I know my lifts aren't impressive, but I'm happy with my progress. The only thing that I'm worrying about is bench. I don't fucking know why I'm so weak at this lift. Yes, I'm tall with short clavicles and long arms and mechanics are against me. But still, I think I should be able to bench press above 1pl8 already and at least do 1 rep at 2pl8s sometime in the future.
I watched tons of videos on bench press form. I arch my back, my blades are together, I push with my legs. At first, I thought I was doing to wide of a grip, I tried narrow. Still nothing. I tried fucking everything - deloading and doing more reps. Paused bench press. I do dips as an assistance. Nothing helps.
Start with bar above neck, bring down towards sternum, then press immediately towards face.
Bar path is not a straight line
Anthony Perez
I lower it to just below the nipples and then I "explode" it up and behind. I think I'm doing it okay. My weakest part is definitely at the bottom because my arms are so long.
Adrian Myers
you on SS?
make sure youre retracting scapula, use feet for extra power at your sticking point try to determine if your triceps are the limiting factor
Adrian Morris
I'm on SL but yeah it's basically the same shit. I only do 5x5 at lifts instead of 3x5.
I 100% am retracting my scapula throughout the whole lift. At first it broke down when I lifted the bar, but now I fixed my form and it's retracted all the time.
I also push my legs back as much as I can behind the bench so my ass doesn't lift up and push with the in the floor at the bottom of the lift.
My weakest point is at the bottom, not the lockout so I think triceps isn't limiting factor. Also, my OHP is OK for my weight so I think triceps is cool.
Thanks for you help tho mate. Any advice is really appreciated. I'm frustrated as fuck.
Charles King
You're my height and weigh four kilos less than me. I currently bench 70kg for 3x5. I have short arms, though and my triceps are my biggest bench mover. I have literally nochest
According to what your post says, I can only suggest to eat more and focus more on recovery. Everything you're doing should add to your bench.
Ian Anderson
I was stuck at 60-65kg range for a long time until i deloaded to 55kg and started actually engaging my chest when lifting. Like, you have to actually thing about ur chest moving the bar. Squeeze those bitch tits man.
Do 5x5 and progress with 1.25kg plates per side. Ur ohp is p weak too desu, watch rippingtoe form videos.
Benjamin Turner
hmm, you might want to try switching bench out completely for dips or something for a few weeks, see if that changes anything thats what i would do if my bench wouldnt budge
Colton Cruz
Thanks. I'm progressing really fast on OHP tho, I think I will be able to do it without problem until 110 lbs. I'm adding 2.5 kg every workout and it's okay.
Can you elaborate on engaging your chest?
Jordan Gutierrez
Your weak because your small and you havent been lifting very long. 76kg and 6ft is skinny AF, bulk up and keep lifting, theres nothing wrong.
Levi Bell
I understand that, but I still think I should bench at least 1pl8 at this point. My other lifts are okay compared to my height. Only bench sucks ass.
How much do you think I should weight at my height? Just wondering. At 15% body fat let's say.
James Gray
>Can you elaborate on engaging your chest?
Try gripping the bar a little less. I know it sounds dangerous or whatever but the harder you grip something the harder you'll use your arms to move the object. This is also true for pullups/pulldowns and bicep activation vs. lat activation.
Get some chalk maybe and focus on shoving the bar up with your chest. It takes some practice but I like to viualize that I've got a heavy door on top of me and that I need to push with flat hands to get it away. Usually I feel more chest activation and the bar gets easier to move.
John James
>How much do you think I should weight at my height? Just wondering. At 15% body fat let's say.
90-95kg
105kg if you're on roids.
Adrian Lewis
I just started and I bench 45kg, but can only squat 35kg, I don't understand why. Also, it's really weird how you can squat so much more than me, but your bench is not that different.
Connor Peterson
It depends on your leverages.
If you have short arms and a long torso, your bench will be quite good compared to your squat if you have long femurs for example.
Carson Rivera
Fuck me.
My short term goal is 82kgs, because I don't think I will look skinny at that weight anymore.
92kgs or something around that is my long term goal... Long way to go until then.
when it came to bench i just i tried adding more accessories (dumbell, incline, dips) and it helped me break through some weak ass plateaus. try it, but just don't go too crazy with the volume.
Dylan Turner
Thanks, but I do that already...
