My bench press sucks - but it might be related to my physiology.

[NuclearNed]

My bench press sucks. It's always sucked. In roughly 3+ years of lifting, my chest strength has increased very little. I can bench my body weight, but that's about it. But there is something about my body that might be limiting me...

I'm pigeon-chested (i.e. my sternum abnormally protrudes from my ribcage a little).

Does anyone know if this can actually affect bench strength, or is it just a good excuse?

 

[TheNinja]

I don't think being pigeon-chested would affect it majorly. Maybe you wouldn't gain as fast but in 3 years you should have increaed something in bench press. It is also possible that you have a pinched nerve or something out of whack. Do you have good bench press form? Have you other lifts and/or your body weight gone up over these 3 years?

 

[bignateyk]

Dumbell or barbell?

In my 2 years of serious lifting, aside from newb gains, I have really only been able to dumbell press my body weight +10lbs.

I make gains though as my body weight slowly goes up.

Last year I weiged about 150lbs and could dumbell press 160lbs.

Now I weigh 165lbs and can dumbell press 180lbs.


Have you been gaining weight at all? I'm not sure how much you can reasonably expect to bench on top of your body weight, since making gains usually implies gaining more weight...

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: TheNinja
I don't think being pigeon-chested would affect it majorly. Maybe you wouldn't gain as fast but in 3 years you should have increaed something in bench press. It is also possible that you have a pinched nerve or something out of whack. Do you have good bench press form? Have you other lifts and/or your body weight gone up over these 3 years?

My other lifts and body weight have gone up. I definitely have some issues with my form on bench.

I guess I wasn't real clear - I have had significant gains on bench since I first started, but about 2 years ago I hit a rut and I've had hardly any progress since.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: bignateyk
Dumbell or barbell?

In my 2 years of serious lifting, aside from newb gains, I have really only been able to dumbell press my body weight +10lbs.

I make gains though as my body weight slowly goes up.

Last year I weiged about 150lbs and could dumbell press 160lbs.

Now I weigh 165lbs and can dumbell press 180lbs.


Have you been gaining weight at all? I'm not sure how much you can reasonably expect to bench on top of your body weight, since making gains usually implies gaining more weight...

I'm gaining weight slowly. I can bench almost the same with dumbells or barbells - slightly less on dumbells. If I were really fresh and rested, I could probably bench my weight + 10lbs or maybe even + 20 lbs.

My frustration is that I've been stuck here for a long time. I'm switching up my exercises regularly, etc., but I'm still on a plateau.

 

[purbeast0]

bench was always my weakest muscle group (in relation to the rest of my body) and I would see gains in my chest less often than I would in my other muscle areas. i basically just went back to the basic chest exercises (flat bench, incline bench, decline bench) and stuck w/that for a while and I haven't looked back.

before I would always do like cable crossovers and flies and just kind of more isolated exercises and I just wasn't gaining. so with eating more and going back to the more basic compound chest exercises i'm now seeing pretty consistant and big gains, although it's slowed down a bit now but it's still slowly gaining.

if you haven't gotten your chest stronger in some time try changing up what you are doing for your exercises. speaking of that, what exactly are you doing for chest exercises?

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
bench was always my weakest muscle group (in relation to the rest of my body) and I would see gains in my chest less often than I would in my other muscle areas. i basically just went back to the basic chest exercises (flat bench, incline bench, decline bench) and stuck w/that for a while and I haven't looked back.

before I would always do like cable crossovers and flies and just kind of more isolated exercises and I just wasn't gaining. so with eating more and going back to the more basic compound chest exercises i'm now seeing pretty consistant and big gains, although it's slowed down a bit now but it's still slowly gaining.

if you haven't gotten your chest stronger in some time try changing up what you are doing for your exercises. speaking of that, what exactly are you doing for chest exercises?

Here is my overall lifting strategy, which seems to work pretty well:
I change up exercises every 2 months.
-the 1st month, I do lighter weight; my goal is to lift enough weight that I can only get out 7 reps per set
-the 2nd month, I do heavy weight; my goal is to lift enough weight I can only get out 3 reps per set

Right now, until the end of the year, I'm doing:
-flat barbell bench
-incline barbell bench
-flye machine

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed

Originally posted by: purbeast0
bench was always my weakest muscle group (in relation to the rest of my body) and I would see gains in my chest less often than I would in my other muscle areas. i basically just went back to the basic chest exercises (flat bench, incline bench, decline bench) and stuck w/that for a while and I haven't looked back.

before I would always do like cable crossovers and flies and just kind of more isolated exercises and I just wasn't gaining. so with eating more and going back to the more basic compound chest exercises i'm now seeing pretty consistant and big gains, although it's slowed down a bit now but it's still slowly gaining.

if you haven't gotten your chest stronger in some time try changing up what you are doing for your exercises. speaking of that, what exactly are you doing for chest exercises?

