Problem Increasing Weight w/ Dumbbells

I’ve seemed to hit a bit of a roadblock on the incline db press and standing military db press 3 weeks into the big boy basics program. First off, with the standing mp, I’m stuck at 60lb and can’t manage to hit 8x3, while with 55lbs I can hit 8x3 fairly easily, with 60 lbs I struggle to push out 3 reps for 2 set. Any idea how I can continue to progress?? btw, I superset this exercise with weighted pullups as well. For the incline press, I’m trying to make the jump from 70 and hit 75 for 3x8, but whenever I try, I seem to always get stuck at the last set, even though I’ll have progressed on the first 2 sets.

The main thing that I want to know though is there any kind of technique I can use in cases where I end up getting stuck at a certain weight on an exercise just several weeks into a program. More reps/sets with a lower weight for a week???

I am just a beginner myself but maybe your recovery or nutrition is in need of a review. Do you always get atleast 8 hours of sleep before a lift day?
Perhaps you aren’t giving your body enough time to recover so your strength levels can increase.

[quote]NeedforStrength wrote:
I’ve seemed to hit a bit of a roadblock on the incline db press and standing military db press 3 weeks into the big boy basics program. First off, with the standing mp, I’m stuck at 60lb and can’t manage to hit 8x3, while with 55lbs I can hit 8x3 fairly easily, with 60 lbs I struggle to push out 3 reps for 2 set. Any idea how I can continue to progress?? btw, I superset this exercise with weighted pullups as well. For the incline press, I’m trying to make the jump from 70 and hit 75 for 3x8, but whenever I try, I seem to always get stuck at the last set, even though I’ll have progressed on the first 2 sets.

The main thing that I want to know though is there any kind of technique I can use in cases where I end up getting stuck at a certain weight on an exercise just several weeks into a program. More reps/sets with a lower weight for a week???[/quote]

If you are hitting a plateau that soon into a program, then you really should take a serious look at your nutrition. You might also want to invest in some fractional plates, as those will allow you to make smaller, possibly more manageable jumps in weight.

You’re trying to jump up in weight by too much. Going from 55 to 60 is a 10% increase in weight. That’s a lot.

Two gyms I used to go to had magnetic microplates that were 1.25 lbs. Perfect for going up in weight on DBs.

Search the web, or I guess this forum, for “microplates” or “microloading”

I’m not familiar with the program you are using, but mp and incline db press both hammer the anterior delts. How close together are these exercises in your routine? If you can space them further apart you might see some improvement. If I place mp and bench too close together I lose intensity on whichever lift comes second.

assisted forced reps ~ seek spotter

avoid dropping on the face.

Try different set/rep schemes