I'm going 3 times a week, benching every day of those, flat bench on Day A and incline on Day B, I do two warm ups, one with 40% of my max and one with 60%, then I try to do 3 maxed out sets and I only up the weight when I can do all three. I do 5x5.
I've been stuck doing 70kg for months, I've been getting a bit better with it but the progress is incredibly slow, the closest I got was doing 1 set and then getting to 4 on the next one then I tried again and I only got 1 so I had to de-load to 60.
I've got the form down as well as possible, bar is at eye level to me when I get in there, arms slightly wider then shoulder width, back arched slightly, shoulder blades squeezed together, feet flat on the ground driving my back onto the bench, I breathe in as I lower the bar to just below my chest and breathing out as I push it back up.
What am I doing wrong please someone tell me.
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body weight?
147kg...
start losing weight instead of trying to get your bench higher.
I'm trying to do both at the same time.
I do EZ bar and hammer curls for bicep, deadlifts and lat pulldowns should cover the traps, I do reverse curls and the hammer curls + wrist curls for forearm and I use the seated calf raise machine. Would tricep cable pushdowns do the trick for it?
>deadlifts and lat pulldowns should cover the traps
Lol no, that's still not enough direct targeting. You need to do some variation of shrugs or they will plateau eventually.
>Would tricep cable pushdowns do the trick for it?
They are good yes, but you should also do skull crushers to target the other parts of the triceps.
I do seated cable rows too, should I add barbell shrugs?
>They are good yes, but you should also do skull crushers to target the other parts of the triceps.
That's scary dude, I don't want to smash my face in.
Maybe I should switch out incline bench on Day B for flies then? That way I would be benching 1.5 times a week. Also what about machine flies?
The rows only target the lower parts of the traps. You need shrugs to directly target parts of the upper traps.
Looking at this
Which day should I add it to do you think?
>I'm trying to do both at the same time.
READ THE FRICKING STICKY
>If you can sustain a lifting program and maintain a calorie deficit, your body will be able to pull from its fat stores to both fuel itself and potentially build muscle mass.
Reduce frequency. Increase protein intake.
I get 150g of protein daily, I'm on a 1000kcal deficit though cause I'm really fat. Also should I really reduce frequency? Why?
>Negatives
Like declines?
>Always make sure you have the safeties.
I do that yeah
>Do pressups after the last set
I'm actually too fat to do a single push up
>More reps
Wouldn't I be able to bench less? I heard many reps is good for hypertrophy but not strength gain?
>Wouldn't I be able to bench less? I heard many reps is good for hypertrophy but not strength gain?
It does slow down your strength gain a bit. But it increases muscle gain which leads to long term strength, with weights as light as 50kg it probably won't be much but it's better long term. It's synergistic with deloading and resting anways.
So I should try switching over to doing 5x12 and de-load 20kg trying to build back up to 70kg that way then?
I do OHP for shoulders, should I do tricep isolations? I do feel the most pump and soreness in my tris right after I bench, but it goes away in 1 hour max and only my chest is sore the day after.
You should already be doing isolations for any of the smaller muscles that are not directly targeted in compounds. Its the only way they will grow long term.
>Bicep, Tricep, Traps, Forearm, side/rear delts and calves
If you do OHP then front delts are covered, but you definitely need to isolate triceps and progress them just like any other lift. When starting off isolating somthing for the first time, you should go for a bit higher reps to get the muscle going. Then start loading it over time just like any other lift, it will be slower because of the smaller size though.
ok so my first thoughts:
- you possibly are in the state of overtraining, not giving your body enough rest, or to be precise, not giving your nervous system enough rest - drop any bro science nonsense about you have to repeat your program every week. the ideal rest period can drastically vary between humans. for example max 1 rep deadlift rest for the nervous system is 10 days for elite lifters. I spent 5 years in chronic overtraining resulting in countless wear and tear issues and a multi year depression resulting in giving up lifting.
