Can't Bench Past 315lbs

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

I can’t seem to get past benching 315lbs without my shoulders killing me.

I’ve been lifting for 15 years. Everytime I start a power cycle to get my bench numbers up, I end up having to stop due to AC joint problems.

My best ever was a 365lbs 1RM four years ago but I was in pain all the time. I had to take a break for a few months and my bench go went down to 315lbs. Then I try again and and got up to 340lbs before having to stop. This past summer I tried again and made it to 355lbs before the AC joint became inflamed, causing me to stop.

During this down time I work up to 315lb singles a few times a month to maintain.

I take 5 grams to fish/flax oil a day. I take GLC2000.

Any ideas?

2

Have you read this article Matt?
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1426252
It looks like it was written for you.

3

What are your rowing numbers? If they’re not up there alongside of your bench numbers, your body wont allow your bench to progress so you wont have extreme imbalances.

If thats in check, read CT’s “8 weeks to a bigger bench” article.

4

How long after you messed up your A-C joint were you abel to lift again?

I separated mine on saturday, and am not getting anybetter. Was hopeing to start lifting next monday.

Any advice?

5

[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
What are your rowing numbers? If they’re not up there alongside of your bench numbers, your body wont allow your bench to progress so you wont have extreme imbalances.

If thats in check, read CT’s “8 weeks to a bigger bench” article.[/quote]

I bent-over row 245lbs for 5 x 5.

That’s a good point, I might need to get my row stronger.

6

[quote]DF85 wrote:
How long after you messed up your A-C joint were you abel to lift again?

I separated mine on saturday, and am not getting anybetter. Was hopeing to start lifting next monday.

Any advice?[/quote]

I didn’t separate mine, thank god, it just gets inflamed very easy.

7

[quote]DF85 wrote:
How long after you messed up your A-C joint were you abel to lift again?

I separated mine on saturday, and am not getting anybetter. Was hopeing to start lifting next monday.

Any advice?[/quote]

For the love of god let your shoulder have a chance to heal. If you don’t, you are asking for a long time of shoulder pain.

That’s saying it can heal on its own, see a doctor, it could be a lot worse (hopefully better!) than you think.

8

Maybe your shoulders are suffering from some sort of imbalance.

9

Same thing happens to me more or less, getting stuck in the mid-300 range. Cycling light/heavy days helps, so does auxillary stuff, like close-grip bench and military press.

This is the best bench article ever, by Dave Tate:

Bench Press 600 Pounds - A 12 Step Program

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459808

10

[quote]Matt- wrote:
I bent-over row 245lbs for 5 x 5.

That’s a good point, I might need to get my row stronger. [/quote]

Well pain is the biggest caveat to big numbers thats for sure, that’s probably your biggest problem.

As far as pulling strength, Bent-over Rows are not the best indicator. The reason is because your Bent-over row strength is limited by your hamstings and lower back strength. A better indicator is pull-up strength and one-arm rows.

11

I have done 3 reps of pull ups with 50lbs around my waist. I weight 240lbs.

12

First, those are good bench numbers so I commend you on your training. My first thought would be that you are just pushing your shoulders more than they are capable of handling. Your shoulder, just like any other joint, can only handle so much abuse before it starts to complain.

The following could be common factors in overuse: amount of weight, number of repetitions, numbers of time trained per week, and speed of repetition. If you increase any of these factors logic dictates you need to decrease the other factors.

For example, as you bench increases (amount of weight) you may have to decrease the number of times you train per week or the number of repetitions. With heavy weights I doubt speed is much of a factor. 315# just doesn’t move a lot faster than 365#.

You may also need to consider the total load your shoulders are bearing due to other exercises. Any exercise where the humerus is in motion is going to put some stress on the shoulder joint. Also, any exercise where the humerus is held in a position other than relaxed and to the side is going to put some stress on the joint.

