What do you think is the hardest compound movement?

We are talking about noob benches - you know, the guys that struggle to bench 60kg.

front squat

So what? The fact that they struggle to bench and progress indicate to me that they're poorly built to bench press.

I'm not saying that means there is some arbitrary stopping point for them, I'm sure any healthy adult man is capable of hitting probably even 3pl8, it's just a question of how hard it's going to be, so one shouldn't be discouraged by it.

However, I do agree with your other advice, if you are one of these, you're going to have to compensate for your poor leverages by building a lot of muscle, that means high bench volume and lots of accessories as you said.

We aren't talking about competitive powerlifters - just some guys that want to build some muscle and get stronger. If your goal is to build muscle, building muscle to better build muscle is a double win.

For sure, for sure.

Just offering up an explanation as to why some might struggle more than others, it really does come down to morphology at the end of the day.

That's how guys that bench with full retard form can hit a 2pl8 bench in 6 months, while other guys take 2 years. The flip side is that one usually finds the same difference in either the squat, deadlift or even both.

>80kg rock is on top of you
>cant lift it because it's unnatural

For me it's squatting by far. Deadlifting comes natural. Picking things up from the ground. Squatting is a bitch when you have unfavourable leverages and bad mobility.

Yup, pressing it straight back over your head from your chest sure is the most natural way to deal with that problem.

For me it's the squat.

In regards to the mythical 2pl7+1, it really comes down to the starting point. A guy I knew was repping 90 kg for sets of 12 in highschool at a bodyweight of 83 kg but he was also doing wrestling and by his own admission "loved to train chest and arms".

Compare it to the typical DYEL that starts out. They do endless sets of squats and deadlifts and never stop to ask why their lower body develops faster than their upper body. You have been using your lower body constantly up to this point and you are also able to load it more effectively and "efficiently" than your upper body. Tension overload is a way of manipulating volume and a body part that is able to handle 2500 kg will always grow faster than one that maxes out on 1000kg (sometimes less).

It's not rocket science (or science in general for that matter). If you want to get good at benching 3x5/5x5 plus some OHP won't cut it. Twice a week with drop sets and 6 sets of dumbell work is the absolute minimum.

Came from sprinting before I started the gym, so bench is the hardest because my legs were already pretty good for squats and deadlifts

I agree with your solution in principle, but it still comes down to morphology, I'm sorry.

However, if you want to get better at bench, you need to bench more first and foremost, yes you do need at the very least a chest and tricep accessory, but all the other stuff you suggest such as drop sets and dumbbell work is just one method of increasing volume. Personally I'd advocate periodization instead as I see going to failure as not to be beneficial, preferring to maintain form as much as possible throughout training.

And your method also works and is far more intelligent that mine desu. I tend to be one of the guys that can handle lots of work (and actually enjoy it for some reason) so my solutions end up seeing brutish lol.

Hey, whatever works, works.

However, I'd advise you to be careful with training like this, so as to not burn out. Fatigue can really creep up on you and it's not always a day to day thing.

a2g squats are the easiest for me but then again I am slavic

Side note - when I benched 2pl9-1, I was also doing curls and skull-crushers in eye-bleeding quantities in different intensities. My plan was stupidly simple (emphasis on the stupid) - have your pecks be strong enough to get it off and leave the rest to the arms.

It worked. It was incredibly hard in the first inches above the chest but then it was like turning on the nitro.

look at that picture. Typical no legs bench bro.
>benches 4pl8
>struggles to squat 1pl8
>only diddys 3pl8

I can get away with it because I think life forces us all to take deloads. In one of my 3 months cycles I usually have a week off somewhere just to fix something that pops up. In general, I don't like highly-structured training but I can see the appeal.

I take the approach based on longevity, the biggest impediment to progress is injury.

I recently hurt myself trying for some sumo pulls I had no business doing with my mobility and poor build for sumo, couldn't squat or deadlift for nearly 3 weeks. Avoiding shit like that I think should be a priority.

In terms of which one is most difficult for me, it's bench. I have long arms on a manlet frame so the bar is like on my top ab at the bottom of the bench which kinda fucks me.
However, if you mean which one is the one that you have to do the most for set up and try the hardest on it's squat. I can't use the safeties on the non-olympic racks at my gym due to tiny legs so every time is do or die. I feel like the squat requires the most thought for set up and you need to brace in a very specific way.
Deadlift for me feels very natural, and yes you need to go very heavy so it can rip caluses or hurt thumbs if you hookgrip, but the way you set up for it feels natural and if you fail you can always just drop the barbell.

squats no question

Squat by far.

Anyone who's done Starting Strength can feel the utter pain of adding 5 lbs every workout.

idk about hard, but bench is my worst lift, it's so far behind my other lifts and it's hard for it to grow. I'm still in my first handful of months, so it's concerning to me because when the newb gains slow down im gonna have to do a ton of accessories to progress

Bench.

t. guy who benches 1pl8 but deadlifts 3pl8

dude i keep seeing you post the same stupid picture all over accompanied by bait.

