Bench press plateau

[exter]

Hello coach
First off I have read the bench chapter of the book and neither technique nor sleep nor food are a problem.
I have started SS 4 months ago , and have been training consistently for 7 months.
3 first months of total BS and on a low calorie diet.
Bench went from 23KG to 35KG.
Then I discovered SS but I didn't know I had to start low.
Instead I started heavier than I could , I started at 47KG and I didn't even touch my chest.
I progressed though until I reached 55KG and failed.
I stayed there for a month until I could touch my chest.
Since then , progress has become extremely slow , even though I went through a deload and focused on form.
I am now at 59KG , I have only been able to add 4kilos in two or three months and I am weak at the lower part of the lift.
I have been thinking of switching to dumbbells or doing smolov JR.
What are your suggestions ?
The bench press is very important to me and has to do with my self-esteem , I would be very happy if I could bench 80 KG two or three months from now.

PS: I am 70KG /1m73cm and 16 years old

[Rusi]

First calm down man. Your post is a little strange. Anyway you are not doing the program. I suggest that you get familiar with the program and START LIGHT. Don't bother with smolov JR - whatever that is. JUST START DOING THE ACTUAL PROGRAM and NOT SOME BENCH PRESS EGO BUILDING PROGRAM. When you start SS you should start light from the beginning and then you will build up. Right now you are waisting your time with some bench press ego crap. Read the book, read the forum and start building again. You are very young and you can achieve phenomenal progress during the following months but you have to read a little more and train like Rip says.

[Róbert Kovács]

Don't bother Rusi. He started the same thread with the same title, and almost the same post.

He added perhaps one extra sentence to the end. There were some replies to his original post, but I guess it was not what he wanted to hear, so he started this thread in the same section. Don't ask why...

Exter, you should write this question in the Mark Rippetoe Q&A.

[gzt]

You're 70kg, are benching 59kg, and think neither technique nor food are a problem. Unless you're a girl, I propose that those two are likely a problem.

Look: if you work hard and eat right, you can be benching 140kg by the time you're 18. That's a real ego boost. So eat right. And work hard.

[Marotta]

What you want to do is focus on getting your squat stronger.

[Tiburon]

I am now at 59KG ,

59x5x3?

Do you have microplates?

[exter]

I had specified that I deloaded and focused on form and I did the program as written.
I eat tons , really as much as I can , squats are fine they are going up and I am very happy with them.
I am now 71KG almost 72.
I sleep 7-8 hours everyday.
And no I am not a girl , and I do have dedication to weightlifting , it's just that my bench is girlish.
(The smallest plates I have are 1Kg)

[halbritt]

I eat tons , really as much as I can , squats are fine they are going up and I am very happy with them.
I am now 71KG almost 72.

Bullshit.

How much did you weigh when you started the program? How much weight have you gained in the past 4 months?

[Marotta]

I had specified that I deloaded and focused on form and I did the program as written.
I eat tons , really as much as I can , squats are fine they are going up and I am very happy with them.
I am now 71KG almost 72.
I sleep 7-8 hours everyday.
And no I am not a girl , and I do have dedication to weightlifting , it's just that my bench is girlish.
(The smallest plates I have are 1Kg)

I am a person who needs to really put in work at the table. If I eat as much as I can, I don't mean until I'm full, I mean I have eaten until I've puked (obviously this isn't a good thing, just a testament to how hard I work at eating) my weight goes up 3-5lb/week. At 5'8" if you were eating "as much as you could" you wouldn't weight 71KG for more than 2-3 days.

[Róbert Kovács]

I had specified that I deloaded and focused on form and I did the program as written.
I eat tons , really as much as I can , squats are fine they are going up and I am very happy with them.
I am now 71KG almost 72.
I sleep 7-8 hours everyday.
And no I am not a girl , and I do have dedication to weightlifting , it's just that my bench is girlish.
(The smallest plates I have are 1Kg)

How did you load up to 59kg if your smallest plates are 1kg?