- you attempt growth with a significant cal deficit; its possible to do but you chose max difficulty here. things are stacked against you in a deficit. You have to aim for small, incremental gains from week to week when you try to increase strength during a cut and you better be significantly overweight (in your case check), untrained, and are elite in the art of loading your muscles with carbs so you have the fuel exactly during your workout and your workout cant be too long as you will quickly run out of carbs
- you dont have enough carbs loaded for workout/your carbs are depleted before you finished your workout. During a severe cut with less than 100g of carbs i run out of power about 3 heavy sets into a workout. its happening really quickly. after that a second wind can come for a low intensity exercise but bench press is not one of them
- you expect too much: as you are cutting you should be happy with any improvement either in reps or weight. for example one rep more than previous training is a incredible result. Progress can be very slow. and if you dont increase weight in reasonably small increments you see no progress because you cant add another rep. very small increments matter here e.g. 2.5 kg increase is already a big step
- i dont like your priorities. is this really what you want? shouldnt be the prio order: a) weight loss b) hypertrophy c) strength increase? or do you want to be a power lifter?
I guess the priority is
a) weight loss b) strength increase c) hypertrophy
I'm not sure though, obviously I want to be both muscular looking and strong.
>- you dont have enough carbs loaded for workout/your carbs are depleted before you finished your workout. During a severe cut with less than 100g of carbs i run out of power about 3 heavy sets into a workout. its happening really quickly. after that a second wind can come for a low intensity exercise but bench press is not one of them
Should I eat carbs right before working out? I get just over 200g of carbs daily.
>- you expect too much: as you are cutting you should be happy with any improvement either in reps or weight. for example one rep more than previous training is a incredible result. Progress can be very slow. and if you dont increase weight in reasonably small increments you see no progress because you cant add another rep. very small increments matter here e.g. 2.5 kg increase is already a big step
I guess I should reign in my expectations a bit and just be happy I can do one more rep every time I go then.
>I'm on a 1000kcal deficit
delete this thread nephew
If you're actually on a steep deficit and steadily losing weight then just maintaining your lifts is your version of gainz.
I've been making progress though and I still do on other lifts, just not bench.
Madcow looks nice, but should I really make the switch? I have only been lifting for 5-6 months and it's recommended for people who have been lifting for over a year.
>1000kcal deficit though cause I'm really fat
Focus on losing fat. Don't try to do two things at once.
Learn from my mistakes.
>Also should I really reduce frequency? Why?
Here's one reason why:
>I'm on a 1000kcal deficit
You might want to eat at maintenance once or twice per week. It will help everything go more smoothly by helping keep up your BMR.
Another reason is that your CNS can only handle so much. The heavier the weights you're used to lifting, the more CNS fatigue you accumulate. More rest time gives better recovery for the CNS. This is especially important on a cut. You gain most of your strength on rest days so it's a good idea to give your body plenty of time to catch up with your training in general. Three days of pressing heavy each week is very demanding.
>I get 150g of protein daily
Eat more protein while cutting. The results will usually be better if you do. Plus protein increases satiety making the cut easier
Is CNS fatigue why my fingers stiffen up and my finger joints swell up every morning? I'll reduce the benching though.
I was sent a conjugate program that seems pretty good, I'll try switching to that.
Also what about eating at fasting on sunday and eating maintenance on monday, is that a bad idea? Or maybe I could do a protein fast or something.
Don't even worry about that. Just eat a deficit and once a week you can have cheat meal that gets you up to maintenance.
More reps
Negatives
Always make sure you have the safeties.
Do pressups after the last set
Welcome to your first plateau
Reduce frequency, there's no way you're recovering fully when you're benching three times a week
Try dumbbell bench
Try lower weight with higher reps
Make getting protein and quality rest a priority
Maybe add flies or some other chest isolation, just switch it up
>Welcome to your first plateau
wow that sucks
>Reduce frequency, there's no way you're recovering fully when you're benching three times a week
How much should I be benching a week? Two times? 1.5 times?
>Try dumbbell bench
For the stabiliser muscles or whatever?
>Maybe add flies or some other chest isolation, just switch it up
as an accessory or to replace benching?
