My old gym bro experienced the same thing. Stuck at 85kg bench despite being very strong at other exercises. I think it was a technique issue. When he finally broke through the plateau, he progressed to 125kg in two years.
Have you tried training in the 1-3 rep range for a while?
I was mainly doing 5x5 on my first day then 3x8 on my second day and all accessories on the third day. My accessories were Dumbell Bench, Chest Flys, Close Grip Bench and Lat Pulldown.
The worst part is that my chest is fucking huge, easily my most dominant body part so whenever I walk into the gym people think I’m going to lay down some insane numbers on bench. 💀
I was expecting it to be terrible. Form is actually pretty solid. I would suggest some leg tucking and a bit of leg drive. But, aside from that, your body just hates you.
I was gonna post the same thing as this guy but ur post just got deleted lmao
Anyway check out this guy on yt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMsjo934zQw at 11:30 you get a pretty good visual
starting lower on the bench then lifting ur hips and pushing up with ur legs naturally gives u a decent arch and locks ur shoulders onto the bench which gives u very good stability for the lift, doing this helped me a lot actually
The problem that’s holding you back is that you allow the weight to fall slightly back when you are pressing, almost as if you were to do a JM press. This small adjustment, by just keeping your forearms vertical could maybe solve the problem after a couple weeks alongside you focussing more on legdrive of course.
How would we know without seeing your technique? Are you arching? Using leg drive? What is your grip width? Are you bouncing off your chest? Do you lock out at the top? What rep ranges do you train in? What’s your tempo? Have you tried strengthening accessory lifts?
Is 85kg ur 1 rep max? If not id say lower the reps you are doing and up the weight. Sometimes you just need to push ur body. If it’s your 1rm, maybe throw on more weight and get a spotter to help. Maybe focus on gaining strength in supporting muscles like triceps.
I'm like 5'11 and my wingspan is 6'4. I can bench 250, and I've only been half serious about lifting for maybe 2.5 years. I think a lot of that width is shoulders and back though.
My wingspan sits at 205cm, and bench is easily the worst fucking lift. Such a tiresome lift for my build, slow af progress.
At least it's great for deadlifts smh.
Have you tried doing a rep scheme like big but boring like 10x10 or try going balls to wall with 135 for 40 reps even it takes you an hour, try doing pyramid scheme where you work yourself up to a heavy double or single and the do like 3 back sets without any rests. Sometimes you just gotta do unorthodox stuff to break the plateau
Your lifting the same volume to often . You need to follow a peak and volume routine. Watch some elite FTS videos on how to stack when on the bench. If your max is 85kgs you should only been benching that once a month and building up to it with volume of like 70 to 90% of that 85kgs.Than hitting the PR and depending on how strong you are in it upoing the % of weight in the buildup volume again.
Bench was my weakest lift at a height of 6'4. It took me like 7 years to hit 315. I got no where hitting 225 for 3 twice a week. Id rep 170 to 210 and build up to 225 and eventually I hit 225 for 3x5. And started the buildup again.
I'm older now and I mainly lift dumbbells and smith and cable flys for chest .But that's what I did.
im taller than you and i bench the same as my OHP, my bench sucks ass BUT my arms crossing is superb, i can do chest flyes and crossovers like no one else in my gym
I have long arms for my frame yet i maxed at 225. Have u tried greasing the groove? If u dont have a bench at home (some ppl do dont judge) try randomly doing pushups throughout the day while ur at home. Maybe weighted if u can. So lets say ur at home for 5 hrs, in 5-8 random surges do a set or two of pushups, doesnt need to be to failure, maybe 4-6 rir if not more.
Do your pecs actually get sore from bench? If not... You're probably not using them much which explains it. If you're tucking your elbows/engaging lats too much it could be it.
I stalled out on bench for a good two years. Two things that helped me was adding a second bench focused day that was strictly close grip and most of my standard benching was done with a Slingshot. I know the slingshot isn’t for everyone, but I’m an older and long armed lifter with a jacked up shoulder. Both are together has been a game changer for me.
I had plateaued at 225 for years. When I finally was able to break through my bench shot up to 315 in a year. My biggest issue was a mental block. For whatever reason, my brain limited me. I finally had someone convince me to just try 240 and see what happens. Just seeing myself move more weight was enough for me to get past 225. If that makes sense
Got to be honest bro, not to discourage you but you need to look at your form, i OHP less than you 62.5kg
But bench 115kg, squat 165kg etc, so you need to look at form.
Best advice i can give i’ve learnt is making sure 3 things,
Instead of shoulders back, Reach your chest to the bar on the descent.
Always ensure you are for leg drive, leg extensioning your leg drive and hold that to maintain your arch.
Your quads should be working hard isometrically to maintain it.
And hold your brace by valsva technique.
Drop the weight your benching a bit, do paused reps. Also try working on your triceps strength as you use a mixture of shoulder, chest and tri's when benching
Also give your self plenty of rest time between your chest sessions (probably stick to once a week) it's a head game, maybe train later on in the day if you do morning sessions. Also a good pre workout helps
What is your actual bench workout?
