Plateau! Bench Press, OHP, BB Row

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

I have been doing SL 5x5 and for awhile have been doing 3x5 for my bench and hop because 5x5 was too much for me and had to deload. I have been stuck at 165 touch and go (standard) bench press for a few weeks now. I want to now do pause reps because I am weak off my chest. Note, I weigh 170 Lbs if that’s of any use.

I was looking at several articles that Greg Nuckols wrote about increasing work capacity, tips for novice strength trainers and he suggests to follow the following program when you plateu: deload by 10% and build back up by proceeding from 5x8 to 6x5 to 7x3. I actually tried to do 140 8 paused on Saturday and was only able to get 7 reps in (it may have to do with not eating that much carbs or anything prior). I dropped to 135 an consistently got 8,7,6,6. What should I do now? 38 instead or simply decrease from 135 to 125? According to Should I also do DB work as my secondary work? If so, should I do DB press, incline DB press,DB flies, decline DB press and for how many sets/reps and how often/what days?

In terms of OHP, as you guys know, is very hard to increase. I got up to 130lb where I did 5,4, and then 3 reps following 3.5-4min rests in between. This was my first try and SL gives you three tries before you have to deload. Should I also follow the 5x8 or should I do something like 3x8?

BB bent over row: I just completed 170 5x5 after three attempts and am now off to 175. I don’t know if should change anything for this yet.

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How has your squat and deadlift progressed? What about bodyweight?

3

I reached 5x5 150 lb for squat a few months ago but had stopped to try and correct my lower back rounding or “butt wink” but have recently realized with the advice of some powerlifters at my college club that it’s not that bad so I am currently in the process of getting back into squatting.

Deadlift: I am at 1x5 for 335. It wasn’t that bad but I do think my lower back was rounding/not that tight as it should have been. I will have to be more conscious of this.

My body weight is 170.

Someone over at bodybuilding forumn had recommended me to do a weight for bench and ohp that I can do 5x5 and deload by 15% and progress from here.

Greg Nukols recommends that once we plateu to then deload by 10% and start with 5x8, 6x5, and then 7x3. When I did this, I couldn’t finish even get 8 reps for the first set of bench press at 140 because the 10% decrease was too small considering that I was doing pause reps. So if I were to say do 127 for bench and follow 5x8, then 6x5 and then 7x3 would this be better than what you are suggesting?

In terms of my OHP, I reached 130 lb but failed the first time for 3x5 workout program. I’m not so sure I could go that far as in go up to 140 or something with the 3x5 program here. Should I deload by 15% as you are saying and do the 5x5 plan or should I follow Greg’s plan of 5x8, 6x5 and 7x3?

Still confused on what my rep/set scheme should be…

4

My guess is that you’re pushing too hard too often. How consistent is your form through every rep and every workout, especially when pushing to failure? When you do a true deload, there should be a couple weeks where the work feels easy (this is okay, you’re still getting better). If the 5x5 for bench felt hard then you probably need to lower the intensity and still stick to the 5x5 scheme instead of reducing volume. It’s difficult working with percentages in a program when form is inconsistent because certain muscles will be taxed much harder than others and this affects recovery and progress.

Your squat and deadlift numbers suggest you need work on technique so I think it’s best to lower all your training maxes to the point where all of the main movements feel easy and add in accessory work. Do DB rows, DB flies, hanging leg raises and planks (pushups and pullups aren’t a bad idea either if it isn’t too much work). Shoot for 30-50 total reps each session and use a light weight to treat them as body building exercises. Doing this work should not affect your performance for the next training session. You need to learn how it feels to tense your lats and chest, and brace your abs individually and eventually in sync for the main lifts (this is the most important takeaway). This will help fix the back rounding problem but just understand that it’ll take time so be patient. Really focus on this accessory work without pushing to failure so often on the main lifts for the next 3 months. Watch as many videos as you can on squat technique, remember the common guiding principals for all of them and experiment to see what feels strongest. Then post a video of your lifts. Good luck!