Be very careful of exercise form. You can even put stress on your shoulder from exercises such as bicep curls, if strict formed is not maintained. I have seen bicep curls where the shoulders and back are used to give momentum to the weight.

Steroid use can also cause joint problems. This may not be the case with you. When one is juiced their muscles adapt faster than their joints and ligaments. This can cause severe problems. I have even heard cases of people dying from bleeding to death when they tear their bicep from its insertion.

Whatever the case, pain is an indication that something is wrong. Don’t continue to train in pain. Find the problem, correct the problem, and then continue on.

13

How many inverted rows can you do? If you don’t currently do inverted rows, than I would suggest you include them for a few months.

14

[quote]BigDaddyT wrote:
First, those are good bench numbers so I commend you on your training. My first thought would be that you are just pushing your shoulders more than they are capable of handling. Your shoulder, just like any other joint, can only handle so much abuse before it starts to complain.

The following could be common factors in overuse: amount of weight, number of repetitions, numbers of time trained per week, and speed of repetition. If you increase any of these factors logic dictates you need to decrease the other factors.

For example, as you bench increases (amount of weight) you may have to decrease the number of times you train per week or the number of repetitions. With heavy weights I doubt speed is much of a factor. 315# just doesn’t move a lot faster than 365#.

You may also need to consider the total load your shoulders are bearing due to other exercises. Any exercise where the humerus is in motion is going to put some stress on the shoulder joint. Also, any exercise where the humerus is held in a position other than relaxed and to the side is going to put some stress on the joint.

Be very careful of exercise form. You can even put stress on your shoulder from exercises such as bicep curls, if strict formed is not maintained. I have seen bicep curls where the shoulders and back are used to give momentum to the weight.

Steroid use can also cause joint problems. This may not be the case with you. When one is juiced their muscles adapt faster than their joints and ligaments. This can cause severe problems. I have even heard cases of people dying from bleeding to death when they tear their bicep from its insertion.

Whatever the case, pain is an indication that something is wrong. Don’t continue to train in pain. Find the problem, correct the problem, and then continue on.[/quote]

lol, no juice for me, I’m too chicken that I would get caught…
That’s why it took me all those years to bench 300lbs+

When I try to ramp my numbers up, I bench twice a week. A heavy day on Monday and a lighter day on Friday. My numbers seem to go up pretty easy, but my shoulders can’t keep up.

I have not done biceps curls in 6 years. I think I get enough work from pull ups.

Bent over rows are a little hard now, I cut my achilles 9 months ago on a piece of metal and am still recovering from that…lol

Seated rows and pull ups are still pretty good though.

Great advice on this thread! I have a lot of reading to do…

15

[quote]zarro wrote:
How many inverted rows can you do? If you don’t currently do inverted rows, than I would suggest you include them for a few months.[/quote]

Inverted rows are when you lay down under a bar and pull your body up…like a row?

You know, I have a pair of power rings, I might try that out tonight.

16

Jim Wendler mentioned that the Bradford Press worked well for upping his raw bench. He did note that it was hard on his shoulders, no injuries just hard on them.

Also have you been trying to ice your shoulders after the training session?

17

Matt,

Oftentimes matching rows to your bench is not enough.
I experienced a similar problem and started strengthening my scapulae area similarly to what was recommended in a recent article co-authored by Hartman.
I stopped benching for a month (my limit was 385 before pain stopped me from going further) and started doing:
Overhead shrugs, (10,9,8,7,6,5 reps)
Dip shrugs (5 sets of 10)
Push ups plus (10 sets of 10)
External rotations (3-5 sets)
Prone side raises, thumbs up
Wide grip cable rows (grip same width as my bench press width)
both for 5 sets of 10
Blast strap push ups (or rings like you have)
Blast strap inverted rows, feet up.
Snatch grip deadlifts and very wide grip pull ups seemed to help me as well.

I started benching again last week and put on 405 without any pain whatsoever.

Hope some of this helps,

Marc