I've failed the 5th rep at 135lbs bench, twice. I had previously deloaded to 125 and worked back up today...

I've failed the 5th rep at 135lbs bench, twice. I had previously deloaded to 125 and worked back up today. Been lifting for a few months on Greyskull LP. Squat's at 180lbs, deadlift at 225, and OHP at 80lbs. Squat and DL still progress smoothly. OHP is doing okay at 1lb increments.

I have done some testing out of curiosity. At 23 I have 400ng/dl total test, 7ng/dl free, 120lbs lean mass at 5'9" with 160lbs total bodyweight (measured with DEXA), and 6" wrists. I had started lifting at 145lbs bodyweight. My genetic stats seem pretty terrible. I've started fish oil, multivit, D, zinc, and magnesium supplements.

Is this the time to switch to an intermediate program, or is there some other natty thing I can do to just enable growth in general?

Eat more, seriously. And rest longer between sets

bench more often
do bench as your first exercise

Keep it up until squat and dl dont increase.

Dont stress the test last i checked i was only 600ng/dl and i pull over 4 plate now. Just lift and eat well, you cant control things like test without using steroids beyond getting enough sleep and eating right.

I've gained about 15 pounds over 15-ish weeks and I'm already at 25% bodyfat. I'm considering a cut because I hadn't expected to be so fat.

Greyskull does put bench first. How might I put bench at more than 1.5x a week?

b

I usually just deload by 5-2.5kg and work my way back up after which it usually feels a lot lighter and I can do all my reps and add more next time easily

Its all mental, just believe in yourself bro.

Kek you don't need to switch to intermediate your form is fucked. You are not doing everything correct or your not eating. I do 2x3 and my bench is at 185lbs for reps. I can shit out 3x10 on 1 plate easily.

>use leg drive
> retract scapula
> squeeze ass
> keep chest up while benching. This is super important the rom will be easier

This is why telling beginners who have never lifted before to go on an ultra low volume program and eat tons of shitty food is a bad idea.

Op, what you should do is eat a lot of protein (180+grams a day) at maintenance. Your probably a flabby fuck that has no muscle to cut to. Lift on high volume program and put in true effort. Forget about the weight on the bar for now, focus on hitting rep goals instead of weight goals.

Get a good amount of sleep on a regular sleep schedule.

Eat fucking vegetables

If you live like a child and lift like a child you will be as strong as a child.

Nothing you said would make op stronger, it would just make him better at benching. That doesn't help him

Stopped reading at 180g of protein per day, ignore this OP.

do some more volume. ignore the autism of the programs you're on. after your OHP sets do a few sets of 8 (these you should struggle to hit 8 reps). add another day where you do 5x10. add a day where you do a different style of press. your press will go up, guaranteed. the program is flawed.

Higher protein is better for two reasons:

First of all, one you happen to be overestimating protein you will be better off

Second of all, the co version of protein to glucose is demand driven, not supply driven, which means that on a surplus you would gain less overall fat

What? Lifting heavier is about your form on bench. You want to push more numbers you need to be able to bench correctly unless you started strong. He already is deloading and is using micro plates so it comes down to

>form
>sleep schedule
>eating
>or weak cns

Get stronger,
OR
Learn how to cheat to get superficially high numbers

Wasn't me, but similar sentiment.

Getting heavier numbers doesn't mean your stronger. It means your numbers are heavier. If you increase your bench, but can't do any more dips than you could, you didn't get stronger

good b8

There is no reason a beginner cannot use periodization if they're having problems making clear linear progress. OP if you dont wanna just eat more and deload (which would work), you can move to a more intermediate program for your bench and keep adding weight to your other lifts every workout.

What? Endurance and strength is too different things and you ever thought that your triceps are just weaker and that bench is hitting your delts and pecs more? I can do a lot of dips at 190lbs and with a plate added yet I can only bench 185. Strength doesn't always transfers perfectly to other workouts because of shit like form and endurance on the work out.

You have to realize that you're the stereotypical nerd that tries to intellectualize why you're weak instead of just lifting weights. Quit thinking so much and lift.

are you fucking retarded...

OP here. I'm going to increase calories and try adding volume a couple different ways. If I continue to stall on bench in spite of that, I'm going on a cut down to 135-140lbs which would put off significant gains for a few months to half a year.

Yeah because retracting your scapula is now cheating right? Shut the fuck up unless you have a video of you doing 225 flat back for reps

How do you progress in 1 pound increments?

I bring microplates

That's the first I've ever heard of those. They seem stupid 2bh. Do they seem to be working for you?

EAT MORE, YOU FAGGOT!

Alright you almost comically missed my point.

When you gain strength, you gain strength on a muscle. You gain skill in a movement. You can increase weight on the bar through an increase in either skill or strength. However, only the increase in strength is correlated with muscle gain and can be transferred to other exersizes. An increase in skill, beyond rudimentary levels, cannot be transferred to other movements.

Op can barely bench a plate. No matter how low his skill on bench is, his muscles are week. He can increase weight a little bit by increasing skill, but will hit a wall where he needs to just plain gain muscle strength.

Volume is the highest driver of muscle strength gains. Therefore, is he wants to actually be stronger, he will need to do more volume.

Another way he could lift more would be minimizing fatigue, which could be achieved by reducing volume. However, that is only a short-term performance gain, and will not help one become stronger in the long run.


This is the reason that anyone in strength sports spends as much time as they can in the volume block, until they know they have a meet and need to peak.

Well 5lb was clearly too much for bench and OHP. I was regularly failing bench and OHP sets until I reduced progression and upped rest between sets to 7-8 minutes.

This. 1.5+g/lean lb bodyweight is fucking retarded.

whatever works i guess

Post stats

Personally, my stats are 185 strict press(strong shoulders), 250 bench , 360 squat at 170 lbs

im going to give you a trick to instantly get what you want

time exactly 3 minutes between sets and start right when the 3 minutes are up even if you dont feel like it, this is when ur the strongest during workouts

anyone strong pretty much lives by this rule

t. Broseph Shapibro, Bh.D

>ive accomplished what can be done using starting strength in 8 months so clearly i know what im talking about
Ok bud

I'm pretty sure you don't need that much protein bro

try including dips into the program. Dips seem to have supplemented my bench

science disagrees.

Science says he needs up to 1g/lean lb. Hes not a roiding bodybuilder. He can only build muscle so quickly.

Short term my ass. I do my compounds low volume and accessories high and I never had stalled on any compounds. How long do you consider it short term? Because its been more then 5 months. What exactly is testing strength then.

What the fuck you are literally me, all your stats and supps... I even have 6" wrists. Shit sucks breh.

...

I perform better at compounds after doing a bunch of related accessory lifts for a couple weeks. Although I do keep active in general, so my muscles recover and grow rather than regress.