flat/incline bench

[hex]

Ok so the last few weeks i have realized i cannot muster pass this little wall on my presses (for chest) i have just started back at the gym in the last 3 months from a year off. this time last year i was able to rep out 190lbs. now my 5 RM is about 140 and has not moved in a few weeks. any thoughts on how to help bust through this? I never have a spotter which really sucks most days... any ideas would be appreciated

[KeyMastur]

Ok so the last few weeks i have realized i cannot muster pass this little wall on my presses (for chest) i have just started back at the gym in the last 3 months from a year off. this time last year i was able to rep out 190lbs. now my 5 RM is about 140 and has not moved in a few weeks. any thoughts on how to help bust through this? I never have a spotter which really sucks most days... any ideas would be appreciated

why don't you just ask someone in the gym for a spot ??

[600@50]

Try weighted dips. No spot needed. The strength gained from the dips will transfer over to the bench. Not lb for lb but the dips will help. Just 3-4 sets. Start with bwt and add weight till you can do 3-5 reps. DO NOT CHEAT. Go ALL the down to at least your upper arm is parallel to the floor.

[hex]

Thanks 600, and I would not feel safe with the elders spotting me. I go to a small gym at 8am and everyone in there is north of 75 lol but that does have me thinking maybe the guy behind the counter could. Thanks

[songdog]

You could do bench in a rack with the pins set just high enough so you dont get buried.

[Razor]

I need help with the liftoff cause my shoulder has a strain...after the liftoff im good to go.

[hex]

i really like that idea song... razr only suggestion i have for that (my friend suffered the same) overhead presses helped him with that initial exertion

[DanB]

switch to dumbells for a few weeks

ask somebody that works there to help you do a couple of forced reps

start doing dropsets


or personally i would do all of the above, dumbells with dropset and forced reps, do this for 4-6 weeks and im willing to bet that you will pass ur plateau when you switch back to the barbell

[600@50]

DBs will allow you to train w/o a spotter. You get stuck you just dump 'em. You can put more emphasis on the pecs or tris depending on how you hold the DB too and you can also get a greater range of motion than with a BB. Lots of good ideas here. Variation is key.

[lovbyts]

Dumbbells are a must. To many people do switch up routines properly and stick to the same old straight bar, flat bench.

[Fari]

Dumbbells are a must. To many people do switch up routines properly and stick to the same old straight bar, flat bench.

I'm in the same situation as OP and I have never really done dumbbells for my chest exercises (flat/incline) can you please elaborate if working with dumbbells can help with breaking through this plateu?

Best,
Fari

[lovbyts]

It's easier to see it than explain but basically you do the same thing, just with dumbbells, flat, incline and decline.

Google youtube dumbbell bench press.

[Stosh_112]

Try the rest, pause tech. Do 140lbs for 5 reps, rest 15 seconds, do 2 reps, rest 15 seconds, pump out 2 more reps. Rest 3 mins between total sets. This should give a lil jump start to ur bench. As a whole do 5 sets flat bench with this tech. then finish off with 6-8 sets of dumbells flat, incline to get ur stablazier muscles up to par. Not really a fan of declines, rather do weighted dips to work the underside of the pecs. Hope this helps.

[iiaesthetics]

I was also lacking in the chest region, but I started to do dumbells instead of barbell, and it helped immensely. Make sure that you really squeeze your chest for each rep too. Good luck!

[G Lock]

Try pyramid sets then reversing the pyramid sets. Once I started doing that I kept getting gains every week or two.
You have to know what your 1rm is though to do this. facebook(DOTCOM)/photo.php?fbid=3036852392575&set=a.3031225931917.2 139790.1000932984&type=3&theater
Put a dot com because it wont let me post links
My 1rm is about 210 right now

So lets say your 1rm is 190
you would do this DONT GO OVER THE REPS EVEN IF YOU CAN DO MORE THAN WHAT IT SAYS THE FIRST SETS ARE MORE LIKE WARM UPS
115 for 10 reps
135 for 8 reps
155 for 6 reps
175 for 4 reps
190 for 1-2 reps THIS IS YOUR 1RM
160 for 3-5 reps
145 for 8-11 reps
115 for 11 -15 or until failure ON THIS LAST SET YOU are trying to get 11-15 reps but since this is your last set go until failure on this last set

This pyramid hits all the muscle fibers slow and fast and can help you break out of platues, So far this is the best benching routine that I've used and I'm making the most gains from it. Try this out for 2 weeks or even a week and you should see progress every week or two if you get the full range of motion and use proper form.
This is what I've been using to get my bench up along with fitness. Explode up and try not to bounce off your chest.

try it out

[G Lock]

Oh and I do 3 sets of incline after followed by 3 sets of weighted pushups. As long as you add the pryamid it should work. Everybody is different but this you shouldnt be used to.

[acadmia]

U might need a good warm up first. Also try to try to do dumbbles.

[jsn23]

i don't always have a workout partner or spotter, so i like using dumbbells over barbell because i can get a full range of motion and work on my muscles stabilizing the weight, and if you go to failure you just drop them to your sides rather then it stuck on your chest haha

[Jrn888]

yeah db's are great also maybe bench with the smyth machine?