Squat and deadlift were always easier for me then bench. I have big strong legs and a strong lower and upper back. My chest was always a weak link and it has taken along time to bring it up. I can currently put up 310 raw at 205.
The weird thing is I can put up 275 six or seven reps and 250 for ten to twelve on any given day. If you go by the one rep estimate charts that would be an estimated 320 to 330 one rep max. I know they aren’t the most accurate thing, but still there is something amiss there.
I know it’s a weak link somewhere once the weight gets up beyond 300 and I believe it’s right off the chest and coming down to slow and burning out since the weights heavy. I will be correcting this over the next few months and my goal is 320 to 30 by summer.
Getting 225 up the first time was much harder for me than 300 was…I’m convinced it was a psychological wall I created because no other bench goal has been as hard to overcome.
I think making big gains on your deadlift is harder because it takes so much out of you…550 was my magic number on the deadlift I had to overcome then everything else felt easier to improve upon
I hit 300 a little over a year ago. Next time I benched heavy, 305 if memory serves, I tore a rotator cuff. After 5 months of no pressing, my bench tanked to 185. It’s back up to 265 now, and I’m hoping to get back over 300 by mid 2008 (training smarter this time).
And to answer Hanley’s question - it was definately the hardest lift for me to get. My squat and dead can come up fairly quickly when I train them, but my bench seems to take forever. It’s all good though, cuz I’d rather have big squats and DLs versus a big bench (not that anything I do is big yet).
[quote]Steve-O-68 wrote:
I hit 300 a little over a year ago. Next time I benched heavy, 305 if memory serves, I tore a rotator cuff. After 5 months of no pressing, my bench tanked to 185. It’s back up to 265 now, and I’m hoping to get back over 300 by mid 2008 (training smarter this time).
And to answer Hanley’s question - it was definately the hardest lift for me to get. My squat and dead can come up fairly quickly when I train them, but my bench seems to take forever. It’s all good though, cuz I’d rather have big squats and DLs versus a big bench (not that anything I do is big yet).[/quote]
My bench is ass. I mean it’s horrible. I’m not sure what my max is, probably about 250, but that’s complete ass because I’m about 260. I was stuck at 225 for about two years. My upper back and delts are pretty weak. My delts are comin along pretty good lately but still tryin’ to fill out the upper back.
A lot of band pull aparts because my school doesn’t have a cable pulley to do face pulls or a chest-supported row to do horizontal shrugs on it. Tryin’ ro find some new upper back ideas. I feel I’m making progress though so I’m slightly happy.
im at 350 right now, but it was only a few months ago i was gunnin for 315…the worst part of lifting, is that everytime i hit my goal its just never enough…
you hit 300, and your like wow that sucks, hit 315 and your like fuck i want more…and more…you can never put up enough weight. its not even fare to call them goals anymore its just milestones in one big long quest.
[quote]All2ez wrote:
im at 350 right now, but it was only a few months ago i was gunnin for 315…the worst part of lifting, is that everytime i hit my goal its just never enough…
you hit 300, and your like wow that sucks, hit 315 and your like fuck i want more…and more…you can never put up enough weight. its not even fare to call them goals anymore its just milestones in one big long quest.[/quote]
I know what you mean, 300 was so overrated the day after i did it.
[quote]Hanley wrote:
AssClown, lie face down on a low incline bench, about 20-30 degrees, grab some dumbbells and do rows with your elbows wide.
Pretty much a chest supported row that nails your back extra hard.[/quote]
You’re a god damned musical genious, Hanley. I thought o using a BB but the range of motion would suck. I’ve never thought of this though. Hell I’m gonna do this tomorrow durin’ my leg day. I’m really excited about this.
I’ve been able to do 235 for a triple for a couple weeks now, which (based on my own experience) would probably put my max somewhere around 250-255.
I plan to just keep on doing max triples and singles, hit my assistance work hard and get my squat up. Hopefully by end of January/middle of February I can hit 300.
[quote]Hanley wrote:
For those of you benching 300+, how easy was it for you? It was by far the hardest lift for me to achieve of the 3/4/5 combo.
The squat came easily, but has barely friggin moved since in the last 9 months, it’s starting to go up now.
Deadlift was hard but once I put my head into it and started to work hard it came.
Bench just hasn’t co-operated tho. By far the hardest of the lifts for me. But funnily enough my shirted bench has gone up like 60lbs in since january and is hovering around 400 now.[/quote]
same here man. it took me like forever to get a 300 bench. squat and deadlift were a hell of alot easyer
[quote]AssClown wrote:
Hanley wrote:
AssClown, lie face down on a low incline bench, about 20-30 degrees, grab some dumbbells and do rows with your elbows wide.
Pretty much a chest supported row that nails your back extra hard.
You’re a god damned musical genious, Hanley. I thought o using a BB but the range of motion would suck. I’ve never thought of this though. Hell I’m gonna do this tomorrow durin’ my leg day. I’m really excited about this.[/quote]
Also, elbows out = upper back, elbows tucked = more lats
Read up on Kelso shrugs too. Not something I’ve done but some people swear by them. Also Pendlay rows.
I hit 305 at a BW of 203 a few weeks ago…Bench always came the easiest to me though, i squat right at 400, but my dead lift is just God awful, like im talking 365 was a struggle, it think its one of the reasons i dont “look” strong, i think when youre a beastly deadlifter you just get kind of a badass kind of build.
Taking time off after my surgery did it for me. I was stuck right around 300 from my senior year in high school through my freshman year in college.I took 2 months off from a barbell and got 365@ 225 after 6 weeks, although ironically I haven’t used a BB for bench in 2 months or so due to shoulder problems…maybe it’s time to get back to benching
[quote]martyh wrote:
Taking time off after my surgery did it for me. I was stuck right around 300 from my senior year in high school through my freshman year in college.I took 2 months off from a barbell and got 365@ 225 after 6 weeks, although ironically I haven’t used a BB for bench in 2 months or so due to shoulder problems…maybe it’s time to get back to benching[/quote]
Great thread. I’ve been “one program away” from 300 for a full three years. Shoulder injuries haven’t helped, but still, my bench has gone up ten pounds, tops, in that time, I hover between 275 and 285.
Have done lots of 5x5, Waterbury’s 10x3, Westside-style ME stuff…none of it has helped the bench. Deadlift has gone up a lot, triceps strength too, but the bench itself has been stuck.
I’m thinking shoulder strength might be the problem, I never really have trouble locking out, which is where triceps come in the most, right? Be curious to hear what you guys do for a standing military press vs. your bench. For me, I think my military max is maybe 155, pretty bad. Any raw powerlifters, what do you do for your shoulders?