Help my bench

[cdoubleu]

I seem to be stuck on my weight at the bench. I have been eatting a little less lately, not a major calorie deficit or anything. I am trying to shed some fat but i am in no rush, so im at a point where i am staying at the same weight but lossing some stomach fat. I wonder if this may be the cause of my hault on the bench but i would like to get some opinions and tips on what i could do while still trying to loose some fat. I should mention I am not on any gear.

So where im at with my bench press:
Today was a 5 x 5 on the bench @255lbs
This was my primary lift, the rest of my sets in other chest workouts were in the 8-10 rep range today.

I have been trying this format for a while and it has worked well for me, a little mixture of strength training and some rep ranges to stimulate growth. I am advancing in weight in all my workouts expect for my bench press and standing shoulder press.

Last weeks bench press was an attempt for 5 x 5 @265lbs. I only pulled off reps of
5x5x5x3x4. So that is why i went to 255 this week. Today was a successful 5x5 but i have been teeter toddering
between the weights for 6 weeks or so.

Based on what your seeing here is the anything i could try to get past this plateau while still eatting at around maintainance calories?

So far i have tried the post failure heavy overload method for about four weeks and returned to regular routine.

Thanks in advance

 

[Docd187123]

Bench is one of the lifts most affected by weight. Gain weight you gain strength on the bench. Lose weight and you're lucky to maintain strength and a mega millions winner if you manage to get stronger at it lol.

Having said that, you should try working with different intensities and rep ranges. You did 5x5 @ 255lbs today so next time try 7-8 triples. Begin at 265lbs and increase the weight weekly till just before you plateau. Then switch to maybe 8-10doubles. So the same. Then singles if you're sure of yourself working with heavy singles. Cycle back to the 5x5 and you should bust through your plateau.

 

[cdoubleu]

Bench is one of the lifts most affected by weight. Gain weight you gain strength on the bench. Lose weight and you're lucky to maintain strength and a mega millions winner if you manage to get stronger at it lol.

Having said that, you should try working with different intensities and rep ranges. You did 5x5 @ 255lbs today so next time try 7-8 triples. Begin at 265lbs and increase the weight weekly till just before you plateau. Then switch to maybe 8-10doubles. So the same. Then singles if you're sure of yourself working with heavy singles. Cycle back to the 5x5 and you should bust through your plateau.

That sounds pretty sweet. I will have to try that out. I have done triples and doubles in the past but i did not up the number of sets to 7ish like your suggesting.

What kind of weight increase per week would be a good pace. 5 or 10 lbs?

 

[Docd187123]

That sounds pretty sweet. I will have to try that out. I have done triples and doubles in the past but i did not up the number of sets to 7ish like your suggesting.

What kind of weight increase per week would be a good pace. 5 or 10 lbs?

Look up Prilepin's table. If you know your max you can use it to figure out alternate set rep schemes depending in the intensity you choose.

5x5 is 25 sets total work. 5sets of triples is only 15 sets. To get a similar response on the strength curve you'd need to up the sets of triples get an ideal dose of stress.

I'd stick to 5lbs on the bench as it's a tough lift to progress since it uses less musculature than squats for example.

 

[insertnamehere]

I seem to be stuck on my weight at the bench. I have been eatting a little less lately, not a major calorie deficit or anything. I am trying to shed some fat but i am in no rush, so im at a point where i am staying at the same weight but lossing some stomach fat. I wonder if this may be the cause of my hault on the bench but i would like to get some opinions and tips on what i could do while still trying to loose some fat. I should mention I am not on any gear.

So where im at with my bench press:
Today was a 5 x 5 on the bench @255lbs
This was my primary lift, the rest of my sets in other chest workouts were in the 8-10 rep range today.

I have been trying this format for a while and it has worked well for me, a little mixture of strength training and some rep ranges to stimulate growth. I am advancing in weight in all my workouts expect for my bench press and standing shoulder press.

Last weeks bench press was an attempt for 5 x 5 @265lbs. I only pulled off reps of
5x5x5x3x4. So that is why i went to 255 this week. Today was a successful 5x5 but i have been teeter toddering
between the weights for 6 weeks or so.

Based on what your seeing here is the anything i could try to get past this plateau while still eatting at around maintainance calories?

So far i have tried the post failure heavy overload method for about four weeks and returned to regular routine.

Thanks in advance

To echo what Doc said:

Try benching 3x a week for a couple of months. Have one day at around 60% doing sets of 8. Use that light day for recovery and to focus on form and technique. Have another day at around 75%, doing 5x5. Then have a day at around 90%+ for multiple sets of triples or doubles.

I personally use this method with great success.

 

[Docd187123]

To echo what Doc said:

Try benching 3x a week for a couple of months. Have one day at around 60% doing sets of 8. Use that light day for recovery and to focus on form and technique. Have another day at around 75%, doing 5x5. Then have a day at around 90%+ for multiple sets of triples or doubles.

I personally use this method with great success.

