I’m having trouble with my bench press. I had started at 5 x 3 and worked up to 5 x 5.
Once i got 5 x 5 it went to hell the following week - very difficult to meet the previous weeks rep scheme.
So i added 2kg and went back to 5 x 3 but even this is really hard.
At the moment i’m dieting (down 32 lbs so far) and wonder might it be due to this? On the other hand my reps on many other exercises are going up as well as weight in other exercises.
Any thoughts on what i should do? Go higher reps for a while or 5,4,3,2,1 system?
Any help/advice appreciated.
cheers
Ryu
Are you working your back also (bent rows and pullups)? What about squats and deadlifts? Eventually a weakness in any other core and supporting muscles will stop your progression in bench.
For routine try something completely different for a while:
2 sets of 15
2 sets of 12 flys after your bench press
2 sets of 12 triceps isolation exercise after your bench press
layoff and rest for a week
a set of flys followed by bench press with no rest for a few weeks
[quote]dswithers wrote:
Are you working your back also (bent rows and pullups)? What about squats and deadlifts? Eventually a weakness in any other core and supporting muscles will stop your progression in bench.
For routine try something completely different for a while:
2 sets of 15
2 sets of 12 flys after your bench press
2 sets of 12 triceps isolation exercise after your bench press
layoff and rest for a week
a set of flys followed by bench press with no rest for a few weeks
inclines for a few weeks
dumbell bench press for a few weeks
weighted dips for a few weeks
I could think of a few dozen more options[/quote]
Agreed, a lot of heavy back work helped bring my bench up.