lower the weight to the chest,.. hit 5 partial reps at the bottom to half way up,... then push all the way up,... and that's considered one full rep. I would do about 5-10 full reps, with a spotter, and that would wonders.. .. once every two weeks.

[Brutus977]

5x5 is the classic football bench matrix. If you want to have a heavier max you have to lift heavier weights. assuming your one rep max is 250-260ish, try 3-4 sets of 3 of 235 then 2 sets of 2 at 245. Dips, incline and decline bench will give you a boost as well. Training your muscles to lift less weight will do just that. Almost forgot. Throw some negatives in there as well 10%over your max one rep until you loose control of the decent.

[H8duke]

Form is most crucial also.We all know flat bench is an ego lift.NOT saying you are doing so,but we all tend at times to try and lift more than we can,and sacrifice form and rep range also.Lower the weight and concentrate on STRICT form and complete range of motion.