Bench Press advice

Hey guys,

I've been training for a long time now, mainly for rugby and focus a lot on power and strength. Problem is, i've hit a real plateau with my bench press. All my other lifts are increasing steadily, but bench has just become stagnant! About 3 months ago, I started doing the 5x5 training, and now I'm up to 130kg for the full 5x5. However, it's been here for a while and i'm not making any more progress.

I was just wondering what you guys recommend for a bench press routine, looking at increasing strength. I have incorporated floor presses into the session as well, and these were really good.

Any recommendations would be great!

Cheers guys (this is my first post in this section!)

Hi Bluestone

It may just be a case of your strength/weight ratio maxing out and you might find it difficult to increase that number without juicing!

Anyway, that is a simple view of things! What usually sparks the body into changes and improvements is exactly that - change.

So maybe move away from your 5x5, go back to a 3x8 or 3x10, where you increase the weight each set. Also, consider throwing a 'burnout' set in here and there where you do high rep on a low weight. Anything that is different can often shock the body into responding, and that is why it's key to keep mixing up your training. Our bodies will eventually get used to something and the effects of that exercise will then begin to diminish.

Yeh, I think you're right. A lot of people have been telling me this, and so I have changed the overall workout. But because i've seen good gains using the 5x5, I've kept this in the session and added/removed other exercises.

I'll definitely try changing up to the 3x8 or 3x10 though for a few weeks, see how that helps.

Cheers for the response Fury

No problem, mate. Best way is to probably change for a few months then switch it back, and you should hopefully see some new gains.

Personally I have found doing dumbell presses, inclide and decline benching as well as doing things like dips and flys have really helped. I pretty much steered clear of benching itself for a bit then go back and really hammer it!

I played American Football and found this was quite a robust method of training for the bench which is the test for measuring strength.

Is it the strong lifts programme you're doing? Because it's strength you're training for I think you should still keep the reps low. Stronglifts says to deload 10% (so go down to 117.5kg) and then work back up. If you still stall at 130kg switch to 3x5.

Maybe take a week off from lifting, let yourself recover fully then get back into it.

On a 5x5 the best thing to do if you don't make it on the next weight is after trying on 3 consecutive workouts drop by 10% and then build up in 2.5kg increments each workout.
I assume you have been trying for 5x5 @ 132.5, so drop to 120 for 5x5 next time then work back up. Training twice a week you'll be there in 3 or so weeks.
Then carry on up in 2.5kg's again until you stall 3 times and repeat the process.

Cheers everyone, haven't even thought of dropping the 10% and working up again- i'll definitely try that.

At first I thought the problem might have been my shoulder strength limiting the weight, so I upped their training but bench didn't increase.

For the last two weeks or so I've switched to dumbbell presses and seen some nice gains.

Cheers for all the advice, i'll let you know how I get on!

Nice one. What other excercises do you do?
That's a good point about other body parts limiting the weight. Where's the sticking point in your bench press?

For chest, I always start with the flat bench, 5x5. Then I move onto a floor press (either dumbbell or smith) for 4x6-8. Then I hit incline bench, and go for 4x8-10. Hit incline flies after that, and then finish with a nice superset of dips and push-ups or dips and flat flies to really burn.

The sticking point on the bench was initially about 2 inches off my chest (I think the transition from shoulder to tricep strength), that's why I started floor pressing, and saw good improvements. Now the sticking point seems to be lower!

I think you are doing too many exercises on chest. If you are training for strength then forget the all the flies.
Flat bench, some incline work - maybe dumbells for variation, then dips - which cover the decline angle.

Too many? Really? I train to complete exhaustion, and that usually occurs 2 sets into the dips superset. I've found the incline flies have really helped with the benching though. I go heavy and aim for 4 sets of 6 reps.

Just my view.... but admit I do not know enough information about your overall workout/training routines to be sure.
The compound exercises are best for power and strength, I would prefer to leave out flies and be exhausted at the end of my 4th set of dips rather than the 2nd.
Beware though of too much heavy work and the need for balance. Rotator cuff injuries are far too common.
That 10% reduction mentioned above is a good way of recovering but not if you just continue to hammer it on the other exercises.

