Bench/OHP stuck for months

[Danny3]

Hey,
I have been having a lot of trouble increasing my bench en overheadpress. It has been stuck for months,
I have been doing powerbuilding 1 and i dont know what to do. I am 176cm 75.3kg 32inch waist , 17 years old and my e1rm for bench is 77kg and ohp 56kg. Could any of you give me some advice?

[4l3x]

I'm gonna assume you weigh 175.3lbs...

A big arch can make a big difference for the BP and layback can help the OHP.

In general, if I am not responding to my training I look to change the formulation and/or dosage of training stress. If you care a lot about 1RM then I might experiment with higher intensities (I don't have powerbuilding 1, but I'm assuming that the dual focus on hypertrophy and strength leaves room to increase intensity if you focus only on strength). If you think there are specific variations (or even assistance exercises) that your BP and/or OHP respond well to then I would make sure to include those. It is good to mess with the formulation first, but if you think you need more sets, that is also an option.

It is also popular nowadays to program pressing at high frequencies and to use overload variations for BP (slingshot, chains, bands, board).

It is kinda common for people to have trouble increasing their BP and OHP at the same time, it may be worth focusing on one.

How long have you been training? Is there a program/block that your BP or OHP responded well to in the past, maybe try to mimic the formulation of that program/block.

[Danny3]

I'm gonna assume you weigh 175.3lbs...

A big arch can make a big difference for the BP and layback can help the OHP.

In general, if I am not responding to my training I look to change the formulation and/or dosage of training stress. If you care a lot about 1RM then I might experiment with higher intensities (I don't have powerbuilding 1, but I'm assuming that the dual focus on hypertrophy and strength leaves room to increase intensity if you focus only on strength). If you think there are specific variations (or even assistance exercises) that your BP and/or OHP respond well to then I would make sure to include those. It is good to mess with the formulation first, but if you think you need more sets, that is also an option.

It is also popular nowadays to program pressing at high frequencies and to use overload variations for BP (slingshot, chains, bands, board).

It is kinda common for people to have trouble increasing their BP and OHP at the same time, it may be worth focusing on one.

How long have you been training? Is there a program/block that your BP or OHP responded well to in the past, maybe try to mimic the formulation of that program/block.

Oops my bad, i meant 75.3kg. I mean i guess i can push my self to get a bigger arch or lay back more while benching and overheadpressing but wont i just have the same problem in the end if i dont change anything (not improving).

What do you mean by formulation? The type of exercise, f.e if the assistance exercise is more specific? I think a problem might be that i am pushing it to far. F.e i do the prescribed sets/rpe and than the week after that i try adding 1kg, but the result is that i go over the rpe. I am kinda a beginner in all of this so i dont really know what lifts respond well for me.

In powerbuilding i bench/ohp 2x per week where 1x is the main lift and the other is an assistance lift. I guess i would rather have higher bench press for now, how would you change it?

My total training time is a year and 4months but most of it has been non serious and non effective. I started training the squat and bench press in october. I really want to start taking my training serious.

[4l3x]

You are correct that making a small technique change probably won't drastically change you training response, but it can have an impact.

By formulation I mean the type of training (exercise selection, exercise order, rep ranges, RPE, intensity, etc...).

It sounds like adhering to the prescribed RPE is lowing hanging fruit that will probably help you progress (and IMO is one mark of a serious lifter).

I don't have Powerbuilding 1 so I'm not super comfortable commenting on how to change it, but if you want to prioritize BP then it should be the main lift (OHP could be an assistance exercise but that probably wouldn't be my first choice if the sole purpose is increasing the BP). It's also possible you would benefit from adding sets.

In general ramping up the specificity is a sure fire way to see some progress in the short term, especially if you're disproportionately muscular compared to your strength. However, given your training age, I doubt that you need a highly specific block in order to progress. You may still want to increase the specificity, but I think it should not be to a very great degree and you should transition back to less specific training soon.

If you don't have training data that reflects what works particularly well for you then I think you should do some experimenting. That can be choosing exercises you enjoy, exercises that might target a muscle that you think needs to be brought up, or exercises that might target a portion of a lift that you think is limiting you. You can do a similar process with other elements of formulation (make choices based on what you like and hunches you have about what will get good results). Make sure to track how you respond.

At the end of the day getting stronger is mostly about building muscle and teaching your nervous system to effectively use that muscle. There are many ways to go about this and IDK what the best approach is for you. I trust that powerbuilding 1 is a well designed program and it might work better if you adhere to the RPE and/or change the exercise selection for your BP and OHP work. If your other lifts responded well to powerbuilding 1 and you built muscle then it may be worth giving it another go. If you think that there are elements of powerbuilding 1 that just don't work for your BP and OHP then you could try something else:

• you could write your own program or modify someone else's
• you could use Greg Nuckols 28 free programs https://www.strongerbyscience.com/newsletter/ (requires your email, which they will send occasional advertising and informative content)
• Greg Nuckols Average to Savage https://www.strongerbyscience.com/average-to-savage/ ($5)
• Montana Method 3 Week General Strength https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing (free)
• 2 Week Montana Method https://www.exodus-strength.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1456 (free)
• RTS Generalized Intermediate https://articles.reactivetrainingsystems.com/2015/12/01/the-rts-generalized-intermediate-program-by-mike-tuchscherer/ (free)
• Other BBM Programs, there are free versions of the bridge, beginner prescription and this: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/scivationstrong/)

[Docjitters]

Hi Danny3,

I have PB1 and was wondering how much you added to your e1RMs over the course of the program?

PB1 has 4 press or bench slots per week - I ran it initially as 2 press/2 bench for the first 5 weeks - there is scope to do it as 3 bench/1 press by the second half (albeit as 2 bench variations on day 3).

I’m finishing the Beginner Template again after a few months off and going back to PB1 after but I wonder if you’re similar to me - I found I got better bench/press gains by being a bit more conservative with the increases. For me the difference between @8 and @9/@10 is smaller than the expected jump according to the calculators especially if I’m not having a good day. So maybe if the @8 is ok maybe only add a little more? I appreciate this may not be possible without 250g fraction plates (not to mention the current price gouging in lockdown). I’ve sometimes not added for 2 weeks, stuck to the RPE and the week after I can add weight.

Just adding to what 4l3x said, if you’ve run PB1 a lot, you may need to change program/formulation i.e. different rep ranges or specific exercises but not necessarily total volume (reps x sets). If 1RM is important, maybe go to a more strength-focussed program?