For an intermediate lifter at a plateau, 3 sets of 10 isn't going to cut it.
What do your reps and sets look like? What bench building accessory movements are you doing?
You could try incorporating more conjugate style benching. Do a heavy day and a dynamic day. Incorporate bands and/or chains. Louie Simmons was crazy as a loon but his peeps could move some weight.
I can't tell if this is satire or not.
But if this is legit, you're overtraining and stunting your recovery phase which is crucial to muscle development.
Resistance lifting stimulates the growth response, high protein intake and rest develops larger muscles in the following 4 or 5 days.
Do 1 set of 60% 1RM bench with a superset of 60% cable flys. This is like a warm up
Then one more set do the same thing to almost failure.
THEN rest those muscles for 5 days. Natural growth will occur. Keep this rhythm and you'll activate hypertrophy
Bro idk, maybe do some triples and doubles of whatever you can do. If that's 175lbs for doubles and 165lbs for triples, so be it.
But as a man, 185lb bench after 2.5 seems low to me.
I benched 225 after a year of training. I'm not particularly blessed in the chest compared to other muscles, either.
I and the same probelm for 3 years lmao, i started eating like a fat cunt, and rolled bench and moved onto only DBs, progressed as much as I could so it strengthened all the surrounding weak muscles, then went back to bench like 6 months after and hit easy 100 and something and 1/2 months after hit a 1rm of 137 idfk
EAT.
Then volumize. 5x15-20 bench day 1, 5x5 bench day 4.
Throw in flat dumbbells, incline dumbbells, weighted dips, pec flys, close grip, floor presses, incline barbell, a ton of different variations of shoulder raises, a metric fuckton of tricep pushdowns & skull crushers.
Give it one training cycle. 16-20 weeks.
Come back and give a testimony.
My old gym bro experienced the same thing. Stuck at 85kg bench despite being very strong at other exercises. I think it was a technique issue. When he finally broke through the plateau, he progressed to 125kg in two years. Have you tried training in the 1-3 rep range for a while?
I was mainly doing 5x5 on my first day then 3x8 on my second day and all accessories on the third day. My accessories were Dumbell Bench, Chest Flys, Close Grip Bench and Lat Pulldown. The worst part is that my chest is fucking huge, easily my most dominant body part so whenever I walk into the gym people think I’m going to lay down some insane numbers on bench. 💀
I would suggest doing lower reps for a while. It usually helps with breaking through plateaus.
Drop a vid of you benching and Ill critique your form if you want
I’ll drop a vid
Do it now
https://www.reddit.com/r/moreplatesmoredates/s/gOo1cfm0UC Here you are sir as promised. Pls help 😭😭
I was expecting it to be terrible. Form is actually pretty solid. I would suggest some leg tucking and a bit of leg drive. But, aside from that, your body just hates you.
😭😭
I was gonna post the same thing as this guy but ur post just got deleted lmao Anyway check out this guy on yt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMsjo934zQw at 11:30 you get a pretty good visual starting lower on the bench then lifting ur hips and pushing up with ur legs naturally gives u a decent arch and locks ur shoulders onto the bench which gives u very good stability for the lift, doing this helped me a lot actually
The problem that’s holding you back is that you allow the weight to fall slightly back when you are pressing, almost as if you were to do a JM press. This small adjustment, by just keeping your forearms vertical could maybe solve the problem after a couple weeks alongside you focussing more on legdrive of course.
Your technique is probably off, or you've got some form of a limiting injury.
How would we know without seeing your technique? Are you arching? Using leg drive? What is your grip width? Are you bouncing off your chest? Do you lock out at the top? What rep ranges do you train in? What’s your tempo? Have you tried strengthening accessory lifts?
Is 85kg ur 1 rep max? If not id say lower the reps you are doing and up the weight. Sometimes you just need to push ur body. If it’s your 1rm, maybe throw on more weight and get a spotter to help. Maybe focus on gaining strength in supporting muscles like triceps.
Maybe you have long upper arms?
probably this, as a tall guy myself, my bench sucks ass
What’s your wingspan? I’m not super tall, like ~6’0 (182cm to be exact) but my arms are like 6’1 wingspan maybe slightly longer
I'm like 5'11 and my wingspan is 6'4. I can bench 250, and I've only been half serious about lifting for maybe 2.5 years. I think a lot of that width is shoulders and back though.
Same! 6’8” and I crap out at 245# on bench. 7 foot wingspan makes for a long ass bar path.
Proportionally long arms means deadlift will feel great. Just enjoy that lift.
My wingspan sits at 205cm, and bench is easily the worst fucking lift. Such a tiresome lift for my build, slow af progress. At least it's great for deadlifts smh.
Have you tried doing a rep scheme like big but boring like 10x10 or try going balls to wall with 135 for 40 reps even it takes you an hour, try doing pyramid scheme where you work yourself up to a heavy double or single and the do like 3 back sets without any rests. Sometimes you just gotta do unorthodox stuff to break the plateau
Your lifting the same volume to often . You need to follow a peak and volume routine. Watch some elite FTS videos on how to stack when on the bench. If your max is 85kgs you should only been benching that once a month and building up to it with volume of like 70 to 90% of that 85kgs.Than hitting the PR and depending on how strong you are in it upoing the % of weight in the buildup volume again. Bench was my weakest lift at a height of 6'4. It took me like 7 years to hit 315. I got no where hitting 225 for 3 twice a week. Id rep 170 to 210 and build up to 225 and eventually I hit 225 for 3x5. And started the buildup again. I'm older now and I mainly lift dumbbells and smith and cable flys for chest .But that's what I did.