I do focus a lot on compound exercises, and sessions are based around them mostly. You're right about the need for balance too, I think dropping the weights for a certain period is something I need to start doing. I'm definitely going to try the 10% technique, see how it goes.

Cheers Skimpton!

Just to alter the direction of this topic, if you don't mind Bluestone, and to save me creating a separate bench press topic:

What would you say is the best group of exercises to do if you're training for a bit of a combo between strength and definition? That's what I aim to do with my gym visits, and at the moment my average chest session looks like:

3 x 10 dips
3 x 10 bench press (don't go too high, 1st set 20kg a side, 2nd set 25kg a side, 3rd set 25kg a side - sometimes 30kg).
3 x 10 flyes using 14kg dumbells
3 x 10 incline chest press using approx 20kg dumbells
3 x 10 cable crossovers including a burnout set on a lower weight to finish.

I'm 6ft tall and weigh 12 stone, if that is any help.

**Just a friendly reminder**

If you are doing bench (chest) don't forget to work your back as this will properly screw up your posture...it can make your shoulder pull round and lead to all sorts of problems further down the line!



FoF...thats pretty much the routine I took on in my quest to get bigger arms and found my chest and shoulders also benefited. Also found skull crushers using an EZ curl bar to be of good use as well as close grip benching to really work the triceps.

Yeah I often do the skull crushers with the EZ bar, they're great for triceps.

I'm trying to move more toward bodyweight exercises at the moment, as I want to maintain a lean look. Obviously pressups and dips assist both chest and tris, but can you think of any other bodyweight exercises for those muscles? Do pull ups for biceps and back.

Obviously the dietry requirements are completely different for gaining strength and for increasing definition. From the looks of it though, your chest workout is probably pretty good for what you're after without altering your diet a lot. Maybe occasionally change it up, so instead of 3x10 you might do 4x8 for a few weeks, but that's just a minor tweak really.

A lot of compound moves engage so many muscle groups that the can actually be an efficient fat-burner and provide that 'lean' look. I find cleans and power cleans especially get me knackered!

Personally i found heavy chest Monday and light chest Thursday has worked for me,

On 12 week cycles ending with one rep max attempt at the end of each 12 weeks followed by 2 weeks of rest.
Then repeat cycle with increased weight
-------------------------------------------------
Monday - warm up with dips or cable crossovers or press ups and stretching.

Flat bench Lock outs 4inch off chest close grip "shoulder width" 5 sets-5 rep-4 rep last 3 sets 3 rep.
(if your maxing at 130kg do the 5 reps at 90kg,4 reps 105kg and 3 sets for 3 reps at 120kg should be possible)

Incline bench 2x8 at around maxing out weight, close grip "shoulder width"

Off head tris 3x6

Dumbell clean and press 2x6.
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Thursday - warmup,

Flat bench close grip "shoulder width" 10 sets x 3 reps, with 60% one rep max,so about 70-80kg for you,
must be done in a fast powerful controlled motion with no more than 45 seconds rest between each rep.

Off head tris with dumbells held in hammer position 3x6

Dips 2x10

Side Lats 3x8
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When attempting your one rep max at the end of the 12 weeks use the standard width hand placement NOT close grip.
Remember don't think you have to jump up in strength in even kg's "i.e 10kg a time" once i reached 140kg bench i used the little 1kg and 2kg plates all the time,progress is progress even if you just increase by 2kg.

I do Heavy legs and back on Tuesday with light legs and back on Friday.

When I feel something isn't having the same effect, like when my arms aren't feeling as achey after a big session, I change up my next session rapidly and then start doing other things until I find something that is working, then maybe a couple of weeks later I'll revert back to what I was doing and it will rapidly help me get bigger and feel stronger.

Cheers for the replies viewtothegym and Huckerby.

Interesting workout view, I might adopt it for a little while and see how it goes. So at the end of each 12 week cycle, you just have a session where you try and max your bench, that's it?

Yep i do a 1 rep max every 12 weeks for bench squat and deadlifts in the same workout, it's important to the cycle you know your one rep max