Stuck in the 230s for bench press

[worship4him]

5’9, 160 lbs, 19 years old. Started lifting right before I turned 18. I hit 225 bench in February of 2023. Fast forward to now, I just hit 235 in july. Am I doing something wrong? Why is my bench progressing so slow. Current split is Arnold split(chest day twice a week) Wondering if I should change it? For every flat bench session I do 4x4s which is currently 205 for all 4 sets. Haven’t maxed since july.

UPDATE: Listened to all of your guys advice. Went up from 160 BW to 165 BW, started russwole VOL 3 and finished all 8 weeks. Bench went from 235 to 260 in 9 weeks. THANK YOU.

 

[guaguar]

@worship4him You should get on actual progressions and not just work up to 4x4 at 205 each week.

 

[bsprague]

@guaguar 5/3/1 its an actual progression?

 

[worship4him]

@guaguar Thank you for replying. What type of progressions would you recommend ?

 

[guaguar]

@worship4him Find a routine in the www.thefitness.wiki

 

[heartnsoul19]

@worship4him Switch to proper progression. Look into more powerlifting oriented programs if bench strength is what you're into. Doesn't mean you have to follow the whole program, but read up on bench progression and incorporate it into your current program.

Next to that, bodyweight is an extremely important factor in increasing pushing strength. I was stuck on around 260lbs bench at 185lbs bodyweight. When I embraced the bulk and went up to around 210lbs bodyweight my bench increased as well and I hit three plates for the first time.

 

[worship4him]

@heartnsoul19 I did search up some “powerlifting” programs and came across one that people recommended by this YouTuber, it’s called Russwole power building volume 3. Are there any you would recommend?

 

[heartnsoul19]

@worship4him I haven't tried Russwole's programs but I do know of him, afaik all his programs are paid, it's not necessary to follow a paid program. A website I used in the past with a lot of programs is liftvault. The powerlifting subreddit also has good recommendations.

To speak of my experience, I made a lot of gains on nsuns. I don't know if I would recommend it though, it's extremely high volume and really taxing. I think one of the reasons I made a lot of gains back then was because my diet and recovery were on point and it was my first real bulk. J&T2 is also a nice program. Be prepared that more powerlifting oriented programs (5/3/1 and stuff like that) are really different than bodybuilding ones though.

 

[worship4him]

@heartnsoul19 Thank you, Russwole VOL 3 got me from a 235 to 260 bench in 9 weeks!

 

[heartnsoul19]

@worship4him Congrats! That's great progress!

 

[mmderivative]

@worship4him You need periodization. Your routine is trash. You should be using sub-maximal training that eventually works up to a peak week

 

[worship4him]

@mmderivative Thank you. I’ll look into periodization and sub-maximal training with a peak week. This is all brand new stuff for me.

 

[mmderivative]

@worship4him No problem, you ran into a stall and you searched for the answer. That's the right approach.

Basically, after you get past beginner strength gains if you want to keep progressing then you shouldn't be going to total failure every week. Take a weight you can do for 6 reps to failure and do it for 5 sets of 3 instead. Work your way up to that 6 reps on peak week, deload, start over with a little more weight.

 

[worship4him]

@mmderivative Thank you, I started doing an actual program and my bench went up from 235 to 260 in 9 weeks

 

[hoang25mai]

@mmderivative Don't understand the downvotes

 

[harley]

@worship4him So many posts about powerlifting in natural Bodybuilding I don't understand.

 

[dawn16]

@harley Looking to improve your 1RM bench isn’t automatically powerlifting, but otherwise, yea. Some people just treat this sub as a de facto weight training sub.

 

[harley]

@dawn16 This is powerlifting, he says he does 4x4, which is only done for a short period, if at all, in BB. Meanwhile the posts I made got deleted by the mods.

 

[dawn16]

@harley Your posts should’ve gotten deleted. As should this. Feel free to report it. It’s hilarious you’re whining over it though.

Powerlifting is a specific sport. Trying to improve 1RM in and of itself is not automatically powerlifting. It’s certainly not bodybuilding though. I agree with you there.

 

[worship4him]

@harley Sorry. I just started doing these 4x4s in attempt to increase my bench. I’m more into aesthetics but I feel like the the growth of my chest is lacking strength wise