stalling on presses a question.

[StrongIslander,NY]

i started off the new year doing the texas method for a change of pace- i needed the break mentally and physically from session to session increases-experiencing too much stress and more importantly it was the wrong stress the kind you stroke out for. i figured slow it down to weekly increments.

i'm constantly hitting a physical limitation thing with my presses-ohp max at 85 bp about 100-105.

my question is- am i better off when doing my volume day lets say 70lbs 5x5 by adding more sets like 6x5 or 7x5 if i cant move up to 80 5x5? lets say 80 i can eek out 2x5 and then stall ?

adding more sets or reps is stronger in a sense,yes? keep in mind its s/b volume day on texas method. as 80 2x5 wouldnt cut it.

its really fucking stupid cause theres a 10lb hurdle/barrier ive attacked and re attacked and i just cant physically do it. i get to that point and blam its a wall-but back off 10 lbs or so i can do 5x5+ 10lbs higher i'm lucky if i get 1 set of 5.
ive added lat pull/curl downs and a tricep push down machine in the hopes of strengthing shoulders and arms to help with presses and bp's.

[TrackJunkie]

Where's the sticking point of your movement, and have you tried adding assistance movements to your routine that work the sticking point specifically.

[BryanM]

Is this 85 pounds including the bar? Or 85 pounds on both sides of the bar?

For the first one, it's a very low stalling point for a healthy average sized male; medium sized point for a stall for a average sized female. Try The Program - gain 20 pounds of weight and take 2.5 pound increments. Extra volume - triples, pull ups etc - under these circumstances gets in the way. Calories are precious.

If the later case, my brain hurts.

[strengthstarter]

its really fucking stupid cause theres a 10lb hurdle/barrier ive attacked and re attacked and i just cant physically do it. i get to that point and blam its a wall-but back off 10 lbs or so i can do 5x5+ 10lbs higher i'm lucky if i get 1 set of 5.

Are you using fractional plates? Because it sounds like you aren't even using 2.5s.

Press drops off really fast for me as I increase weight and small increases are pretty vital to dialing in a weight increase to match growth. Even at 0.5 pounds each workout, that's a ~40# increase over the course of a year.

[gman]

I'm confused, are you trying to jump from 70lbs to 80lbs, or trying to get there by smaller jumps? If you are failing, I would try to make much smaller jumps, like 1.25lbs at a time. And eat more.

[Platus]

I second the previous posters. In my case, I progressed from 125x5x5 to 142x5x5 over the last couple of months by using only 1 or 2 lb. jumps per week on the volume day. I don't think there is any way that I could handle any more weight per week without failing sets. A 10 lb. jump makes a hell of a lot of difference: I can do 142 for 5 sets of five, but I can only got 155 for 4 reps on my last intensity day.

Also, don't forget that 'anterior core' strength is as important to the press as arm and shoulder strength. I have found that doing weighted ab exercises and using a belt are key to my press progress.

[steelerfan]

What kind of progression did you make on the bench & other lifts while on SS and how much body weight did you gain while doing so ? I am by no means a expert but something doesn't seem right here . I know you said you needed a change of pace but to do it when there may be far more progress to be made under SS seems silly to me . I don't think you are ready for TM at least not in the press..

[StrongIslander,NY]

i posted a reply last nite -i have no idea where it went?

anyway- i started ss/ strong lifts hybrid in may 09- basically doing ss at 5x5 instead of 3x5.

on all lifts i started with bar plus a 5 pounder on ea side and ea session i added 5 lbs. by year end i had stalled 2x on dl and squats and on presses and bp 4x.
now with the texas method- i want to grow on a weekly basis as i was getting overdrained trying to jump ea session with dl and squat

the press and bp always at ohp 80(can eek out 1 on occasion-during a full moon with a hail of locusts etc...) BP 100-105 same thing.

i am 42 y/o as of nov09 when i started i weighed 133lbs and im now 149-151lbs.

i do have a bum left arm-motor cordination nerve damage at birth so there is a large strength differential btwn right and left. i am not in the habit of or nor am i using it as an excuse. for ex: i cant fret a guitar or strum lefty as the motor cordination isnt there but i can hold a stick so i drummed.

i can hold a bar-i can even pull- but pressing eludes me still.

my squats im up to 165 or so, DL i just broke 200.

i will try fractional plates of 1 or 2 lbs and report back.(i see this as less than masculine approach- oh yeah i gained 1 lb on my bench-hmmmph fustrated immensely )

[gman]

i will try fractional plates of 1 or 2 lbs and report back.(i see this as less than masculine approach- oh yeah i gained 1 lb on my bench-hmmmph fustrated immensely )

It is not a less than masculine approach, it is a smart methodical way to increase your strength. I've managed to continually increase my press this way.

I am 41 and more "sensitive" to large jumps for the squat and dl than others. Recently, I have been adding 2.5lbs to my squats every workout, which winds up being around 25-30lbs per month. If I try to add more, I just stall. Slow and steady wins the race.......

[HamptonMike]

I got my press up to 155 by taking 5lb jumps and then just crashed. I hadn't missed any reps but it was getting damned heavy. The next press workout I couldn't really get 157 up at all. Then the following press workout I got 155x5 then 155x3 then 155x2.
I think this is a classic example of taking jumps that are too big that Rip talks about in PP. I'm going to follow his advice and drop my weight by 10% and work back up with 1-3 pound jumps. It's much better to take small "pussy" jumps and make constant progress than regress and hit a f%$king wall.