Here is my overall lifting strategy, which seems to work pretty well:
I change up exercises every 2 months.
-the 1st month, I do lighter weight; my goal is to lift enough weight that I can only get out 7 reps per set
-the 2nd month, I do heavy weight; my goal is to lift enough weight I can only get out 3 reps per set

Right now, until the end of the year, I'm doing:
-flat barbell bench
-incline barbell bench
-flye machine

what is a typical routine you do of those 3 exercises and how often do you do it?

 

[SludgeFactory]

I doubt that you have major anatomical issues. I don't know much about your particular pectus condition, but I don't think there are inherent issues with significantly decreased musculature. I guess the insertion of your pecs on the sternum could be a few cm further out than "normal", but that probably doesn't lead to a big biomechanical difference.

Not really sure what your ultimate goal is, to increase the number of plates you're putting up, or to increase the size of your pecs. More frequency might be the thing for you, you can bench 2-3X per week but you'll need to manage the volume. Don't be afraid to increase the load and go down into the 2-4 rep range either. You can vary heavy and light days throughout the week.

Work on form and technique. Rotator cuff exercises are a good habit to get started too.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: NuclearNed

Originally posted by: purbeast0
bench was always my weakest muscle group (in relation to the rest of my body) and I would see gains in my chest less often than I would in my other muscle areas. i basically just went back to the basic chest exercises (flat bench, incline bench, decline bench) and stuck w/that for a while and I haven't looked back.

before I would always do like cable crossovers and flies and just kind of more isolated exercises and I just wasn't gaining. so with eating more and going back to the more basic compound chest exercises i'm now seeing pretty consistant and big gains, although it's slowed down a bit now but it's still slowly gaining.

if you haven't gotten your chest stronger in some time try changing up what you are doing for your exercises. speaking of that, what exactly are you doing for chest exercises?

Here is my overall lifting strategy, which seems to work pretty well:
I change up exercises every 2 months.
-the 1st month, I do lighter weight; my goal is to lift enough weight that I can only get out 7 reps per set
-the 2nd month, I do heavy weight; my goal is to lift enough weight I can only get out 3 reps per set

Right now, until the end of the year, I'm doing:
-flat barbell bench
-incline barbell bench
-flye machine

what is a typical routine you do of those 3 exercises and how often do you do it?

4 sets of each, once a week (Mondays)
Also, I do 4 sets of flat bench alone on Thursdays

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
4 sets of each, once a week (Mondays)
Also, I do 4 sets of flat bench alone on Thursdays

well can you list it out set by set?

i'm just curious as to waht you do for each of those 4 sets and how many times you do it.

 

[paulxcook]

I don't have any advice, but if misery loves company, I'm here for you bro. My bench has always sucked. My biceps explode if I think about doing a curl, I make steady gains on squats pretty easily, but I suck hard at bench.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
4 sets of each, once a week (Mondays)
Also, I do 4 sets of flat bench alone on Thursdays

well can you list it out set by set?

i'm just curious as to waht you do for each of those 4 sets and how many times you do it.

Right now I'm in the middle of my heavy month, so:
flat bench: 4 sets * 3 reps @175lbs - when done, I've been doing a burnout set at 130lbs (usually ~10 reps)

incline bench: 4 sets * 3 reps @145lbs

flye mach: 4 sets * 3 reps @ 198lbs

Also, the past couple of weeks I've been fitting in 4 sets on a upright chest press mach. I've been doing 3 reps in the 180-210lbs range


Then on Thursday I've been doing 4 sets * 3 reps flat bench @175lbs

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
4 sets of each, once a week (Mondays)
Also, I do 4 sets of flat bench alone on Thursdays

well can you list it out set by set?

i'm just curious as to waht you do for each of those 4 sets and how many times you do it.

