Failing Press LP very early

[KyleU]

Howdy, I have been on the starting strength LP (on and off due to football season and form breakdowns) for about four months.
My stats:
18 y/o
male
280 lbs
6'2
D2 football ball center
no nagging injures

Squat 390 3x5
Deadlift 415 3x5
Bench 280 3x5
Press 150 3x5

I have failed my press work sets last Friday and this Wednesday ( my Last two B workouts). I have read the three questions and believe I am sleeping enough, gaining weight, and taking enough rest between sets. The next question being my jumps between weight; I can start micro loading my press.
My question is Why is my press stalling so early? My understanding is that a 150-175 lb press is the normal stall for the LP. The problem is I don't believe I am normal (due to my age and weight). My squat, deadlift, and bench are still steadily going up but my press seems very low to plateau.

Any feedback will be helpful. If that is just how that is for me, that's fine as well; I will just began to micro load.
Thanks

[Brian Goldstein]

It isn’t unusual.

It’s just a tough lift to get better on. There’s no normal place to get stalled and you’ve been running SSLP for a while due to football.

Several suggestions, none of which any of us could tell you with certainty will be the trick.

1- post a form check to either the SSC q&a or the technique board.
2 - go to 5 sets of three for a bit and see if that helps get you unstuck. Moving a slightly heavier weight sometimes makes the difference.
3 - you may need *more* stress for the Press. If the first two don’t get it moving, consider resetting 5% or so and going 4-5 sets x 5 or try one top set of 5, followed by 3 back off sets.
4 - if you aren’t chinning yet, start. Niki Sims pieces in the training log section of the site are the right place to start.

Great lifting so far, man, keep it up.

[Satch12879]

Yes, fractional plates are your friend.

[FredM]

There seems to be some confusion. LP with microplates is still LP. Ending LP at 175 or 185 is pretty exceptional -- and many who do seem to start microloading at 150 or even much earlier.

And if you haven't had your form checked by a coach that all goes out the window. I think the three questions article should be prefaced with "actually, the first, most important question, is whether you're using the correct form." If you're not seeing a coach you're almost definitely not -- and comparing your progress to someone who is is an exercise in disappointment.

[Alex Kennedy]

This is the lift that I find most people start to heavy as well and pace to quickly.

It is also worth taking into account that you are probably not much of a novice in your upper body lifts. If you played football through high school, you've probably done a good bit of pressing. I know I did (though there was no real programming to it) And while I'm not sure of the details about your on and offness in your training, you may not have a lot to eek out on a 5x3 novice progression. Like Brian said, the fits step is to get your press looked at. This board offers free form checks. Throw a vid up, and lets see how its looking. Great to see someone so young going at it with thought. I know I didn't.