Hit Plateau - Advice Requested

[finickywake]

I've been hitting the gym for about 1 year exactly next month. When I started out I was horrendously unfit. I had years of drug/alcohol abuse under my belt, and looked like death. I could hardly dumbbell press 40 pounds or squat the bar. That bad. I was 6 foot 140 when I first cleaned up a year and a half ago.

Fast forward to now: weigh 185, goal is 195.

I've hit a plateau however. My bench press is still weak as far as I can tell and won't bypass 185 x 6 or 195 x 4. My squat and deadlift are still improving, nowhere near where I'd like them to be, both at around 300 x 5 (a little less for squat). So my basic question is how do you get past hitting a plateau?

Should I stop doing flat barbell bench and switch to dumbbells for a little while? Is there a specific workout program/rep-range/set of exercises you'd recommend? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[[S]alvatore]

Eat more food to break through plateaus.

 

[finickywake]

Eat more food to break through plateaus.

That simple?

 

[Epimanes]

Do more pushups.

 

[Krueg]

This is just kind of a natural part of weight lifting, your gonna hit some walls once in awhile as a natural lifter. You just need to keep up on consistency, train hard and eating big.

I wouldnt swap out the bench for another exercise. Instead you could try switching up sets and reps, volume, frequency, percent training and ect. Or switch up the exercises you perform after the main lift. Mainly something for the Triceps, Chest/Shoulders, Lats/Upper back.

 

[DanZy]

That simple?

Yes. You're new to this

 

[finickywake]

Well then I'll just keep eating.

 

[TheStig]

The trick to eating though, is you gotta train like a psycho, put in that work! Make every rep as explosive and violent as possible (within the parameters of good form of course..), and really get the mindset of almost literally attacking the weights. Get fvcking mad. That's how I break plateaus.

 

[[S]alvatore]

That simple?

Yes.

Alternatively, you can add more assistance work for bench press. For me to give suggestions, I would need to see your current routine.

Eg.

Mon
Squat 3x5
Front Squats 3x5
Pause Squats 4x8

Wed
BB Bench 3x5
BB Overhead Press 4x8
CG Bench 4x8

Etc.

 

[finickywake]

K, here's my routine, I'm just including weights for bench day since that's what my question pertains to:

M

Bench Press: 135 x 12, 165 x 10, 185 x 5/6 - 2 or 3 times, then one final set of 165 x 8-10
Incline Bench: 135 x 10, 155 x 10 x 4
Decline Iso-press: 180 x 10, 200 x 10 x 3
Incline Dumbbell flys: 25 x 12 x 4
Tricep pulley extension thing, 4 sets of 10 with what feasible weight I can do at that point
Sometimes I add Incline Iso Press and use a wider grip

T

Deadlift sets of following reps: 10, 8, 5, 5, 5 with increasing weight
Isolateral Rows 4 sets of 10
Seated Curls 4 sets to failure
Seated Hammer Curls 4 sets to failure
Iso-lat pull down 4 sets of 10
Pull ups, 3 sets to failure

W - off/abs at home

Th

Squat similar to deadlift setwise
Hack Squat 4 sets x 10 reps
Leg Press 4 x 10
Lunges 4 x 15 steps holding weights
Hamstring leg curls 4 x 12
seated calve raises 4 sets of slow lifts and negatives

F

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 x 8
Arnold Press 4 x 10
Shrugs 4 x 12
Front raises 4 x 10 each arm
Side raises 4 x 10 each arm
Burnout set of military press at end


I'll randomly intersperse abs here and there on varying days. I should probably do alot more core work really. Other than that I think above is pretty accurately what I've been doing. It usually only takes about 45 - 55 minutes per day, as some days I'll do a little more due to having more energy or something.

 

[compleks]

That is massive amounts of overkill. I'm surprised you have kept that up for a full year mate.

I would suggest switching up your program and simplifying things.

I'm a fan of a basic push/pull split my self. You can still hit the gym 4 days a week, but 3 is sufficient.
You can split things as easily as pushing/pulling movements, or what you might prefer is doing an upper body/lower body - push/pull.

For example:

Upper Body Push
Dips
Incline DB press

Lower Body Pull
Deadlifts
Hyperextensions

Upper Body Pull
Chinups
Bent over rows

Lower Body Push
Squats

Honestly, I keep it that simple. Pick one or two big compound movements for each day and hit them hard. As for sets/reps, you can play around a little depending on your goals.
If you're trying to break some plateaus then taper back a little bit and increase the reps (10-12). Then gradually (weekly) increase weight (over a month or so) until you're back working around the 5rep range.

Put all your focus into the big lifts. They are the priority. Then you can finish the session with any ancillary work you feel necessary (isolation exercises, core work etc...)

You don't need a large volume of exercises to have an effective program. Keep it simple.
I would even consider switching out a gym day and doing some sprint work, which has many benefits of its own.

Keep in mind there are a lot of opinions out there and this is just mine.

 

[[S]alvatore]

Don't do as many reps while warming up: 10-12 with the bar, 8 reps with 135, 2-4 reps with 165.

And make your first set your heaviest. So try to beat your PB of 195x4 while you're fresh. You could also drop 2-3 exercises from each muscle group:

M

Bench Press: 135 x 12, 165 x 10, 185 x 5/6 - 2 or 3 times, then one final set of 165 x 8-10
DB Incline Bench: 135 x 10, 155 x 10 x 4
Tricep pulley extension thing, 4 sets of 10 with what feasible weight I can do at that point

T

Deadlift sets of following reps: 10, 8, 5, 5, 5 with increasing weight
Isolateral Rows 4 sets of 10
Seated Curls 4 sets to failure
Iso-lat pull down 4 sets of 10
Pull ups 3 sets to failure

Just keep one of these exercises in, it's the same movement, and do it before curls. Compound exercises first, then isolation.

