Doing Smolov again

[Quagmire911]

Yeh, you don't neccasarily have to do isolation. Switching grips is something that will keep progress moving forward. Like Alex said close grip work will put more emphasis on the tri's and bring up your bench as a whole if that is the weakpoint.

From reading your comments over the past year you seem awfully against isloation and higher reps. Don't forget that most things have their place. If something isn't working, a change is in order.

What has your bench progression been like over the past six months?

 

[Kerpal]

There basically hasn't been any. I've been stuck around 175 for a looong time while all my lower body lifts have continued to increase. I think part of the problem is that I have a bad attitude about the bench press.

 

[MrS]

Have you tried board presses, floor presses?

 

[Kerpal]

Last day of base phase was today and I totally blew it

Went like this:

1. Squat:

3 x 330 lbs
3 x 330 lbs
3 x 330 lbs
3 x 330 lbs
1 x 330 lbs (failed on 2nd rep)
1 x 330 lbs (failed on 2nd rep)

I didn't know what to do, so I decided to lower the weight to 315 lbs:

3 x 315 lbs

But I could tell that there was no way I'd be able to continue. I was completely wiped out and my shoulders hurt from holding the bar, my lower back was extremely fatigued, etc. so I packed up and left. I'm pretty upset about it because I only really did 40% of what I was supposed to do today, and I thought it was going to go a lot better by how Friday felt

 

[Kerpal]

Have you tried board presses, floor presses?

No, I think messing around with close grip benching, board presses, floor presses, etc. is a little excessive at this point. I mean maybe if I was stuck at 315 lbs, but 175?

I'll get some fractional plates and see what happens.

 

[Warboss Alex]

No, I think messing around with close grip benching, board presses, floor presses, etc. is a little excessive at this point. I mean maybe if I was stuck at 315 lbs, but 175?

If you want to look at it that way, you shouldn't need fractional plates either at that level. Especially if a 175lb bench hasn't moved for 6 months.

I'd reassess your volume and form - bench is an extremely technical lift. Look at things like:
- upper back tightness
- leg drive, glute tightness
- arch
- bar speed
- where you bring the bar down
- HOW you bring the bar down
- shoulder retraction
- the way you grip the bar (plus width of grip)
- air

dayumn, deadlifts are so much simpler.

 

[Quagmire911]

There basically hasn't been any. I've been stuck around 175 for a looong time while all my lower body lifts have continued to increase. I think part of the problem is that I have a bad attitude about the bench press.

Well what you are doing now isn't working. Time to try something new.

Switch up the grip or go incline/decline or both, and change the sets and reps up.

Here are some ideas:

http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16858
http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14524

I tried one of the ideas in the second article and my bench went up 15lbs or so in a few weeks having stagnated for a while.

Who gives a flying f*** what your training consists off? As long as your numbers are going the right way.

 

[MrS]

Floor pressing, board pressing, pin pressing will be far different than decline/inclines, imo.

 

[Quiksilver]

There's plenty of ways to get that bar moving again Kerpal. As you said it could just be a mental thing. I know I don't like the bench press either, I feel it's a waste of time, but I still want to bench 315 in a couple years

One thing you could try if you don't know how to get it moving again, is to do it at a different time during the week. Whenever your rest days are, do it the day after when you have the most energy. If you like squats the most, rearrange your workouts for a couple weeks so your bench session takes it's place. Your body and mind will still be getting fired up to do your (crazy) squatting sessions, then you'd trick yourself and do bench press.

Once you get that number moving again, you'll start to like it more. It's natural that we like something that we're making progress at, and since its easier to make progress with squats and deads--i don't think I EVER plateaued with squats or deads--we tend to like those movements over the bench press, which is a bloody hard movement to keep moving in the right direction.

When I was really piling weight on the bar for bench press each workout, it was strange because while yes I was technically 'gaining strength' by adding more weight, the bar felt heavier and heavier each workout!

So yeah, try giving it higher priority over squats and deads for a couple weeks, and as you said yourself, treat it a little differently in your mind.

cheers

 

[Kerpal]

Eh, well I won't be able to prioritize it over squatting for a while because I'm still doing Smolov. But I have about 3 weeks until I have to start squatting heavy again, so I can work on it.

I will hit a 400 lb deep squat soon (maybe even this week) and should be closing in on a 500 lb deadlift once I'm done with Smolov, but I can't bench 200, so that's obviously a pretty bad imbalance. From an aesthetic viewpoint it's starting to look a little ridiculous because my legs and back are huge but my arms and chest are small.

 

[Quiksilver]

why are you focusing so much on squats and deads if your bench is your weakest movement? Depending on your goals, I'd make the bench press a priority over squats/deads for now until it's moving again. A 400 squat is mighty impressive, and to get stronger as a whole requires turning your weak points into strengths.Its up to you though mate, good work on the deadlift and good luck with the 500lber

 

[shaunuk]

i don't know your views on isolation etc., but if it is getting a bit daft aesthetically, if ever there was a time for isolation, it is now. Maybe start doing some higher rep DB bench for size, some curls and some pushdowns..Just a thought.

Also, can't you just switch flat bench for decline for a while weeks and see if your flat moves...it probably will, considering a new exercise always gets some quick gains.

 

[Kerpal]

Depending on your goals, I'd make the bench press a priority over squats/deads for now until it's moving again.

Maybe start doing some higher rep DB bench for size, some curls and some pushdowns..Just a thought.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!



On another note, I woke up this morning feeling a little sick. I have a cough and a mild sore throat. I hope I'm not getting sick, but that may explain why I totally crashed & burned in the last workout of the base phase. My legs are a bit sore but my back is extremely fatigued, this happened last time. I also have bruises on my back from holding the bar. Luckily, I have plenty of time to heal up before I have to start squatting heavy again. I test my new max on Friday and then I have 2 weeks of plyometrics, Olympic lifts and speed work.

 

[shaunuk]

hehe thing is, if you wanna get your bench moving and not have a big core but small arms, you're gonna have to...Kerpal, just admit it mate, its been 2yrs since you've done a curl the burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnn!!!

 

[wolf116]

I'm almost too embarrassed to do curls in a public gym. I do them so fast they're probably pointless. lol

I know that having a small/weak back can hold back your bench due to your body limiting chest development to avoid injury. You may be the first guy who's back is being held back due to weak chest.

 

[Kerpal]

Floor pressing, board pressing, pin pressing will be far different than decline/inclines, imo.

I can't do board presses because I train alone, but I tried pin presses tonight, holy **** they were hard, I really felt it in my triceps.

 

[Warboss Alex]

I can't do board presses because I train alone, but I tried pin presses tonight, holy **** they were hard, I really felt it in my triceps.

Good, they work. Set the pins about 4" off the chest and have at 'em.

 

[MrS]

I can't do board presses because I train alone, but I tried pin presses tonight, holy **** they were hard, I really felt it in my triceps.

Put a board under your tshirt.

Floor presses are also good.

See where you fail on the bench and find a board, or use the floor, or a pin of just below that height.

 

[Kerpal]

Putting the board under my shirt is a good idea, I'll try that on Friday.

My gym does have boards. I set the pins at where I think my failing point is, and then I put boards on my chest to see about how high it is. It was about equivalent to a 3 or 4 board press. I could do 225 lbs once at this height (from a dead stop on the pins) and then I did 215 lbs 4x, but it was very hard.

 

[Kerpal]

Any ideas on getting my OHP unstuck?

I actually care about the OHP a lot more than the bench.