Hit a plateau with benching!!

[RBTrucking]

I have been stuck at 240x1 for a couple months now i cant seem to get any stronger i bench 1x a week i am going to increase it to twice a week to try to work past the problem but i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions in the meantime? Thanks.

[mesomorph]

G'day mate, the different methods one can use in breaking through a plateau are so wide and varied it's confusing. Here are some- try reducing weight (that's right "reduce") and then work back up the weight scale in the 4-5 rep range using small increments in weight- stay away from Bb bench, try declines/inclines, try Dbs flat/incline/decline.- try higher frequency w/os as you have suggested but with one workout heavy low reps and the other moderate higher rep range- negatives only or partial reps using the 240+ weight- Plateaus can be frustrating and demoralising so stay away from any chest work for a few sessions and concentrate on other exercises that can assist your bench like working harder on tris and shoulders. Refresh the mind!There are many other types of plateau busting methods that posters will suggest. Sift through and find those that make sense to you and follow through. Good luck mate

[MAURER]

figure out where you're getting stuck and work on that part of the lift. then maybe you can break through.

[Blaze]

also how long have you been lifting straight?
Often times it's good to take a maybe a week's break or so, let your body go through a full recovery period, then start back in on your schedule again.

[fitricise]

Originally Posted by Blaze

also how long have you been lifting straight?
Often times it's good to take a maybe a week's break or so, let your body go through a full recovery period, then start back in on your schedule again.

agreed :

[IronMan]

Firehawk posted this thread in the Powerlifting section on how to increase your bench. It looks like a simple enough program, however it does not tell you how often you are to bench. My opinion is probably 3 times per week, but you might want to email Dave for clarification. He would be very happy to give you some pointers.

[F_Mac]

I'd hazard a guess that you will probably benefit more from more rest than more frequency. The majority of the population simply does not have the recovery ability to deal with 2-3 heavy bench workouts in a single week.

What you really need to do is determine what's holding your bench back. It's not necessarily your chest. It could be your delts or triceps as well. Things like close grip bench, board presses, rack presses, and even tricep pressdowns are very helpful in getting more weight up on the bench.

The first thing I would do is take a week off from any kind of benching completely though to allow you body to recover.

[Bulwark]

Try lowering the weight and increasing the reps to 3 or 4 and sets. add 5lbs each chest day and go from there.

Peace

[keam02]

Plateauing is incredibly frustrating sometimes. I'm probably doing it wrong, or not ideally, but I just kept working through the frustration and eventually I broke through. I'm sure there are better ways, but there is nothing wrong with persistance and determination, and you'll eventually improve again. However, lowering the weight and doing a few more reps as opposed to trying a 1 rep max ever bench workout should help.

[GetSwoll]

Try mixing up some other exercises other than bench.When I hit a plateau I try to work on flies and incline dumbell press.

GL

[rosco]

I have the same problem, im 15 yrs old and i have been benching 150 for a couple of months now and i think one of the most important thing you can do is stick with it, dont give up and you will achieve your goal, and also take the advice that that the more expierenced weight lifters ane giving you

[lift2befit]

Ok, Lets Look At The Problem. First Of All, What Else Are You Doing For You Bench? Like Everybody Else Has Been Telling You, Rest, Reps, Lighter Weight All Fit In. But Let Me Tell You What I Think. Last Year In July I Had Shoulder Surgery, Bone Spurs. In October I Went Back To The Gym And Starter Using Nothing But Dumbells For Chest. My Brother Starter Working Out With Me, So It Allowed Me To Go Heavier On Dumbell Press. Well I'm Using 110 Pd Dumbells, Reps Of 6, Four Sets. I Work Chest Once A Week, Four Different Routines. I Benched 3 Weeks Ago, (315) Strick, My Body Weight Is 175pds. I Think That By Using Dumbells It Makes Each Side Of Your Body Work. Not Saying That A Bar Is Not Good, Just That By Using Each Side Of Your Body, One Side Cant Cheat For The Other. The Guys At The Gym Was So Impressed That They Have Also Started Using Dumbells Every Other Week. I Will Start Training For Bench Meets Probably In October. I Will Continue To Use Dumbells, See How It Goes. Give This A Try For A Month Or So, And Then Go Back To The Bench. I'll Bet You'll Be Surprised At What You Max Out At. ( Dont Let The Bar Drop)

[lift2befit]

I THINK THAT BY USING DUMBELLS IS BETTER FOR BUILDING STRENGTH, IF YOU ARE STRICK, YOU WILL BUILD ALOT MORE STRENGTH. EACH SIDE OF YOUR BODY HAS TO WORK, IT IS TO EASY TO CHEAT BY USING A BAR. I HAD SHOULDER SURGERY JULY OF 05, STARTED BACK AT THE GYM IN 06. I USED NOTING BUT DUMBELLS, WELL 315 WENT RIGHT UP. MY BODY WEIGHT IS 175PDS, 5'11. SO FOR NOT USING THE BENCH, I THINK I DID RATHER WELL. TRY USING DUMBELLS, STAY STRICK AND WATCH YOUR BENCH GO UP. DONT LET THE BAR DROP:

[Firehawk]

I think when you plateau it is time to change what you are doing, and usually the best thing to change is the exercise. You can vary your bench. Doing BB flat bench and varying with DB flat bench is in my opinion not quite enough variance but it definitely does vary the movement somewhat. Vary your bench movement with a floor press, or a rack press (set pins at various heights to get different movement), or any other type of pressing movement. Even changing your grip will change the lift. Also, changing the bar will change the lift (straight bar to a cambered bar or something like that)...

Eat more. That could help too, especially if you are a hard gainer.

I'd suggest also that you don't bench a max attempt each week, but rather if you max one day, then on the other bench day do higher reps with Dumbbells or some other pressing movement for 8-20 reps...

This advice is more of a strength-bias opinion but nonetheless, it is things that some powerlifters might do to get their lifts increasing again...

[Gartrell]

The last time I plateaued I benefitted a lot from spreading my grip to ring fingers on rings, then eventually middle and then pointer on rings, as well as tucking my shoulders back and developing a decent arch. This gives you much less ROM (more weight) and helps to spread the load among the muscle groups. Obviously grip is pretty important, because if you slip you're probably going to jack your hands up pretty good and get nailed in the chest with 200+.

In any event, it worked for me and I've been gaining ever since (~340 now)