W - off/abs at home

Th

Squat similar to deadlift setwise
Hack Squat 4 sets x 10 reps
Leg Press 4 x 10
Lunges 4 x 15 steps holding weights
Hamstring leg curls 4 x 12
seated calve raises 4 sets of slow lifts and negatives

Choose 2 quad/glute (BOLD) exercises to keep in your routine, drop the other 2

F

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 x 8
Shrugs 4 x 12
Side raises 4 x 10 each arm


I'll randomly intersperse abs here and there on varying days. I should probably do alot more core work really. Other than that I think above is pretty accurately what I've been doing. It usually only takes about 45 - 55 minutes per day, as some days I'll do a little more due to having more energy or something.

You should train your core just about every training day. People get back injuries because their abs are weak.

 

[Krueg]

K, here's my routine, I'm just including weights for bench day since that's what my question pertains to:

M

Bench Press: 135 x 12, 165 x 10, 185 x 5/6 - 2 or 3 times, then one final set of 165 x 8-10
Incline Bench: 135 x 10, 155 x 10 x 4
Decline Iso-press: 180 x 10, 200 x 10 x 3
Incline Dumbbell flys: 25 x 12 x 4
Tricep pulley extension thing, 4 sets of 10 with what feasible weight I can do at that point
Sometimes I add Incline Iso Press and use a wider grip

T

Deadlift sets of following reps: 10, 8, 5, 5, 5 with increasing weight
Isolateral Rows 4 sets of 10
Seated Curls 4 sets to failure
Seated Hammer Curls 4 sets to failure
Iso-lat pull down 4 sets of 10
Pull ups, 3 sets to failure

W - off/abs at home

Th

Squat similar to deadlift setwise
Hack Squat 4 sets x 10 reps
Leg Press 4 x 10
Lunges 4 x 15 steps holding weights
Hamstring leg curls 4 x 12
seated calve raises 4 sets of slow lifts and negatives

F

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press 4 x 8
Arnold Press 4 x 10
Shrugs 4 x 12
Front raises 4 x 10 each arm
Side raises 4 x 10 each arm
Burnout set of military press at end


I'll randomly intersperse abs here and there on varying days. I should probably do alot more core work really. Other than that I think above is pretty accurately what I've been doing. It usually only takes about 45 - 55 minutes per day, as some days I'll do a little more due to having more energy or something.

Here is how I would do it....

Monday: Squat
-Low Back
-Glutes/Hams
-Abs
-Quads (optional)

Wednesday: Bench
-Chest/Shoulders (some type of DB press for reps)
-Lats/Upper Back
-Rear Delts
-Triceps or Biceps (optional)

Friday: Deadlift
-Glutes/Hams
-Low Back
-Abs
-Lats/Upper Back (optional)

Saturday or Sunday
This can be a "body building" type of day to work the smallers muscles you dont have time for... Traps, Calves, Forearms, Pecs, Biceps ect..

 

[finickywake]

Thanks for the responses. I had no idea I was doing too much. I basically just started slow, had a free personal trainer the first week, took his schedule and cut it in half (it was ridiculous, like 12 exercises a day, 6 days a week), then saw what most other people were doing and kinda went from there. I will switch it up and take your advice. Much appreciated.

 

[DanZy]

Thanks for the responses. I had no idea I was doing too much. I basically just started slow, had a free personal trainer the first week, took his schedule and cut it in half (it was ridiculous, like 12 exercises a day, 6 days a week), then saw what most other people were doing and kinda went from there. I will switch it up and take your advice. Much appreciated.

You're not doing too much...If you're doing well on your program, keep on it. Fvck, people are so scared of "overtraining" that they never put in enough volume

 

[Luscious]

When I was lifting heavily, I found the best remedy for persistent plateaus was a total workout shock for up to a week.

What I mean by this is changing your entire workout style for a very limited period of time. For example, I was doing serious heavy-weight, low-rep work and hit a plateau, so I switched to low-weight, high-rep circuits for a week, took a couple rest days, came back, and started going up in weight on my low-rep work again.

If you aren't logging your food/calories, you should start doing so immediately. Substitute a monster protein shake in for breakfast.

 

[FieldDay]

Plateau might be a way your body is saying it does not want any more muscle

Too much muscle and your body will be running very inefficiently

Also your 6' ft body is not necessarily the same as a friend's 6' body, each person's frame is different. So it is not good to compare to all other people who are 6'

My 3 cents

 

[DanZy]

Plateau might be a way your body is saying it does not want any more muscle

Too much muscle and your body will be running very inefficiently

Also your 6' ft body is not necessarily the same as a friend's 6' body, each person's frame is different. So it is not good to compare to all other people who are 6'

My 3 cents

Okay, you honestly know nothing

 

[FieldDay]

Okay, you honestly know nothing

Care to elaborate? I speak from my experience

 

[TheStig]

You don't plateau because your body 'doesn't want more muscle.' You plateau when you aren't doing sufficient work to make your body adapt anymore. As you get bigger and stronger, it gets harder to get bigger and stronger. You gotta do work son.

So I suppose in a way you're right. During a plateau the body doesn't want to grow because it has no reason to.

Wrong premise though.