Right now I'm in the middle of my heavy month, so:
flat bench: 4 sets * 3 reps @175lbs - when done, I've been doing a burnout set at 130lbs (usually ~10 reps)

incline bench: 4 sets * 3 reps @145lbs

flye mach: 4 sets * 3 reps @ 198lbs

Also, the past couple of weeks I've been fitting in 4 sets on a upright chest press mach. I've been doing 3 reps in the 180-210lbs range


Then on Thursday I've been doing 4 sets * 3 reps flat bench @175lbs

ok now we're getting somewhere

what I would do if I were you is not just do 4 sets of 3 reps. that's a total of 12 reps. that is not very many in general and you aren't getting any varying weight in there either.

i would change it up and find something you can just barely do 8 reps of, then find osmething you can just barely do 6 or so reps of, and do like 3 sets or so of that weight. then if you want try to do 175lbs as many times as you can.

with your current routines, you are doing the same thing every time and never changing it up so I would think your body is pretty used to this routine. you need to vary the weights and stuff while working it out. and with your current workout, how do you know you can't do 185lbs 3x or so? i mean you are only trying 175lbs so i'm just curious what mentally will tell you "hey i should try 185lbs" because with what you are doing it seems like you are just stuck at a current weight.

you may also wanna try the 5x5 exercise. that's when you stick w/the same weight and do 5 sets of 5 reps. if you can do 5 reps on your 5th set, then next time you come increase the weight by 5lbs on each side and try to do it 5x5 the following week.

also, when do you workout your shoulders? i personally space out my shoulders and chest days as far as possible because my shoulders being sore will make my chest day be weak, and usually after I do chest day I can feel it in my shoulders slightly from doing incline presses, and if I feel that on shoulder days my shoulders can be weak that day. i so shoulders on mondays and chest on thursdays for this reason.

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
4 sets of each, once a week (Mondays)
Also, I do 4 sets of flat bench alone on Thursdays

well can you list it out set by set?

i'm just curious as to waht you do for each of those 4 sets and how many times you do it.

Right now I'm in the middle of my heavy month, so:
flat bench: 4 sets * 3 reps @175lbs - when done, I've been doing a burnout set at 130lbs (usually ~10 reps)

incline bench: 4 sets * 3 reps @145lbs

flye mach: 4 sets * 3 reps @ 198lbs

Also, the past couple of weeks I've been fitting in 4 sets on a upright chest press mach. I've been doing 3 reps in the 180-210lbs range


Then on Thursday I've been doing 4 sets * 3 reps flat bench @175lbs

Do you have someone spotting you on those 3 rep sets so that you get at least one forced rep? Also, why do the upright chest press machine and incline bench? Arent they the same exercise? I'd ditch the machine...

 

[TheNinja]

I agree with purbeast0. I do not think you are doing enough volume. Try something like this on flat bench

warmup of 16 reps
12 reps - semi warmup set
8 reps
6 reps to failure
5 reps to failure
10 reps to failure
12 reps to failure

It's really only 5 working sets but you are getting a total of 41 reps in. This would be more beneficial in my opinion. I also do not have great luck doing sets of anything lower than 5, I think they are a waste of time and can injure you. So unless you are planning on entering a bench press competition, I'd stick with reps in the 5-8 range.


Also - write down what you are doing. In 3 weeks add a 2 1/2 pound weight to each side for each of the sets while trying to maintain the same reps. Even if you can't get the reps, I'd leave the weight on. When you get to that number of reps for 2 weeks in a row, add another 5 total lbs and work back to the 8, 6, 5, 10, 12. Something like that should help. It forces your body to lift more weight.

 

[imported_Truenofan]

could also be your eating habits. if your not intaking certain amount of calories or nutrition, your muscle mass wont go up that much. in one semester of highschool i went from benching 110-120, to doing reps of 225 pretty well. nutrition plays a big role.

edit: you really also shouldn't go above 10 reps per set. don't do less than 5 and no more than 10.(preferably) warm ups are good to get the blood into the muscles to give them more energy as well. i know when i was lifting back in school, when i warmed up, my arms, chest, shoulders, everything generally got harder as i warmed up as it got more blood into it. also, start working out your shoulders and back as well. it will help with doing that. i know in the army, we work our shoulders and back a little to help with our push ups.

