Answered Any Explanations/Tips or help: Sudden extreme drop in my Bench Press within 3 days

theshexmix

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Long Story with extra info so maybe someone can figure this out; In a Nutshell i want to know how the hell i went from Benching 225 for 8 reps so easily on Monday to barley being able to put it up at all on Friday. The story is as follows:
So my spotter was injured a little over a month back and a bunch of personal stuff crashed into me at the same time so I haven't really trained my chest at all in over a month. This Monday i was finally so fed up and impatient with how i looked and felt i decided i was gonna just bench w/o a spotter and i put on 225 and surprisingly got 8 reps with almost no effort for the first 2 sets (Just some extra info before i took my break i was repping around 245lbs for 8 reps, 4-5 sets fairly easily on a small dmz cycle, and I actually came off the cycle the day I stopped so that probably has nothing to do with what I'm about to say... just some extra information.)
Anyways, I finally found these spotter stands that i ordered online which allow me to deflate my chest and slide underneath the bar when i fail and as much as it sucks I still have full range of motion with the bar touching my chest.
So I spent all Thursday evening trying to set these spotter stands up to be able to Bench Friday worry free before work. It was a pain in the ass and took hours of lifting the bar and adjusting the height and position of the stand especially because one side of my basement floor where my Bench Press is made the stand about 3 inches higher so I got it to the best position i could right over my neck and I went to bed pissed off.
I wake up in the morning and work with what I'm dealt and because of the position the spotter stand were in i had to move my head all the way to the very end of the bench press so i didn't crush my neck and it was probably bad form but i didn't hurt myself and it wasn't very uncomfortable but i barley got 5 reps this time.
So i said okay maybe its because of bad form and i decided im gonna fix this now even if im late to work, so by miracle i got it to its sweet spot with another 15 mins or so of playing around with mats under them etc..
I went to do my second set feeling fully alert, not fatigued at all and only slightly sore from the 3 and a half sets i did on Monday, so i assumed all would be fine now...WRONG. AGAIN i only barley got 5 reps then i waited a full 5 minutes in between and only got 3 and a half sets.
My theories are either that i exhausted my muscles lifting the bar so much trying to set the spotting stand up and i also put 185 on Thursday night and i probably did about 10 reps of that as well (maybe a few more or less) But that doesn't seem likely to me at all. Or my bad form on the first set messed me up, but i wasn't injured sore or tired. Any theories/Tips would be extremely appreciated!
 

theshexmix

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Im fairly new to lifting, Sorry if this is a little ridiculous loll, I seriously would like to know what went on here though
 
Rad83

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1. Ya came off cycle...DMZ is no joke from what I’ve witnessed it do to people

2. You need an extra rest day or two...Maybe slacked on calories ?

3. Stop relying on a spotter, it’s a crutch. Learn powerlifting form (keep your ass on the bench, slight arch, dig your traps etc into the bench, pause it on chest just below nipples) ...You should be starting with your eyes directly under bar, keep everything tight, drag bar over your chest as thats your starting position, hold it! Then begin the movement, pause on chest and explode back up toward the rack, lock it out over chest...repeat.
I never go to failure & and I’m making strength and size gains.
If you do fail, the bar is on your sternum and it’s not like you dropped it, if you lift correctly. You just roll it forward, off you...
Train smart, with weight you can handle!
 

theshexmix

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Thank you so much for all of this man! i really appreciate it., Especially that i can make gains not going until failure every time is something I cant believe it took me this long to know thats a huge relief, and these are great tips!
 

theshexmix

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And by the way Yes actually i was slacking a little on calories which i didn't think was a huge deal but your not the first one to tell me it how big of slacking even a little can be lol
 
Rad83

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Glad to help!

Want to see something really fuckedd up !? Look at a recent video of Jay Cutler, 4 time Olympia winner, “bench” on YouTube with mike ohern and Larry wheels....O’hern and Wheels form is money & cutlers is horrendous!
 

Iwilleattuna

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Make sure you didn’t somehow injure yourself. I tore my pec and something similar happened, but I literally had no idea I tore my pec until I saw bruising and atrophy within the muscle. Some people have higher tolerance to pain. I did feel a pop and it was sore but nothing I felt severely. Very weird but just make sure. It can happen. I had the same thing. My bench went from 255 to barely being able to lift 135 lol
 

Jstrong20

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Take a few days off or do a deload week. Also if you have been doing the same routine for awhile it might be time to change it up.
 

theshexmix

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Make sure you didn’t somehow injure yourself. I tore my pec and something similar happened, but I literally had no idea I tore my pec until I saw bruising and atrophy within the muscle. Some people have higher tolerance to pain. I did feel a pop and it was sore but nothing I felt severely. Very weird but just make sure. It can happen. I had the same thing. My bench went from 255 to barely being able to lift 135 lol
Oh wow!..
**** thats pretty crazy lol..huhh thanks a lot, thats really interesting it did almost did seem* like i was injured except, i barley felt much more soreness than i should've. I'm definitely going to take a few days off until i don't feel sore this time, so probably Tuesday will be my bench day instead of Monday so i can heal a little more (maybe even Wednesday) and if this happens again im for sure gonna get it checked out! Hopefully its not an injury but your right you never know and if I continue to steadily drop in weight that's a bigger problem then slacking on protein or not resting lol
 
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theshexmix

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Take a few days off or do a deload week. Also if you have been doing the same routine for awhile it might be time to change it up.
Jsrtong thanks! yeah for sure that seems like the best idea, I probably just overdid it and being that I slacked off for a while before my body probably needs more time to recover than when i was training everyday, and
before my 4 and a half week hiatus i was changing up my program a little with moderate success and it definitely helped me get past my plateau at 240.
But my body is probably pretty used to my regular 4-5 sets with whichever weight i can get a comfortable 8 reps the first 2 sets and then i have to push out the last two to get 8 reps, so thats a good reminder now that you brought it up that if i do just need to take it slower i can always change it up to help me get back to baseline. Much appreciated bro
 

theshexmix

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Glad to help!

Want to see something really fuckedd up !? Look at a recent video of Jay Cutler, 4 time Olympia winner, “bench” on YouTube with mike ohern and Larry wheels....O’hern and Wheels form is money & cutlers is horrendous!
WOW lmao really interesting video too, i always looked up to Cutler that was really fucked up lol!! haha.
I really liked what O'hern was saying about not giving a **** about benching the most but about the full muscle contractions too. Spot on, and really cool Thanks again!
 

BlockBuilder

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You went off cycle. That’s what happened. That is definitely what caused it
 

theshexmix

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You went off cycle. That’s what happened. That is definitely what caused it
Well id usually agree, but i dont think so because I already came off my cycle over a month ago and i had a good PCT, (nolva and clomid) so of course i still lost weight and gains but i was able to put up 225 almost effortlessly for 8 the first 2 reps then within 3 days i could barley get 5 reps.
 

theshexmix

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Well id usually agree, but i dont think so because I already came off my cycle over a month ago and i had a good PCT, (nolva and clomid) so of course i still lost weight and gains but i was able to put up 225 almost effortlessly for 8 the first 2 reps then within 3 days i could barley get 5 reps.
So Good news..turns out that i did just need some extra rest and calories. I was barley sore at all on Monday and felt pretty good. I put 225 on and was back to normal! 4 sets of 8 reps had to grind the last 2 out but thats expected when getting back into the grind now im gonna be training everyday again and making some nice gains again, also rad83 thanks again for givin me those tips and thats fucked up J Cutler trying to "bench" video lol i got much better form and im arching my back the correct way now, that also helps a **** load!
 

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