Dropping the weight like this works for me universally with all workouts
im taller than you and i bench the same as my OHP, my bench sucks ass BUT my arms crossing is superb, i can do chest flyes and crossovers like no one else in my gym
Sounds like you can probably incline press more than your flat if your ohp is that strong
I have long arms for my frame yet i maxed at 225. Have u tried greasing the groove? If u dont have a bench at home (some ppl do dont judge) try randomly doing pushups throughout the day while ur at home. Maybe weighted if u can. So lets say ur at home for 5 hrs, in 5-8 random surges do a set or two of pushups, doesnt need to be to failure, maybe 4-6 rir if not more.
Recheck your technique, and probably back it off to 2 days a week. Might be over training
Being long as fuck makes bench tough. But with your lifts being as high as they are this is 100% a technique issue.
You pussyole
Do your pecs actually get sore from bench? If not... You're probably not using them much which explains it. If you're tucking your elbows/engaging lats too much it could be it.
Close grip and bench more
Might need to get someone to do a program for your bench, seems rep/effort related.
my bench has been the same for 3 years
You’re like the opposite of me.
I stalled out on bench for a good two years. Two things that helped me was adding a second bench focused day that was strictly close grip and most of my standard benching was done with a Slingshot. I know the slingshot isn’t for everyone, but I’m an older and long armed lifter with a jacked up shoulder. Both are together has been a game changer for me.
I had plateaued at 225 for years. When I finally was able to break through my bench shot up to 315 in a year. My biggest issue was a mental block. For whatever reason, my brain limited me. I finally had someone convince me to just try 240 and see what happens. Just seeing myself move more weight was enough for me to get past 225. If that makes sense
Got to be honest bro, not to discourage you but you need to look at your form, i OHP less than you 62.5kg But bench 115kg, squat 165kg etc, so you need to look at form. Best advice i can give i’ve learnt is making sure 3 things, Instead of shoulders back, Reach your chest to the bar on the descent. Always ensure you are for leg drive, leg extensioning your leg drive and hold that to maintain your arch. Your quads should be working hard isometrically to maintain it. And hold your brace by valsva technique.
Drop the weight your benching a bit, do paused reps. Also try working on your triceps strength as you use a mixture of shoulder, chest and tri's when benching
Also give your self plenty of rest time between your chest sessions (probably stick to once a week) it's a head game, maybe train later on in the day if you do morning sessions. Also a good pre workout helps
Just try not to get into your own head about it, it'll come bro!
Bench once a week is dumbest thing to do. Bench loves volume + effort thats why random gym goers have good benches.
Compound lifts require long periods of rest for recovery 🙄 just listen to any strongman
Why do you think when you take a week off from lifting you come back at your strongest?
What is your actual bench workout? For an intermediate lifter at a plateau, 3 sets of 10 isn't going to cut it. What do your reps and sets look like? What bench building accessory movements are you doing?
You could try incorporating more conjugate style benching. Do a heavy day and a dynamic day. Incorporate bands and/or chains. Louie Simmons was crazy as a loon but his peeps could move some weight.
have you tried benching less and eating and resting more
stop doing every set of bench with a set up like a one rep max like a power lifting meet
I can't tell if this is satire or not. But if this is legit, you're overtraining and stunting your recovery phase which is crucial to muscle development. Resistance lifting stimulates the growth response, high protein intake and rest develops larger muscles in the following 4 or 5 days. Do 1 set of 60% 1RM bench with a superset of 60% cable flys. This is like a warm up Then one more set do the same thing to almost failure. THEN rest those muscles for 5 days. Natural growth will occur. Keep this rhythm and you'll activate hypertrophy
How strong are you with dumbbells? I always find I’m way stronger with dumbbells than on barbell
Bro idk, maybe do some triples and doubles of whatever you can do. If that's 175lbs for doubles and 165lbs for triples, so be it. But as a man, 185lb bench after 2.5 seems low to me. I benched 225 after a year of training. I'm not particularly blessed in the chest compared to other muscles, either.
I and the same probelm for 3 years lmao, i started eating like a fat cunt, and rolled bench and moved onto only DBs, progressed as much as I could so it strengthened all the surrounding weak muscles, then went back to bench like 6 months after and hit easy 100 and something and 1/2 months after hit a 1rm of 137 idfk
EAT. Then volumize. 5x15-20 bench day 1, 5x5 bench day 4. Throw in flat dumbbells, incline dumbbells, weighted dips, pec flys, close grip, floor presses, incline barbell, a ton of different variations of shoulder raises, a metric fuckton of tricep pushdowns & skull crushers. Give it one training cycle. 16-20 weeks. Come back and give a testimony.