Muscle Gain Forum

No matter how good the workout feels, I keep missing the next jump on bench. Meanwhile my rows, squats and even overhead press are improving. Curious what changes actually worked for you guys.

Bench is always the first lift to stall for me. Every time I back off for a week, it starts moving again.

I quit trying to max out every Monday and started focusing on getting more total reps with the same weight. After a few weeks I finally broke through the plateau.

That's probably part of my problem. I've been trying to add weight almost every week instead of just owning the weight I'm at. Might need to change my approach.

How's your sleep? My bench tanks fast if I'm only getting 5-6 hours a night.

For me it wasn't even a strength issue it was technique. I filmed a couple sets and realized my elbows were flaring way too early. Once I cleaned that up and started using leg drive consistently, I added 15 pounds to my bench over the next couple months.

I added paused bench once a week and it made a bigger difference than I expected. It felt awful at first, but my sticking point off the chest got a lot stronger.

Microload it. Even adding 2.5 lbs is still progress.

Appreciate all the feedback, guys. I honestly haven't tried paused reps or microloading. Sounds like I've been forcing the same routine expecting different results.

I was stuck at 275 forever. What finally worked was eating a little more, dropping some junk volume from chest day, and actually letting myself recover. I realized I was doing way too much pressing every week and never felt fresh enough to push heavy.