 

[TallBill]

How hard are you hitting your back, triceps, and shoulders? They play a huge part in what you can bench.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: TallBill
How hard are you hitting your back, triceps, and shoulders? They play a huge part in what you can bench.

qft

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: TheNinja
I agree with purbeast0. I do not think you are doing enough volume. Try something like this on flat bench

warmup of 16 reps
12 reps - semi warmup set
8 reps
6 reps to failure
5 reps to failure
10 reps to failure
12 reps to failure

It's really only 5 working sets but you are getting a total of 41 reps in. This would be more beneficial in my opinion. I also do not have great luck doing sets of anything lower than 5, I think they are a waste of time and can injure you. So unless you are planning on entering a bench press competition, I'd stick with reps in the 5-8 range.


Also - write down what you are doing. In 3 weeks add a 2 1/2 pound weight to each side for each of the sets while trying to maintain the same reps. Even if you can't get the reps, I'd leave the weight on. When you get to that number of reps for 2 weeks in a row, add another 5 total lbs and work back to the 8, 6, 5, 10, 12. Something like that should help. It forces your body to lift more weight.

If he's looking to get bigger and gain some brute strength then this workout is not very optimal. Your workout has far too many reps. What he would be doing with your workout is building unnecessary lactic acid in his muscles and he wouldn't be getting big due to this. The high amount of reps wouldn't train his muscles to get bigger or that much stronger and the lactic acid would hinder recovery and muscle building. Currently, I do the Max-OT workout to increase muscle size and muscle strength. What I do is focus on a 1-2 muscle groups once a week, but I lift extremely hard. A day of chest for me would be 3 sets of 4-6 reps (make your weight high enough so that you fail in between 4 and 6 reps) of flat bench, 3 set of 4-6 reps of incline, 2 sets of 4-6 decline (or weighted dips). With this, my max bench is 185 and I weigh 140 (and I haven't been lifting like this for very long). If you are eating enough, you should notice increased body size and increased strength. I can send you the PDF with a ton of info if you're interested, OP. Just give me a PM.

 

[SVT Cobra]

marked...great article coming up

 

[jiggahertz]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: TheNinja
I agree with purbeast0. I do not think you are doing enough volume. Try something like this on flat bench

warmup of 16 reps
12 reps - semi warmup set
8 reps
6 reps to failure
5 reps to failure
10 reps to failure
12 reps to failure

It's really only 5 working sets but you are getting a total of 41 reps in. This would be more beneficial in my opinion. I also do not have great luck doing sets of anything lower than 5, I think they are a waste of time and can injure you. So unless you are planning on entering a bench press competition, I'd stick with reps in the 5-8 range.


Also - write down what you are doing. In 3 weeks add a 2 1/2 pound weight to each side for each of the sets while trying to maintain the same reps. Even if you can't get the reps, I'd leave the weight on. When you get to that number of reps for 2 weeks in a row, add another 5 total lbs and work back to the 8, 6, 5, 10, 12. Something like that should help. It forces your body to lift more weight.

If he's looking to get bigger and gain some brute strength then this workout is not very optimal. Your workout has far too many reps. What he would be doing with your workout is building unnecessary lactic acid in his muscles and he wouldn't be getting big due to this. The high amount of reps wouldn't train his muscles to get bigger or that much stronger and the lactic acid would hinder recovery and muscle building. Currently, I do the Max-OT workout to increase muscle size and muscle strength. What I do is focus on a 1-2 muscle groups once a week, but I lift extremely hard. A day of chest for me would be 3 sets of 4-6 reps (make your weight high enough so that you fail in between 4 and 6 reps) of flat bench, 3 set of 4-6 reps of incline, 2 sets of 4-6 decline (or weighted dips). With this, my max bench is 185 and I weigh 140 (and I haven't been lifting like this for very long). If you are eating enough, you should notice increased body size and increased strength. I can send you the PDF with a ton of info if you're interested, OP. Just give me a PM.

:thumbsup: While I haven't read the Max-OT stuff in a few years, I follow in general a lot of the principles I've learned from it. Great resource for beginners/intermediates looking to increase strength.

 

[jiggahertz]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
My bench press sucks. It's always sucked. In roughly 3+ years of lifting, my chest strength has increased very little. I can bench my body weight, but that's about it. But there is something about my body that might be limiting me...

I'm pigeon-chested (i.e. my sternum abnormally protrudes from my ribcage a little).

Does anyone know if this can actually affect bench strength, or is it just a good excuse?

Where are you failing on bench? Tris, shoulders, chest? At lockout or moving the weight off your chest?

 

[Slufa111]

if you chest is weak after 3 years.... your working out wrong or your not eating enough

 

[TecHNooB]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
marked...great article coming up

Lookin forward to it