Originally Posted by
Gary Gibson
I really, really suck at the bench press.
Squat continues to increase rapidly and the deadlift is coming along for the ride. But my ability to press weights remains sub par.
I got 225x5 a few months ago when I hit a high of ~175 lbs. Got a very hard 225x5 three days ago at a new high of 185 lbs. Today I barely pressed 235 once.
Pretty damned sure that I'm beyond linear progression for the bench. I only seem to increase sporadically and when I'm dialing back my squat training for whatever reason (injury, fatigue, lull between heavy cycles). My squat number just keep growing, but whenever I add weight to the bench press, it just feels so heavy and I usually stall.
The biggest move ever on my bench was the 25 lbs I got last year when I ran a Smolov Jr for it while rehabbing my knee and squatting really, really light. Have since failed with Russian volume approaches run concurrently with high volume squatting. Thinking of trying another Smolov Jr., however, after this meet when I dial back the squat.
Input/advice welcome.