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Why is my bench getting weaker?

My squat and deadlift are getting stronger but my bench is only going backwards

OllyMcCully
OllyMcCully g Olly McCully
29 Post(s)
29 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: December 12, 2014
Posted

Hi,

Right now my squat and deadlift are the strongest they've ever been and I seem to be getting stronger in these lifts every week which is awesome. The problem is my bench has been getting weaker. I was doing 100kg for 3 reps, then decided to go up and aimed to get 102.5kg for 3, I kept failing at 2 reps so I dropped the weight back to 100kg and now I'm barely able to get one rep - my other sets are also suffering. This has been going on for about 6 weeks. I'm hesistant to switch up the program as my squat, deadlift and overhead are getting stronger. I tried adding more calories to the diet and it's had no effect. Anyone have any ideas why this is happening? 

 

Thanks team,

 

Olly

 

PS

Current chest work out:

Bench: 10, 7, 3

Incline: 8, 8, 8, 8

Dips: 10, 10, 10, 10

Chest Press: 15, 15, 15

Skull Crushers: 8, 8, 8

Tricep pulldown: 20, 20, 20, 20

3200 calories a day, >200g protein a day

jmboiardi
jmboiardi p John M Boiardi
2.6K Post(s)
2.6K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted
Posted By: OllyMcCully

Hi,

Right now my squat and deadlift are the strongest they've ever been and I seem to be getting stronger in these lifts every week which is awesome. The problem is my bench has been getting weaker. I was doing 100kg for 3 reps, then decided to go up and aimed to get 102.5kg for 3, I kept failing at 2 reps so I dropped the weight back to 100kg and now I'm barely able to get one rep - my other sets are also suffering. This has been going on for about 6 weeks. I'm hesistant to switch up the program as my squat, deadlift and overhead are getting stronger. I tried adding more calories to the diet and it's had no effect. Anyone have any ideas why this is happening? 

 

Thanks team,

 

Olly

 

PS

Current chest work out:

Bench: 10, 7, 3

Incline: 8, 8, 8, 8

Dips: 10, 10, 10, 10

Chest Press: 15, 15, 15

Skull Crushers: 8, 8, 8

Tricep pulldown: 20, 20, 20, 20

3200 calories a day, >200g protein a day

It could be that for chest you need to give yourself a break from always strength training. I would do a a week's worth of chest training that is higher volume and lighter weights - 12-15 reps at 70% of your max. You can't train all body parts full-out for strength all the time. Strength is a function of muscle size and contraction and central nervous system activation. Sometimes your central nervous system needs a break from heavy lifting.

 

I would also say you are doing too many duplicate chest movements. Chest just needs a pressing movement focusing on the core muscle (regular bench), the upper chest (incline), and the middle (flyes). You don't need to throw in chest press and make sure you are doing dips as Scott has shown for triceps not chest activation.

 

If your calories, nutrition, and sleep are all on point, changes in strength are a signal from your body that you need to lighten it up a bit for a while. Why this is affecting your bench versus your other lifts is a combination of genetics and recovery abilities. So my advice is whenever you experience this for any muscle group and/or movement, lighten the load and increase the reps for a few workouts. Then go back and focus on lower reps/higher weight.

 

John

34 years of lifting and nutritional experience and resident "old man" :-) MS Athlete and past Super Hermanite since 2013.
Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: OllyMcCully

Hi,

Right now my squat and deadlift are the strongest they've ever been and I seem to be getting stronger in these lifts every week which is awesome. The problem is my bench has been getting weaker. I was doing 100kg for 3 reps, then decided to go up and aimed to get 102.5kg for 3, I kept failing at 2 reps so I dropped the weight back to 100kg and now I'm barely able to get one rep - my other sets are also suffering. This has been going on for about 6 weeks. I'm hesistant to switch up the program as my squat, deadlift and overhead are getting stronger. I tried adding more calories to the diet and it's had no effect. Anyone have any ideas why this is happening? 

 

Thanks team,

 

Olly

 

PS

Current chest work out:

Bench: 10, 7, 3

Incline: 8, 8, 8, 8

Dips: 10, 10, 10, 10

Chest Press: 15, 15, 15

Skull Crushers: 8, 8, 8

Tricep pulldown: 20, 20, 20, 20

3200 calories a day, >200g protein a day

I agree with John. It could just be a sign that you are due for a de-load. I assume that your weight is still the same or going up, given that you have increased calories? If you were dropping weight, it wouldn't be totally abnormal for strength to go down.

 

If you have been doing that chest workout every week for 8-12 weeks though it might be time to try the higher volume John suggested. Also.. are you aiming to lift more weight on the other movements involved in your chest day? Because it's also important to increase the volume/weight of your accessory movements to help with the main compound.

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muscular strength
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