Just end it.

I thought squat was easy until I hit about 250. That is when my form problems started to make my calves feel like they were ripping off my bones.

My problem seems to be that I break at the knees - go down - and come back up, without sitting back into it. I tend to have my knees travel past my toes too. I have been trying to fix it for months.

Deadlift has always felt natural to me. It is has always made me feel good afterwards too. Extremely hard to sleep though, after DL. I can do 300 right now and I weigh 160. Looking forward to 315 and 200% bodweight.

Personally it's deadlift. I can do bench with my 5rm and don't even really feel exhausted. I can squat with my 5rm, feel a little winded and sweating but still walk it off but when I deadlift my true 5rm, I need to sit the fuck down afterwards. It's just too much of a strain on my body. Have to rest a solid 2-3 minutes before I can even start to deload the plates from the bar. The deadlift is the only movement that almost made me pass out from performing it.

for me deadlift is the most physically intense and requires the most recovery.

It is embarrassing how stupid you guys are. It depends on your body proportions. Guys with short femurs and a long torso are perfect squatters while long legs and a shorter torso have an easier time deadlifting. Its called biomechanics

God damn you fucking autists and your retarded pigeonholing. There is no one size fits all answer

Its bench for me.
I have long arms, I deadlift 6pl8 for one, but can barely bench 2.5pl8 for one on a good day.

Squat is the hardest mentally though.
When you just wanna rerack the weight but have one or two reps left, no other lift is as mentally challenging.

Supposing technique isn't the issue and execution of the all the lifts are equally good:
>Deadlift
By far the most taxing lift. Everyone who says something else are probably struggling technically with the lift and equating:
>"my deadlift is relatively heavier than my other lifts, therefore it is easier".

this is part of it, low volume SS style routines are shit for bench

that being said some guys get great benches on those routines for
these reasons

wew lad, are you me?

575 dead 285 bench

this

Dead ofcourse
>did 7x3 yesterday
>feel completely fucking drained still

>tfw griplet
>need straps on 250 lbs

Is 425, 3x8 deadlift decent?

And for me it's squats, I can't seem to get past 315; I'm able to do full sets but as soon as I go above by any amount (like 10's on each side) I can barely get two reps

3 sets of 8? yes, it's excellent, your max would probably be in the 600s assuming all reps are from a dead stop and not touch and go

8 sets of 3? still very good, your max must be 525-545 if you can do that

How?

Deadlifts are most draining, but I love them.
Squats are exhausting, scary, and hard. So squats.

I say squating. I've always had a strong upperbody so benching is easy and is my best lift. Deadlifting is exhausting but easy to do. Squating isn't hard but it's harder than deadlifting and is also exhauasting

I fucking hate bench press.

I'm also a pussy so I'm always afraid of dropping them on my chest!

For me it's the McChicken. The best fast food sandwich.

for me, top difficulty is either bench or squat. probably more with bench, as the difficulty I have with squat is in the set up - if I set up right, it goes great. but some days, I just can't seem to get it balanced right, gripped right in the low bar position, and the whole session is awful.
bench, I know my set up, but execution is ALWAYS hard for me.

on the other hand, diddlys feel super natural to set up for, and even though they're exhausting, the cues for setup and execution are just natural for me.
also I have a much easier time doing front squats than back squats. partially because of the lower weight, but I just find the setup easier and the execution more natural.

I find bench to be easiest. Deadlift is also not so bad.

Squat is the hardest and I also train it the most. My max is 405. Volume work is around 300lbs. Intensity work around 350lb.

Bench.

How many guys bench their bodyweight the first day in the gym, vs the number who can squat or deadlift 2 plates after a life of manual labor?

>The least carryover to things you do outside of the gym

> the hardest to master the technique on.

Unless that rock is on top of your face, it's not very similar to bench press.

>How many guys bench their bodyweight the first day in the gym,

not very many

what the fuck, do you press the bar back over your head?

The Olympic lifts probably. Strength is one thing, but that level of coordination and explosiveness is another.
Of the other lifts, OHP is the hardest to add weight to. Then personally for me, deadlift, because my grip strength is shit. I could hit 3.5pl8 over the summer with mixed, but after messing up my left hand outside of the gym mixed grip is painful. Might get some straps, but I can't even pick 3pl8 off the ground with double overhand.

thats not how you bench press

That is how one bench presses, one presses towards ones head.

Same

Benched yesterday, got a set of 8 for 135, then I was barely getting 4. The day before I maxed out deadlift at 385.

Squat is also garbage but I dont really practice it. Ohp is 105

My body is a fucking mess. It's not normal to bench 210 and barely be able to do 130 OHP is it?

that's not too far off, actually. some people hit 2pl8 bench before 1pl8 OHP, some vice versa.
the bigger question is how they relate to your squat and dead. 1/2 would be kind of fucked if they were massively out of line with the other two, using 1/2/3/4 as a metric

>tfw 3pl8 diddly 2pl8 squat but can barely bench 1pl8

JUST