I seem to have hit a plateau on my bench. I seem to be stronger on dumbbell presses, but barbell has hit a wall. Weird, but whatever.

Yesterday I got on the smith machine did 4 sets of bench press. Then I moved the stops up so that I could only do a 8-10" lift. I loaded that baby up as much as I could and did 3 sets of 6. Today I am more sore than usual so I think this may be something that will work to get me through this plateau.

Also I am adding standing barbell shoulder presses to my routine instead of just sitting ones. I think if I can get my shoulders bigger and stronger that all of my upper body lifts will go up.

Any comments, esp on the short range bench presses?

well this is a huge hit....

Squat heavier and eat a ton, whats your bp at currently?

Originally Posted by CT3

I seem to have hit a plateau on my bench. I seem to be stronger on dumbbell presses, but barbell has hit a wall. Weird, but whatever.

Yesterday I got on the smith machine did 4 sets of bench press. Then I moved the stops up so that I could only do a 8-10" lift. I loaded that baby up as much as I could and did 3 sets of 6. Today I am more sore than usual so I think this may be something that will work to get me through this plateau.

Also I am adding standing barbell shoulder presses to my routine instead of just sitting ones. I think if I can get my shoulders bigger and stronger that all of my upper body lifts will go up.

Any comments, esp on the short range bench presses?

Shortened ROM works for bis, I don't see why it wouldn't work for chest. Try doing the upper end only as well, see how that works.

Originally Posted by jim623

Shortened ROM works for bis, I don't see why it wouldn't work for chest. Try doing the upper end only as well, see how that works.

The upper part of the lift is what I did. I think I will keep doing this as it seems to work because of the soreness.

Originally Posted by GeekPoop

Squat heavier and eat a ton, whats your bp at currently?

I eat like crazy. I pretty much have that in check. I take in around 3000 cals at 40/40/20 P/C/F. I have been doing squats and deadlifts at higher number of sets with lower reps, such as 4x6 or 5x5. I have terribly weak legs from not training them in the past so hopefully the added work will help them take off and everything else will follow.

Right now I'm at 205 for 2 reps on bench, can't get much more.

Originally Posted by CT3

I eat like crazy. I pretty much have that in check. I take in around 3000 cals at 40/40/20 P/C/F. I have been doing squats and deadlifts at higher number of sets with lower reps, such as 4x6 or 5x5. I have terribly weak legs from not training them in the past so hopefully the added work will help them take off and everything else will follow.

Right now I'm at 205 for 2 reps on bench, can't get much more.

I would be getting in more cals, but that's just me. Also I would stick with the free weights. If the smith helps, by all means go for it. But I think there is so much you can do in terms of sets, reps, rest pause, and even dynamic partial sets with DB's and BB's that there is no need for a smith unless you have an overwhelming injury of some sort. Also, if you are not steadily going up on triceps strength, then your bench probably wont either. Make sure you are hitting those CGB's and skullcrushers hard, and obviously weighted dips are a staple. Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by CT3

I eat like crazy. I pretty much have that in check. I take in around 3000 cals at 40/40/20 P/C/F. I have been doing squats and deadlifts at higher number of sets with lower reps, such as 4x6 or 5x5. I have terribly weak legs from not training them in the past so hopefully the added work will help them take off and everything else will follow.

Right now I'm at 205 for 2 reps on bench, can't get much more.

take a week off.

start eating 4500+ calories....eat until you start getting a tiny bit of fat gain going. When I have that tiny bit of love-handle fat coming on, its always accompanied by huge barrier breakage on all my lifts.

Keep up the deads/squats.

Dont go heavy at all on the overhead BB press...dangerous on your shoulders.

2 years ago I weighed 135lbs and could barely bench 135 5x5. Trust me, eating is really the main key.

Originally Posted by brk_nemesis

I would be getting in more cals, but that's just me. Also I would stick with the free weights. If the smith helps, by all means go for it. But I think there is so much you can do in terms of sets, reps, rest pause, and even dynamic partial sets with DB's and BB's that there is no need for a smith unless you have an overwhelming injury of some sort. Also, if you are not steadily going up on triceps strength, then your bench probably wont either. Make sure you are hitting those CGB's and skullcrushers hard, and obviously weighted dips are a staple. Hope this helps.

I was just using the smith machine so I could place the stops in order to do the short range lift. Otherwise I never use it for anything at all.

Originally Posted by monsterbox

take a week off.

start eating 4500+ calories....eat until you start getting a tiny bit of fat gain going. When I have that tiny bit of love-handle fat coming on, its always accompanied by huge barrier breakage on all my lifts.

Keep up the deads/squats.

Dont go heavy at all on the overhead BB press...dangerous on your shoulders.

2 years ago I weighed 135lbs and could barely bench 135 5x5. Trust me, eating is really the main key.

Maybe I'll look into some weight gainer, though I already have some fat on the love handle area.

Appreciate it guys

Originally Posted by monsterbox

take a week off.

start eating 4500+ calories....eat until you start getting a tiny bit of fat gain going. When I have that tiny bit of love-handle fat coming on, its always accompanied by huge barrier breakage on all my lifts.

Keep up the deads/squats.

Dont go heavy at all on the overhead BB press...dangerous on your shoulders.

2 years ago I weighed 135lbs and could barely bench 135 5x5. Trust me, eating is really the main key.

Also, I'm not really going heavy with the overhead press, just looking for something different to really hit that front delt to go along with db presses or arnolds.

Start doing some incline bp /bp, weighted dips, and flat db bp as well, alternate such as
inc bp 3x4-6
flat bp 2x6
dips 2x6

focus on intensity and form, dont worry about weight.


as far as legs go, yes weak, well everyone had to start out somewhere. no one is just born with massive strong legs. Follow a simliar intensity regime with a good diet and you WILL see results.

When using partial ROM to help a particular lift, it's important to know which part of the lift is your limiting factor. If you can't get more weight off your chest, working partials for the lockout is not going to be as big a help as working on the weak area. There are auxilary excercises for each part of the bench press that you might look into also. What part of the lift is stopping you?
I will sometimes use a smaller increment in weight also. My spring clips are about 2 lbs total. I don't usually use them, but will throw them on in a case where I need a smaller than 5lb increment to help get on the way. Sometimes these things are mental barriers also, and knowing I just lifted an extra 2lb will help break through.

Good luck and keep us posted. 207 for 1?