Angel Collins
I'm 183/185cm depending on if I measure at night or at morning. I weigh 79 - 80kgs, don't have a visible six pack but my abs are visible when I flex so I don't know my BF%.
I started at 60kgs and I definitely look alright at this point, but I want to gain more weight because I want my strength to increase. My following 1RMs are Squat: 120kgs, Deadlift: 140kgs, Front squat: 100kg, Bench: 85kgs, OHP: 60kgs, Powerclean: 75kgs.
I look alright in the sense I'm not a hungry skeleton anymore compared to most people, but I'm still no where big and I don't look strong. In order to properly fill out a 184cm frame I need to pack on more muscle because at this weight (80kgs) I just don't have enough mass (a.k.a muscle) to efficiently move the weight through it's proper and complete range of motion. Also, most ELITE tier powerlifters and weightlifters at this height weigh AT LEAST 90kgs. 100kg ++ if they're competitive on international level a.k.a on gear.
My goal weight is somewhere between 94-100kg desu.
Michael Martin
95 is seriously long term, try hitting 84-85kg then drop weight until your comfortable with your body fat then repeat a few times until it stops working. The more you do it the less effective it gets but you should be able to hit a lean 88-90 in maybe 2 or 3 years depending on how your lifting goes
Henry Kelly
Well of course it's a long way to go. 92kg and 15%BF at 182cm means an FFMI of 23.6. That's nothing to sneeze at, never mind the fact that all the e-stat nattys are at 27.
Henry Morgan
I'm glad you feel me brah.
I'm so frustrated... I'm thinking of leaving the bench out all together and just doing db variations.
Guy that knows a lot about lifting in my gym checked my form and said it was okay (only commented on my breathing) and said that I would be better off leaving the bench out all together, because I'm not built for benching.
He said I should do floor press and db variations instead.
Jaxson Evans
Now I don't know if your goal is to become an elite tier strength athlete, but weightclasses really do become height classes at some point. There's no way you're gonna move past the "novice" stage if you don't bulk up at this height.
Jackson Phillips
Nah, I don't want to become powerlifter. I'm small framed and I wouldn't be able to compete with other guys.
I just lift because I like to get stronger compared to my former self. Later when I don't gain strength anymore, I will try some bodybuilding split. I want to hit 1/2/3/4 tho.
Nicholas Carter
I'm 188 and 88kg and I really struggled to gain lean mass the last time I bulked (started at 64kg 3 and a half years ago).My 1rms are 160kg squat,180 deadlift 110 bench and 70 OHP, also 100 powerclean and 95 clean and jerk, all at 92kg. I dont think I'll bulk again, not the way I used to anyway. I dont look that big at my height and weight, I've a friend who's a few cm smaller and is a lean enough 100kg but he's been lifting a lot longer than me, maybe 6-8 years.
Easton Diaz
I don't think 1/2/3/4 will be possible until at least 85kgs desu. I don't think I*ll hit it for myself until I weigh that much, at least.
Damn. Mirin that powerclean desu
I've been stuck on 80kgs for a few months now and it's really frustrating. I just feel like I'm not progressing at all in terms of muscle mass and bodyweight despite eating 3500 calories a day and almost puking because I'm so full.
My longterm goal as I've said is just over 90 kilograms at a relatively lean bodyweight. Will probably take five to seven years.
Cooper Long
Yeah, I know I will need to weight 82+ at least to hit those weights.
I don't think I'll ever hit 2pl8 bench tho.
Brayden Howard
Head over to /plg/ and ask them. They know a thing or two about progressing strength wise I'd assume.
Just try to ignore the beta orbiting and trappy posting
Joshua Bell
Never say never, bro. I was stuck at 1pl8 for what seemed like an eternity so I know your pain. It's heavier than you, but as I said I have short arms and a long torso which gives me better bench leverages. Then I decided FUCK IT and tried maxing for a few workouts. Suddenly I was benching 80kgs for a double and I had never even touched 77kgs for a single.
Angel Morgan
I had the same issue as you OP, I stalled around 110-120.
It's all about the form. I wasn't lowering the bar to my chest, my grip was shit (wrists weren't straight) and I was not building muscle in my chest like I should.
I dropped back down to 100, corrected my form and worked up to 175 (1 rep)
Check your form with a mirror, or use your phone to record yourself.
