at 385 trying to get to 405...please help

[Safety31]

right now my goal at bench is 405...this has been my goal for 2 years and i seem to be struggling to get at this weight..ive tried switching my chest workouts to try to get to 405 but its not working...right now i just starting to really heavy my chest workouts go like this...
flat bench 5 sets 6 reps,4,3,2,1...with as heavy as i can usually like this 295,315,335,355,375..then the same with incline...then i do flat bench dumbell flys 5 sets of 12 then finish usually with alittle decline machine bench..anyone have any suggestions??

[justin2305]

try switching off the barbells for a while and do dumbbells, their great for strengh gains and do them for a few wks if not a month or so, when im trying to get ready for maxing ill pyramid for a few wks kinda how ur already doing it as like 12,10,8,6,4,2 and then get as much weight as u can do for 1.. do that with not only flat bench but incline, another thing is if u start out with flat bench every chest workout change that up a bit so as if doing flat bench first one chest workout then the next chest workout start with incline so ur a full potential in both lifts, also be sure ur not overtraining and not giving ur muscles enough time to rebuild them selfs other than that im not sure on what else u could do except work ur a$$ off every time u go in the gym and eat enough protiens to help maintain ur muscle strengh.. good luck bro and keep us informed on how ur doing

[Safety31]

yea i eat great with tons of protein and everything...i only do chest once a week because after my workout my chest is so freakin sore i cant work out until the next monday...i was doing alot of chest with dumbells for awhile...it was a major part of my workouts but didnt seem to work as much as i wanted..i usually switch my chest workouts every few months but still no 405...i tried 405 today and did it with a spot very close from what my spotter says but i need to hit it without a spot to be satisfied

[HOLLYWOOD]

the best way to get stronger at an exercise is to do it! try doing heavy negatives with 405+ as this is half of the lift and will produce a new stress on the muscle also just try to move up every week, you may be trying to move to fast, try adding like 1lb per side, each week. It will add up!

[needmorestrength]

If your form and all other contributing factors or correct, I would agree to trying some negatives! Use a bench shit jj

[Safety31]

well if i do the negatives how many sets should i do and how many reps...should i do this only on flat bench or incline also???beginning or end of workout or what???let me know...thanks

[ReX357]

Three things:

- Try upping your carb intake
- Take a week off if you haven't done so in the last two months (Make sure you have all the BCAA's you need everyday in that week to make sure to maintain your muscle mass. Your protein shale usually contains all you need regarding that)
- Leave that exercise alone for 3-4 weeks and come back later. You will probably start a bit lower but you within 2 weeks you should break through your plateau (if you have everything in check)

Good luck.

[Billy_Bathgate]

Better Strength Articles

read that and take it seriously, your bench will increase

[Powrlftr]

right now my goal at bench is 405...this has been my goal for 2 years and i seem to be struggling to get at this weight..ive tried switching my chest workouts to try to get to 405 but its not working...right now i just starting to really heavy my chest workouts go like this...
flat bench 5 sets 6 reps,4,3,2,1...with as heavy as i can usually like this 295,315,335,355,375..then the same with incline...then i do flat bench dumbell flys 5 sets of 12 then finish usually with alittle decline machine bench..anyone have any suggestions??

You will overtrain yourself like that, and don't do the flies or the declines. You could try a 5x5 program, throw in a speed day every once in a while, don't forget to go light every few weeks if you insist on training like that, do weak point training with assistance exercises, go check out some Westside techniques, etc., etc.

[taiboxa]

in all honesty if you have been training excessively hard you should take a week off and focus on a good diet REST>LIFT

[Safety31]

i think i will do the negatives..i just want to know how many sets of negatives i should do...and how many reps...im going on vacation in a week so that will be my week off...but please someone let me know what kind of sets of reps of negatives do i do and how do i put them into my workout schedule?