reaching a plateau

[DJFactor]

as you can see by my name, the "newbie" tag still applies! anyway, what do you do when you reach that dreaded plateau--by this i mean when you have gotten to a point in lifting for almost a year (4-5 times a week at the gym) and you cant get over a hump in weight? someone told me there is a method to "shock" your muscles by warming up--then just jumping up to almost your max lifting weight, then slowly going down again and doing more reps as you go down. not sure, but this person told me it worked for him.

question is--how do i get more gains when i feel maxed out right now? i am 5'10" and 170 lbs, can bench 225Lbs 6-8 times, and cannot do any more. i have been stuck at this for 3 months now, and before that i kept jumping up in reps and weight. can i jump more? or am i maxed? should i be dropping back down in benching weight to get more strength, then going back up? my other muscles are slowing as well. any suggestions?

[scottninpo]

assuming you use perfect form on everything, do a search for doggcrapp training in this forum

[DJFactor]

hey scott! thanks dogg. i checked out that post--the 26 page post by dante/doggcrapp, sounds like some intense training. good stuff, but i was just wondering if you had any suggestions on how to get past that "plateau" stage quickly, like a 2 week type deal. i know a "quick fix" usually isnt the answer, but it does give more motivation to keep hittin the gym hard when you are seeing results quicker. his program seems more like a 2-3 year deal. i would love to be 200 lbs from 170 in a year, no doubt. i gained 17 lbs in 8 months by just sort of taking some tips here and there, and downing lots of protein. boy i was a skinny pr*ck before that! hah!

thanks for the input though.

[scottninpo]

i've been lifting for 10 years almost, and natural gains at this point are hard to come by, i started DC training in october at 245lbs, i now weight 260lbs, and lost an inch on my waist, so it's as quick a fix as any, for something right now, heavy negatives and drop sets will get you through the plateau, if you put everything you've got into them

[DJFactor]

with negatives, should i go with 225 on the flat bench and just have someone jack up the bar when i cant hold it any more, say 6-8 times? its tough to do sometimes since my lame-a$$ workout partner (if you could call him that) goes only 1/2 the time.

[znak]

with negatives, should i go with 225 on the flat bench and just have someone jack up the bar when i cant hold it any more, say 6-8 times? its tough to do sometimes since my lame-a$$ workout partner (if you could call him that) goes only 1/2 the time.

no.
If you bench 225 lbs 6-8 times, you should put 245-250 (or more if you can hold it and trust your partner) on the bar and slowly lower it to you chest. Your partner keeps it from crashing down (if you fail) and helps you to get it back u[ tp starting postion.

Your partner can spot/help you down on if you do a serious number of rep. I normally do 4-6 without help and do 2-3 more with a little help.

This is a great way to put on lats. Weighted pull ups, justs lowering youself down. When you take off the second 45, it is really easy to rip off ten pull ups with 45 on your belt.