>How much should I be benching in a week
One, maybe two times if you recover fast
I dumbbell bench and flies as accessories to get some different stimulus in your muscles. I always got good results that way
Other than de loading and increasing reps like you already did. You should focus on accessory muscles that aid bench press for a while.
Like dumbbell presses, inclines, declines and flies? Should I be replacing the benching with those or doing them as accessories?
Those are all chest isolations and not accessory muscles. They can still help with developing stabilizers so they are valid. But I meant more like front delts and triceps. Because if you are neglecting those, then they will help you more in BP when you develop and isolate them.
I guess I'll just post my workout in full so I can get some critique on it
Day A
>Barbell Squat 5x5
>Sumo Deadlift 3x5
>Leg Extension 3x20
>Seated Calf Raise 2x20
>Flat Bench 5x5
>Lat Pulldown 5x5
>EZ-bar curl 2x10
>Reverse curl 2x10
>DB hammer curl 2x20
>DB wrist curl 2x20
>DB supinated wrist curl 2x20
Day B
>Conventional Deadlift 3x5
>Barbell Front Squat 5x5
>OHP 5x5
>Seated Cable Row 5x5
>Incline Bench 5x5
>DB hammer curl 2x20
>Reverse curl 2x10
>DB wrist curl 2x20
>DB supinated wrist curl 2x20
>Leg Extension 2x20
>Seated Calf Raise 2x20
3 day a week
alternate between days every time
first two sets are warm ups at 40 and 60% except for isolations which are all max
Please critique, it's mostly stolen form Reg Parks.
You're doing way to much shit my homie
How come? I feel like it's not that bad, I'm only in the gym for like 1h30m a day and it's only thrice a week.
sorry anon but that statement is irrelevant. you may be one of countless mindless drones that have zero connection to their body and think "its fine" when it isnt. The results speak for it self: no progress. The most likely reasons for no progress: not enough effort, not enough rest, not enough carbs, not enough proteins, not enough sleep
You have way too much shit in there, if you ask me. I also used to do this but I got tired fast and had to take either more rest days or cut some junk.
What should I cut?
>Here is a split that will work for you
Everything that's not the compounds, then add 2-3 accessories max per session and switch the accessories around when you need them. In your case keep the shit like incline flies, db bench and so on since it helps your bench press. Once you get out of your plateau switch accessories.
I'd do something like:
Day A
>Compounds
>2 Chest Accessories
>Pull-ups
Day B
>Compounds
>2 Delts/Triceps/Biceps or whatever
>Dips
bro this is actually insane, if you do this you must be on tren and eat 6k calories a day.
Ditch the deadlifts. Squat higher reps. Do upper/lower, stop being in a 1000 deficit, do some cardio and stop eating like shit.
Here is a split that will work for you
chest & legs
rest
back
rest
shoulders & arms
2 rest
Repeat
I'm just really sore the next day every time, I can't stop being in 1000kcal deficit cause I'm morbidly obese, my BMR is 2500kcal and I eat 2500kcal which should leave me with a 900-1000kcal deficit.
Why should I ditch the deadlifts? I love doing them.
Also I don't eat like shit anymore. Should I change workouts entirely? Is full body no good?
I guess, it hurts pretty badly when I wake up but it's gotten easy to ignore. I do feel like I don't put in enough effort, I could be putting more intensity into my workouts. There is progress but it's incredibly slow.
I can't do pullups, not even assisted ones, or dips either actually, plus what about the isolations?
?
Rare based fatty?
Keep going with your Spartan training bro ignore the haters. Add even more shit, you need shrugs and flys in there my guy.
Thats way too much
Do 5/3/1. Its slower, but it just works.
What do you think about this?
Thanks for the workout, I tweaked it a bit cause my shitty ghetto gym doesn't have equipment for some of it. Hopefully I didn't frick it up too much.
Seems overly complex
It's pretty simple actually. Focus is on one major compound for bench day and one major compound (sometimes 2) on squat/DL day with accy work and other muscle groups thrown in.
Like I said earlier it helped get me to a 1,610 raw total at over the age of 40. Each to their own. If you prefer something with less variation that should work as well.
why do you have 3 different curls
one for bicep
one for forearm
one for wrists
bros i benched 2 sets of bench yesterday. One set 80x10 and the second set 80kg x 9 reps.