Another perfectly acceptable way to do it!

 

[insertnamehere]

Another perfectly acceptable way to do it!

There's more than one way to skin this bench cat...this is my way

 

[kap73]

These styles appeal to me atm, think i will incorporate this into my routine. Thanks

 

[brutus79]

These styles appeal to me atm, think i will incorporate this into my routine. Thanks

Nobody said anything about ass to mouth.

5 x 5 sucks. Listen to these guys.

 

[kap73]

Nobody said anything about ass to mouth.

5 x 5 sucks. Listen to these guys.

I should have quoted, i ment what doc mentioned about doubles. Personally i hate the 5x5

P.s my missus wont allow ass to mouth lol

 

[cdoubleu]

5 x 5 sucks. Listen to these guys.

Care to elaborate?

 

[brutus79]

Care to elaborate?

Just a lousy training program. In my opinion it doesn't have enough volume for the crazy hypertrophy gains 10 x 10 gives you and it doesn't have enough weight and has too many sets for strength training than a 3 x 12 or a 5/3/1 load/Deload program. All I ever got was pain and minimal gains in size or strength. I have heard that sentiment from others who ran the program. In other words- it sucks as a program. For a week or two, fine. Months? Shitty returns.

 

[cdoubleu]

Just a lousy training program. In my opinion it doesn't have enough volume for the crazy hypertrophy gains 10 x 10 gives you and it doesn't have enough weight and has too many sets for strength training than a 3 x 12 or a 5/3/1 load/Deload program. All I ever got was pain and minimal gains in size or strength. I have heard that sentiment from others who ran the program. In other words- it sucks as a program. For a week or two, fine. Months? Shitty returns.

I dont like the idea of the actual 5x5 program where you are doing a 5x5 on multiple muscle groups in a work out. I have modified it to have the type of assistance exercises after main work out that the 5/3/1 program calls for. So for example after a bench press 5x5 i will do other chest exercises in a 10+/- range.

This has worked pretty good for strength in most areas but not so much on the bench. Like your saying i think the 5x5 is lacking something and it is probably time to move on...i am going to be trying some of the earlier suggestions.

 

[cdoubleu]

Bench is one of the lifts most affected by weight. Gain weight you gain strength on the bench. Lose weight and you're lucky to maintain strength and a mega millions winner if you manage to get stronger at it lol.

Having said that, you should try working with different intensities and rep ranges. You did 5x5 @ 255lbs today so next time try 7-8 triples. Begin at 265lbs and increase the weight weekly till just before you plateau. Then switch to maybe 8-10doubles. So the same. Then singles if you're sure of yourself working with heavy singles. Cycle back to the 5x5 and you should bust through your plateau.

Tried the triples this week and it went well. Went for 7 sets at 265, got 3 reps on all except last set were i only got 2.

I think i will still up the weight another 5lbs next week even though i missed the last set.
Im looking forward to this!

 

[Docd187123]

Tried the triples this week and it went well. Went for 7 sets at 265, got 3 reps on all except last set were i only got 2.

I think i will still up the weight another 5lbs next week even though i missed the last set.
Im looking forward to this!

Awesome news. Take slightly longer between sets if you need to but try to add weight to the bar whenever possible. Right before you plateau out with triples, you can switch to heavy doubles or singles. Progression with doubles won't last long though. Same for singles. They'll prime your strength though for when you go back to 5reps or more

 

[cdoubleu]

Awesome news. Take slightly longer between sets if you need to but try to add weight to the bar whenever possible. Right before you plateau out with triples, you can switch to heavy doubles or singles. Progression with doubles won't last long though. Same for singles. They'll prime your strength though for when you go back to 5reps or more

Thanks man.
While doing 5x5 i was taking 3 minute breaks, I shortened the breaks between triples up to 2 mins. So maybe i will need to take a little more time for the last couple sets.

What are some of the signs i should look out for to know when its "right before" I plateau with triples? Other than noticing progression slow or not being able to add weight two consecutive workouts.

 

[Docd187123]

Thanks man.
While doing 5x5 i was taking 3 minute breaks, I shortened the breaks between triples up to 2 mins. So maybe i will need to take a little more time for the last couple sets.

What are some of the signs i should look out for to know when its "right before" I plateau with triples? Other than noticing progression slow or not being able to add weight two consecutive workouts.

For some sets I will take as much as 6-8min of rest in between of needed. Try to get the work done as quickly as possible but more importantly you should be hitting all your reps and sets.

Plateau you'll know. Bad speed will slow considerably. Final reps will grind out. You'll tell yourself no way I'm adding weight next week I barely got this week. Etc.

 

[cdoubleu]

Sounds good. Thanks again doc.

 

[Docd187123]

Sounds good. Thanks again doc.

No problem buddy. The stronger you get the more complex your programming will need to be to keep eliciting progress. Just keep that in mind.

 

[cdoubleu]

Yes. I liked the triples so much the other day I incorporated them into my squats today. So i will see how things advance with that too.