Bench has stalled for 7 months, what do?

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi,

My lifts haven’t really been progressing lately. I benched 90 kg for 6@9 in September but my bench hasn’t improved after that. I have also done 87.5 kg for 6@8 and 102.5 kg for 1@8. Bw is 83 kg, height is 185 cm and age is 20. My squat has gone from 117.5 kg for 6@9 to 122.5 kg for 6@9 (in 6 months) but I was only able to do 110 kg for 6@8 last session. So my squat has improved a bit but the progress is very slow. Deadlifts have regressed from 140 kg for 6@9 to 130 kg for 6@8, this might have something to do with on/off lower back discomfort/tightness.

Lately I have been doing PB 1 and Untamed Method (for 4 weeks, I switched back to PB 1.) I switched back to PB 1 because I have been skipping GPP sessions so I wanted to get used to doing GPP 2x/week while lifting 3x/week. I hit that squat PR (122.5 kg for 6@9) with Untamed Method, my bench didn’t improve in 4 weeks.

Bench is the most important lift for me, I don’t care that much about squat or dl. My lifetime bench goal is 3 plates (140 kg in kilo plates) so stalling for 7 months is very frustrating, especially when my estimated 1rm is only around 110 kg currently. Idk if I have the genetic potential for a 3 plate bench. I tend to overshoot RPE when the weights are not moving like they should. Any ideas? I will probably keep going with PB 1 as I am in week 3 now. But I am not expecting lots of progress due to this stall.

Thanks.

2

Got a video?

3

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o-48NRWza8rYlAq9pBX6IZWOWnIEFEBm/view?usp=sharing

I found one. I don’t use the bulldog grip here, I have been experimenting with it lately.

4

But I think that my bench might start responding in the final weeks of PB1 because I feel like my work capasity is better due to increased GPP. I am not expecting a big 10 kg increase though, 2.5-5 kg sounds reasonable.

5

It looks like your grip is quite wide and your bar path could use some work, though admittedly this is just one angle.

How long have you been training for? I’m not sure I would worry that much about numbers at this point either and I would stay on a single program provided you enjoy the training.

6

How much narrower should I grip? That is pinkie on the ring.

I started doing bodyweight stuff when I was 15, I have always been pretty good at bodyweight exercises (I can do 16 chin ups currently, best is 20). I have been going to the gym for 4 years now but I have been training more seriously for 2 years. I wasted about two years doing bro-splits. After that I did Stronglifts LP and Madcow. Yeah, I enjoy training.