Hey Veeky Forums I need help. I've hit a wall with my bench press ...at 40kg. >zero-point-five-puh-late le-mayo Yeah yeah, I'm a total dyel but I only starting lifting at all 10 months ago at home, and only 5 months ago at the gym. Trainer started me off on dumbbell press, which I had no problem improving with dumbbells (3x10 of 10kg dumbbells to 20kg in about 10 weeks), but since moving to barbell press 6 weeks ago I've made zero improvement. Started at 40kg which I can handle for 3x10 pretty comfortably, but anything more and I can barely hit 5 reps before failure. I've read the fucking sticky and tried deloading back to 40kg and increasing volume, but can only hit 12 or so reps before failure also. Today I got bullied for the first time for lifting "babyweights" on the bench, I don't care but I just want to fucking improve. What do, Veeky Forums? Should I try less volume with higher weight or move back to the dumbbell press?
>inb4 eat moar I have been gaining wait steadily since I started lifting at just over 1kg/month (started as a 5'10 60kg skelly, now 72kg >inb4 it's your form I've checked with the trainer and gymbro, form is fine >inb4 low test my other lifts are improving fine, I'm squatting lmao1.25pl8 for 3x10 which is better than average at my shitty gym
10 months and not even 1 plate bench yet? How the fuck? Yes go higher weight fewer reps for awhile
Leo Gomez
I didn't even do chest while I was lifting at home because I'm an idiot, so I've only been at the bench for 5 months. Clearly something has gone wrong with my progression though, I'll try doing 5x5 with higher weight.
Austin Sanchez
Why the fuck are you doing 10 repetitions? Halve that shit, and put another 10 kg's on the bar. At 72 kg's you should be able to lift close to 80 kg's.
Do you watch what you eat? Make sure you're getting a shit ton of protein and at least 3000 cals daily. Lastly, fuck what other people think, you're on your own journey.
Lucas Russell
>Why the fuck are you doing 10 reps It's what my trainer told me to do, but as I'm not improving I'm going to assume they don't know shit. 50kg for 5 reps it is. >Do you watch what you eat? Yes. I'm vegetarian but I eat at least 1g/lb protein per day from eggs, milk, cheese, yoghurt and scoops, plus oats, peanut butter and legumes. I try to get in 3500+ calories because I cycle 32km to work and back 5 days a week.
Asher Morgan
Download the books Starting Strength and Deadlift Dynamite.
Follow the form tips in there.
Samuel Collins
>not form trainer says its good >trainer probably doesn't know shit
I'd also recommend doing tempo-bench press as a warm up. Tempo bench simply means you bench press in a tempo (e.g. 3 sec) where you lower the bar for 3 seconds and press the bar for 3 seconds. It's really good for newbies for themselves to notice when the bar is in a place it shouldn't be.
Tempo bench (3-5sec) w. bar for like 2x5 Tempo bench (3sec) w. 30kg for like 2x5
Then increase the weight normally for whatever your working set is for the day.
Leo Reyes
how often do you train bench? if you train it twice a week and do sets no bigger than 5 you should progress quickly
Ian Scott
That's a great read user. I have indeed been driving the bar straight up at the start of the movement. Thanks.
Kayden Rogers
>How often do you bench 2.5 days per week. On the other 2.5 I do dumbbell flies.
Gavin Allen
do an actual program you idiot
Logan Taylor
Good! Room for improvement then. The tempo benches might seem stupid right now, but they will really let you know if the bar is somewhere it shouldn't be as it will be stupidly difficult to hold it there.
Treat your warm ups as warm ups. During warm up is the time to mess about with technique, grip width, feet placement and all that crazy stuff. The closer you get to your working set, the more things should be dialed in. At lower percentages, do what you need to do to get it right - in your case this is most likely bar path right now = tempo bench press.
Matthew Flores
From 60kg to 72kg and you cannot even bench 40kg? I mean I dont wanna bully but lets be honest here, 10kg or more of that 12kg you gained is pure fat
John Williams
you do two different exercises? you are aware that you can do more than one exercise per gym visit, right?
Angel Reyes
Then how have literally all of my other lifts improved substantially? Not to mention I look better. Lmao I was just mentioning flies because it's another chest exercise - of course I do other exercises.
Andrew Myers
>started as a 5'10 60kg skelly, now 72kg My man, you're doing something wrong here. I'm skinnyfat at 5'10" 72kg, and I can rep out a few presses @ 100kg. My guess is that you've been eating fuck all protein. Seriously. Touch the bar to your chest, eat way, WAY, WAY, WHEY more protein.
Kayden Harris
Once again, other lifts have improved substantially. I could barely squat the bar when I walked into the gym and now I'm doing 70kg for reps and improving by 3-5kg a week. Deadlifts are a similar story.
Justin Moore
Your trainer is a fucking idiot. Doing 10+ reps for strength lmao.
Aaron Bell
Breh I started with the bar and in 10 months i hit 80kg
Lincoln Bailey
Don't suppose you have a video of you performing a set of bench press then? Be easier to tell if you're doing something wrong on that front. I know you said trainer and gymbro said it's all good, but I've seen examples of both types being perfectly content with half reps, bad foot positioning, bad form in general.
Blake Ramirez
I'm not benching for strength, I'm doing it because I don't want to be a chestlet. Cool story breh, pm me a link to your blog.
Josiah Peterson
I don't, but I already know from this user that my form is bad. Gymbro and trainer have been goblining me.
