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Bench Press Barriers

<<I'm 52, female, 5' 7 and weigh 135. I've been lifting with a trainer for 3 yrs. My latest bench max out is 105, but I bench 95 for reps. I can't seem to get beyond that and was relieved to read that there aren't many women who can bench their weight. I had set a goal of benching my weight by the end of the year, but guess I'm not going to reach that. There's always next year! Any suggestions on how to move past this sticking point? >>

If you read this web site and look into his ideas on benching etc. and if you look through the messages archived for the discussion group, you will find a number of ideas about breaking out of a slump or a plateau. I recently tried the 10 sets of 10 reps or German volume training idea that was presented and it seemed to help me. Find a weight that you can easily bench for 10 reps and see if you can do it for 10 sets. If you don't even come close you picked a weight that was too heavy. If you make it easily, move up the weight. Try this for 6 weeks and then check out your maximum bench. When you complete a set of ten you should add weight the next time you try. I usually did this workout once a week and a different benching routine on another day. Ex: Monday regular bench and chest workout, Thursday 10 sets of ten and other chest and upper body. I rest on Wednesdays and do legs, biceps and back on the Tuesday and Friday workouts.

Gary

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A couple of thoughts, but your trainer may or may not agree with them; you know your relationship with your trainer and whether you'll want to take suggestions from the group to him or her...

What took me over the low 100 pound barrier the first time was to *play* with the larger weights. With a training partner I trusted, we loaded up a 45 on each side (135) and just took it off the rack and held it for a while to get the feel of the weight and to get rid of the fear of the 45's. Sounds silly, but it was a really big step for me and opened the door.

At the end of the next bench day, we did the same thing, only this time, moved the weight up and down a couple of inches before re-racking the bar. The third time, 4 inches to just above where my sticking point would be. Then we did negatives - singles where I would lower the bar to my chest and she would help (a lot) bring it back up.

This went on for a few weeks, all the while doing our regular bench pressing first. Each bench day, the lower weights felt lighter so the 105 became 115, etc, until the works sets and the play sets merged. Hard to remember, but I think for us it took about 3 months...

I'm going to write another post with my current chest workout, which your trainer will probably would agree is a smarter method.

Laree

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Part two here, the workout. As you probably know, I'm doing the Seasonal Bodypart Challenge by doing both of the workouts presented by the IOL team - this month two back workouts per week, last month two chest workouts per week. I enjoy the 2x per week of a single bodypart and 1x per week of the remainder, and am also enjoying the workout variety and new exercises.

Last month Bill2 presented a chest workout that I particularly liked and have carried forward this month to combine with the back priority. It's short and fast, and also hard pressing.

Click here to see his entire workout description

A quick overview:
Bench Press Warm-up sets 3 x 8
Heavy sets 5 x 5
Flush set #1 x as many as possible
Flush set #2 x as many as possible
Bench to Neck 3 x 8 - 10

The bench pressing is done with the feet elevated and ankles crossed, which particularly isolates the chest, and which I had never done before last month. I like it a lot and decided to combine his chest workout with the 'small weight increment, patience required' method until it quits working.

My first workout in the bench portion looked like:
Bar+25's x 5 reps x 5 sets.
My second was: 25's x 2 sets, then 27.5 x 3 sets.
Today's is planned for 5 sets x 27.5's.
Next week is planned for: 27.5 x 2 sets, then 28.75 x 1 set, then 27.5 x 2 sets.
Following week is planned for: 27.5 x 2 sets, 28.75 x 2 sets, 27.5 x 1 set.
Following week is planned for: 27.5 x 1 set, 28.75 x 3 sets, 27.5 x 1 set.
Following week is planned for: 27.5 x 1 set, 28.75 x 4 sets.
Following week is planned for: 28.75 x 5 sets.

Then, I'll add a 1.25 to the 3rd 28.75 set and start the cycle all over again. At the moment it's great fun, but I also recognize that it may become tedious. It looks like a long time to make any progress, but the progress that's made is sound and not based on an adrenalin or energy boost that gets me a good bench but can't be repeated.

Dave looked my plan over last night and made a couple of changes that are reflected above. As you can see in my record of week one and week two, I was making larger jumps, more sets per jump. He had me add more time between jumps and pointed out that one of the hardest parts about this type of workout plan is holding yourself to your plan if you feel strong and want to go on. He had a training partnership many years ago with a guy named Dick Sweet who worked to keep Dave on their plan, telling him to stop, hold back a little so he could still come back stronger the next week.

The point is, this workout today is not at my max, but one day soon it will be if I don't build up very slowly to the new levels of strength. Give the workout a try if you didn't do it last month — I know you'll like it.

Laree

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