Doing Stronglifts 5x5 for about 10 months now. I'm a 19 year old male, 178cm (5'8 or something). Weigh 80kg (176lbs).
I'm stuck on bench with 65kg (143lbs). I checked my form;
- ROM - Grip - Bar path - Scapula retraction
I keep hitting 65kg but failing. I tried deloading a few times to 60kg, but everytime I come back to 65kg again the weight feels heavy, even when unracking.
I'm on a cut, -300 calories under maintenance, but a lot of days I end up eating maintenance because I'm an undisciplined cunt.
SOS, please help, it's been 2 months since I saw bench progress..
Ian Davis
2 things, one is you're not going to keep getting stronger on a cut. You can for a little while but its not gonna last. The other thing is it might be time to switch to Texas method, 10 months is a long time on SL.
Isaac Cooper
bench 3x a week, more volume
Jeremiah Jones
(not OP) Is Texas method the best transition out from SL? Is it good for aesthetics?
Bentley Davis
Probably, yeah. If you're just transitioning into an intermediate program you shouldn't be worried about aesthetics yet. If you get up to a 4pl8 squat and then cut to around 10-12% you should start looking decent by normie standards and then you can start concentrating on aesthetics now that you have a solid strength base.
Samuel James
I just use SL to move weight fast after a break from lifting and then onto PPL after the weight gets "tough"
Leo King
5x5 is shit for LP. Do 3x5.
Hunter Baker
If I'm not mistaken, Mehdi recommends 5/3/1.
Liam Jenkins
PPL has helped me with volume. Bench 5x5 OHP 3x8-12 Incline Bench 3x8-12
OHP 5x5 Bench 3x8-12 Incline 3x8-12
Its fucking goat
Kevin Evans
5/3/1 (the BBB version) is ok once you start stalling on TM. TM has you go up 5lbs a week while 5/3/1 has you go up 5-10lbs a month. If you are a fresh intermediate its a waste of time to make gains that slow.
Christian Hall
Benching 3 times a week for a month now, not improving. I don't know a lot about volume, to what should I change it any why?
Ryder Howard
So, I should switch to TM now, and 5/3/1 after that?
Dylan Sanders
What's LP? I'll try 3x5 asap!
Landon Watson
If I'm cutting the whole time I'm on a beginner program like SL or SS, should I just keep lifting at the ceiling I hit, on the assumption that when I eventually drop down to an acceptable bodyfat/BMI I can then proceed to gain muscle efficiently and then expect gains ? Or am I looking at this totally retarded?
Thomas Myers
Yes, there are other programs besides 5/3/1 BBB but it is a good plan
Adam Rivera
Not OP but should I progress to a more advanced program on a cut, if only to help maintainence and add variety? Cutting two weeks now and making good progress. Don't know how long it'll be before I want to stop.
Grayson Thompson
LP = linear progression, adding weight every workout/every week, which is what beginner routines do
Nolan Bennett
>aesthetics >TM >SL AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
t. Tm user
Thomas Collins
I modified 531 to a UL. I just combine deadlift with squat and ohp with bench press and usually don't do the de-load workouts, so the progression is one cycle per 1.5-2 weeks instead of one cycle per 4 weeks. I'm not sure why, but linear progression has never really worked for me. I start at 4x5x130 on bench and by the time I'm at 145 I'm failing sets. Maybe I don't eat enough, get too little sleep, or am just weak, but for me (my version of) 531 has yielded very good results. A couple years ago I got to multiple reps of 120 ohp, 185 bench, and 265 squat and was still progressing well. I know those numbers aren't impressive overall, but compared to where I had been getting stuck it was great.
Anthony Harris
Jesus Christ you've been lifting for 10 months and you're sub 200 bench. What the fuck m8? You're suppose to go up 5 pounds every time you hit the bench.
Dominic Smith
No you're not. Fuck off 65kg is weak for 10 months but 200lb is a ridiculous expectation
John Williams
I was hitting 2 plates after 5 and I was putting benching on the back burner so I could improve my OHP faster.
Adam Fisher
And I'm the same height as op and was about the same weight when I started.
Joshua Campbell
In that case you are exeptional and I'd like to congratulate you on your achievements. The average skelly skinnyfat nerd has to work out for much longer than that
Luis Bailey
Is that push - push - legs?
Where is the pull?
Leo Adams
Holy shit this thread is full of some of the shittest advice I've literally ever encountered.
OP you're not progressing because you're a scrawny little cunt who refuses to eat because "muh abs". If you don't like it, do another program, and once you've hopped around 2-3times and your bench press remains shit, maybe you'll come to your fucking senses.
To the rest of you guys, who suggested that he go on an intermediate program at those numbers, I hope you're all fucking ashamed for polluting this board with utter crap. Get an education, and some numbers, fucking dyels.
Also OP, it took you NINE MONTHS? How did you not figure out sooner something was terribly wrong?
Ethan Price
OP, you're an undisciplined cunt. Eat properly and carry on.
Jackson Thomas
OP is weak enough that cutting shouldn't matter.
You're a beginner lifter with beginner lifts. You're incapable of checking your own form. Post a video.
The solution is to bench press more, and possibly TRY HARDER. I've seen multiple skinny faggots bust through """plateaus""" simply by psyching themselves up and actually trying their fucking hardest to hit 5 reps, instead of thinking "wow, this is kinda hard, better deload to work on muh form".
Landon Stewart
OP here
>why am i plateuing on a cut
Regards, OP
Owen Edwards
>I keep hitting 65kg but failing. I tried deloading a few times to 60kg, but everytime I come back to 65kg again the weight feels heavy, even when unracking.
When you get back to 65 kg, you should switch to 3x5, then 3x3 to get to 225 lbs. Then, switch to an intermediate program.
