How to Break Through Bench Press Plateau

In this post, we go over how to break through a bench press plateau.

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How to Break Through Bench Press Plateau

Here are 8 ways to break through a bench press plateau:

Avoid Dumbbells And Choose Weights

One way to break the bench press plateau is to not use weights for an entire cycle of micro or meso exercises. Instead of the barbell bench press, make the bench press your main movement for the day. Not only can it refresh your mindset, but it can also be a great way to target and accentuate your weaknesses using variations of the bench press.

Dumbbells offer unique benefits to the bench press that dumbbells simply cannot. First, they allow you to move with a slightly greater range of motion, which can help increase the muscle tension needed in the bench press.

Second, they are done unilaterally so they can help emphasize an imbalance or weakness on one side of the bench press.

Third, dumbbells can be helpful when you want to rest and recover in your shoulder (glenohumeral) joint. You can hold the dumbbells in a neutral position with a regular or diagonal bench press to address potential shoulder problems.

If you choose the barbell bench press over the barbell for your micro/meso training cycle, you can still use the barbell bench press (incline and decline), but do it sparingly to allow your body to rest and recover.

Deload more and repeat

The interesting thing about the bench press is how it responds to higher-volume training. Of the big three (squats, bench presses, and deadlifts), the bench press is generally recommended to respond most favorably with greater volume and training exposure. More training volume and its benefits may vary from athlete to athlete, but the bench press is a highly technical movement, so it makes sense when you consider that more exposure leads to more improvement on the bench.

Strength, power, and hypertrophy must be considered to improve overall chest development. All of these factors add up when it comes to the pressure of heavyweights, and if one is out of balance, the others can suffer.

When doing bench presses, don’t be afraid to play around with different reps and intensities. A plateau is usually just a sign of program and repetition intensity that has dried up. For example, if you’ve been increasing the weight linearly in the 5-rep range for 12 weeks and suddenly hit a wall, change your reps and play around with different intensities for the bench press in a different way (strength, relative strength, hypertrophy). , etc).

Remember, if you suddenly change your bench intensity and reps, plan accordingly. This can help you progress in a new and changed direction rather than just doing another day of repetition/intensity here and there.

1 1/4 reps

1 1/4 reps are another great tool for increasing work capacity and overcoming plateaus. This rep plan is useful when you need to seriously develop your bench press ability. To perform a 1/4 bench press, bring the weight to your chest, press it halfway down, return the weight to your chest, and complete the press and lock.

You can do 1 1/4 reps, so they are useful for strengthening the bench press on multiple fronts. If you want to do 1/4 reps, be sure to lower the intensity a bit to accommodate the extra load.

Pressure Point

If you find that your bench press is stuck in front of your chest, take a few weeks to try to incorporate the Spoto press into your routine. This exercise is often used by strength trainer and powerlifter Johnny Conditto — and for good reason. The Sparco Press is a normal barbell bench press, but instead of pulling the bar toward your chest, you just stop and pause for contact.

The spot press is useful for chest-focused bench presses because lifters need to focus on two main factors. First, it helps increase overall body tension during the bench press, which is a critical key to success, especially early in development. If the upper body loses its rigidity, the solid surface against which it is pressed is essentially useless.

Second, attention stimulates speed and total muscle contraction. The Sparco Press takes regular bench press accuracy to the next level, forcing the athlete to slow down and ensure adequate pause. This, in turn, can translate to insights into where printing might be behind. For example, if you take a break from your lower body and only your triceps are firing, while your upper body is relatively unchanged (chest, rear delts, etc.), you may not be contracting and leaning properly.

Pauses

If you’re into weightlifting, you’re probably familiar with bench press speed and pause. Timing and pausing are incredibly powerful tools for building a strong bench press. Rhythm training often reduces the intensity a bit to follow a specific load pattern and schedule. For those starting with rhythm training, there are three numbers (sometimes four) associated with lifts and they will look like the example below.

Bench Press 3×5 — Speed: 311

3 = 3 abnormal seconds (down)

1 = 1 second pause down

1 = 1 second focused (press)

Note: If the fourth digit is used, it is used to indicate retention at the beginning of the movement. This fourth finger is most commonly used for stretching movements such as pull-ups, pull-ups, and deadlifts.

Increasing speed can help develop a strong bench at the bottom of the press, as it can help your ability to carry force into the eccentric bench and then transfer it to the bar. Time can also help promote proper form and consistent repetitions.

With passive speed, you can also stop the bench press and break the platform behind your chest. Pausing is pretty much synonymous with using speed and can help with better proprioception to maintain weight and motor awareness of where you might be behind. If you are new to using intervals, start with a lower intensity and work your way up.

Safety bench press

The is another useful tool to break the plateau at the bottom of the bench press. For the bench press deadlift, place the squat rack locks about 1-3 inches from your chest so the bar doesn’t touch your body. When under the bar, simply press from the position to the stop position.

Why does it work? Rather than allowing you to load eccentrically, the press focuses on building concentric strength without rotating or shortening the cycle. This can help promote a stronger starting position on the bench and improve your ability to generate power through the bar because you don’t have the strength to do so.

Floor pressure and shoulder lock

The plateau problem that resonates with the bench press lock can be caused by a lag in triceps strength. Two types of bench presses that are great for building stronger triceps are the bench press and the bench press. The floor press uses the floor as a stopping point during the press, so its range of motion is almost cut in half. Halving the range of motion forces the triceps to act as the prime mover for the entire exercise, which can help improve lockdown. Also, you can usually carry a little more bench press on the floor or do more reps than a regular bench press to reap the benefits.

Rack locks are similar to the deadlift bench press, but the pressure starts much higher than the body. Generally, the ridge lock starts at a height that allows for an angle of 90 degrees or more with the elbow joint. This allows you to perform a supramaximal bench press because the range of motion is 50% or less than normal. Also, the triceps are very loaded as they are the main driver when blocking the bench press.

Heavy Bench Press

The heavy bench press is one of the favorite additions of Jen Thompson, a top powerlifter and world record holder for a big bench press. This includes taking the maximum weight of the shelf and holding it easily when locked for a purpose. In our underrated weightlifting supplement article, Thompson recommended hitting about 150% of your current 1-RM and holding it for about 15 seconds. If you’re choosing sturdy springs, it’s important to remember two things. Always use a point before lifting the weight and returning it to the rack. Second, match the timed goal to your fitness level. If you’re new to this exercise, choose a shorter time goal, like 5 or 10 seconds.

Sometimes the best way to overcome a bench press plateau is to simply press on. If that doesn’t work and you’re still struggling to make progress, it might be time to objectively assess where you might be falling behind in your bench press. Instead of looking at the whole plateau, try to identify where the bank problem is and work backward from there!