Is that good? im 74kg
Take a week off from lifting, then put more weight on the bar and lift it.
If you can't up the intensity of your working sets, up the intensity of your warmups.
Do something like a set of 20 with the bar, set of 15 with 40%, set of 10 with 60%, set of 5 with 80%.
have u ever done this?
Yeah, It helped me get from being stuck at 107.5kg to 120kg (80kg BW).
95% of (compound) lifting isn't even strength. It's technique and training your CNS to do it efficiently.
If you continue to do the exact same thing you're doing, you wont make progress on either of those.
It should take like 5 minutes max. Try it for a month, if you don't like it after that, do something else.
I guess I'll try, it can't hurt too bad.
So I should do 4x12 warm ups for bench, then 3x5 with my max then just go to failure with the bar?
Is that sarcastic? Can you recommend a better program? Maybe I should switch to an intermediate one or something? This is just Reg Parks Beginners 5x5 but I added a bunch of shit to it.
>Can you recommend a better program?
As fair as I know Starting Strength is based heavily on Reg Parks workout, so you could try Madcow 5x5 or the Texas method.
If you stall it's time to switch, finish the week with this plan and switch to Madcow next monday. For you it will actually be a massive relief cause you way overwork yourself, you can't lift this much without PEDs you simply won't recover in time even if you're obese and still getting that anabolic effect despite your massive calorie deficit.
I should be doing 4 sets of warmups?
NTA, as a rule you try shit out and do what works for you. For bench, when I'm stalling and need to get the weight up, I do like 3-4 warm-up sets with 8-10 reps each, then a working set heavy in fives or threes, then a dropset until I can't even lift the bar up anymore.
>then a working set heavy in fives or threes
Sorry, meant working sets.
There is a reason the WSBB guys only bench or so chest specific days twice a week OP. Find a conjugate plan and get those numbers up.
This guy
said Madcow 5x5 would suit me well, is that a good one?
Post a burner email address and I'll send you an excel sheet conjugate program. Got me up to a 1,610 raw total at 42 years old.
Thanks.
[email protected]
My "short" term goal is to get to 1/2/3/4 at least so I can participate in a powerlift meet without being too embarrassed.
Sent homie. Best of luck and remember results take time so have a plan and stick with it.
Thank you.
What should I substitute for exercises I can't do like dips and pull-ups?
For dips I'd substitute a tricep dominant exercise. For pull ups do pulldowns or some lat/back work. The program is by no means perfect but should help get your big 3 lift numbers up. Also feel free to use bands/chains for the dynamic effort day instead of just dropping weight and focusing on speed.
>For dips I'd substitute a tricep dominant exercise.
So something like close grip bench maybe? Lat pulldowns make sense.
>Also feel free to use bands/chains for the dynamic effort day instead of just dropping weight and focusing on speed.
Dynamic effort just means going really fast with smaller weights and minimal rest right? I'll stick to lower weights for now but I'm sure my gym has some bands lying around somewhere.
That sounds cool, but my maintenance is 3500kcal isn't that way too much?
Also how much protein should I be getting, is 1g/kg of bodyweight not enough?
>helping your fellow bros
Based
This is what this place should be
when i got stucko on 80kg x 5 i lowered the weight and increased reps to x8
now i am stuck at 75kg x 8
my 1 rep PR is 90kg x 1
i train for 2+ years
frick this shit
You should stop benching 3 x per week. Cut it down to 2. Only bench heavy with a barbell on one day, then on the other day do lighter weight, higher reps with dumbells. Find a program that's more like PPL or a brosplit and just do bench on your push/chest/shoulders/tricep days. Cut out some of those weight exercises, focus more on your upper body instead of 2 different squats and 2 different deadlifts every week. Exercise your shoulders and triceps more which are involved in the bench press
Not benching 3x a week would help.
I've got it okay?
Reduce the frequency and above all learn to do the lumbar arch PROPERLY, it is incredible but most people do not know how to arch properly, even those who teach how to do it, try to fix that.