5

Week 1 - work up in sets of 5 starting at 50% of max. Add 10lbs each set until you come to a weight you won’t get for 5 reps. Ex: 85x5 95x5 105x5 115x5 125x5. Don’t attempt 135x5 unless you believe you’ll get it. Save 135 for another day. Stop at 125x5.

Week 2 - work up in sets of 3 starting 10lbs heavier than 50% of max. Do the same as week 1 progression in sets of 3 until you reach that weight you won’t get for 3 reps. Ex: 95x3 105x3 115x3 125x3 135x3

Week 3 - work up in sets of 2 starting 10lbs heavier than week 2. Do the same progression. Ex: 105x2 115x2 125x2 135x2 145x2

After the main work - do 3 sets of top half work (mid point to lockout)then do 3 sets of bottom half work (chest to midpoint). For assistance work, do shoulders only one day, arms another day and upper back another day.

The more often you can hit the bench, the more your bench will go up.

Make sure you focus on good technique, good eating and good sleep. Do pause reps and push them explosively w/ the lower weights.

Good luck!

6

When you say after the main work, I should do mid to lockout and then bottom to mid, do you mean after the 3 weeks are up? What specifically would be the plan after the first three weeks?

Also, I forgot to mention that before I do any of my main lifts, I do face pulls and some shoulder work for my rotater cuffs. I do 3x12 for face pulls and 3x11 for this exercise where I pull the cable from mid chest out (don’t know what it’s called). By doing these exercises, am I limiting my power for my main lifts such as bench and ohp?

In regards to my plan for OHP, should I do what you recommended for bench?

I was thinking about doing my regular 3x5 until I fail at one weight after three tries and then procedding to Greg Nuckol’s periodization program where I deload 15% and do 5x8, 6x5, and 7x3. Is this a good plan or should I do something else for OHP?

For bent over row, I also progressed more or less pretty good and got up to 170 5x5 right now. This is what someone recommended me to do:

“Just keep doing 5x5@170 until it’s too easy. Or add a rep to each set for 5 sessions, and then go p 5 or 10 lbs and start over.”

Is this a good plan?

Thank you

7

[quote]elevit2 wrote:
When you say after the main work, I should do mid to lockout and then bottom to mid, do you mean after the 3 weeks are up? What specifically would be the plan after the first three weeks?

Also, I forgot to mention that before I do any of my main lifts, I do face pulls and some shoulder work for my rotater cuffs. I do 3x12 for face pulls and 3x11 for this exercise where I pull the cable from mid chest out (don’t know what it’s called). By doing these exercises, am I limiting my power for my main lifts such as bench and ohp?

In regards to my plan for OHP, should I do what you recommended for bench?

I was thinking about doing my regular 3x5 until I fail at one weight after three tries and then procedding to Greg Nuckol’s periodization program where I deload 15% and do 5x8, 6x5, and 7x3. Is this a good plan or should I do something else for OHP?

For bent over row, I also progressed more or less pretty good and got up to 170 5x5 right now. This is what someone recommended me to do:

“Just keep doing 5x5@170 until it’s too easy. Or add a rep to each set for 5 sessions, and then go p 5 or 10 lbs and start over.”

Is this a good plan?

Thank you[/quote]

In one workout, you do the main work, then the mid-top, then bottom-mid then one assistance exercise.

After the three weeks are up, use the top set you did for each rep scheme. Add 1 set per week per rep scheme until you do 5 sets w/ your top set.

Example:
Weeks 1-3 would be 2x5 2x3 2x2
Weeks 4-6 would be 3x5 3x3 3x2
Weeks 7-9 would be 4x5 4x3 4x2
Weeks 10-12 would be 5x5 5x3 5x2

Then retest your 1 RM on week 13 or 14 or start over w/ Phase 1.

Unless you need to warm up, I wouldn’t bother with it. Just start to warm up using the bench press for bench press day. Try it both ways and see what happens is all I can say about that. Whatever works.

I don’t really have any sound experience to give advice on the OHP or barbell rows since they are not a power lift and I don’t really train them often and only use them for assistance sparingly. If anything I would say mix up the rep schemes and intensity in a similar fashion as the bench. I would probably run the rep ranges for those lifts more like 10,8,5 or 8,5,3.