stalling on bench

[Carnivroar]

i've been doing only sets of 3 reps for the past 3 months and now my bench is stalling

should i start working on doing more reps?

[peacerenity]

Are you gaining weight?

[Les Hahn]

I'm still going on singles... 8x1. I did add a speed day as well, since it was hard to add weight 2x per week to the bench. It seems to be helping a lot.

When you do your triples, how fast are the reps? When I lift singles, I am probably doing around 90-95% 1RM, so the rep is pretty fast. Towards the last set they start slowing down a little, but I haven't really been grinding reps. I have sort of been basing my stuff off of Prilepin's Table, it looks like this:

Percent............................Reps/Set................................Range.......... ..............Optimal Total

Below 70%..........................3 – 6..................................18 – 30................................24

70 – 79%............................3 – 6..................................12 – 24................................18

80 – 89%............................2 – 4..................................10 – 20................................15

90%+.................................1 – 2...................................4 – 10.................................7

I know this was built for Olympic lifting, but a lot of PL'ers do use it as well. For myself, I am in the 90%+ range. The optimal number of reps is 7, with a range of 4-10. I do 8, so I am pretty close to that. Bar speed is important as well. If I attempted maxes every set, and had to grind the weight or even fail some sets, I might be overtraining. I would guess you are lifting in the 80-89%, since you are doing 3 reps per set (range 2-4). Is the weight you are using around that range, or are you lifting a higher %?

The other option would be to go back to the original TM, and just rotate between Carni TM and regular TM when you hit a wall. Either way is ok. Best of luck figuring this out!

Edit: I was looking at your log, so here is what I would do if I was you. Assuming your max bench is around 275, I would start at just below 90% @ 245. If it is lower or higher, just do around 90% of it, and aim a little on the lower side. Just do 8x1. When you do your rep, throw the shit out of it. You only have to do one, so make it count. Take 3-5 mins between sets, or longer if you need it. Add 5 pounds per week to start, and keep an eye on your bar speed. If it starts to slow down, jump 2.5 and then see what happens. You may even be able to add 5lbs again in the future.

Other than that, just make sure your are getting your calories, and make sure you aren't warming up too much. To practice leg drive, on the last rep of each warmup set, pause the bar on your chest and then drive it up. This will help you get better at it, since it is harder to do it during touch and go's (it is for me anyways).

[Carnivroar]

Are you gaining weight?

nope 200 lbs for 5 months and i wanna keep it that way. that's why i've been doing only sets of 3's; supposedly they are better for strength without gaining mass

[Carnivroar]

I'm still going on singles... 8x1. I did add a speed day as well, since it was hard to add weight 2x per week to the bench. It seems to be helping a lot.

When you do your triples, how fast are the reps? When I lift singles, I am probably doing around 90-95% 1RM, so the rep is pretty fast. Towards the last set they start slowing down a little, but I haven't really been grinding reps. I have sort of been basing my stuff off of Prilepin's Table, it looks like this:

Percent............................Reps/Set................................Range.......... ..............Optimal Total

Below 70%..........................3 – 6..................................18 – 30................................24

70 – 79%............................3 – 6..................................12 – 24................................18

80 – 89%............................2 – 4..................................10 – 20................................15

90%+.................................1 – 2...................................4 – 10.................................7

I know this was built for Olympic lifting, but a lot of PL'ers do use it as well. For myself, I am in the 90%+ range. The optimal number of reps is 7, with a range of 4-10. I do 8, so I am pretty close to that. Bar speed is important as well. If I attempted maxes every set, and had to grind the weight or even fail some sets, I might be overtraining. I would guess you are lifting in the 80-89%, since you are doing 3 reps per set (range 2-4). Is the weight you are using around that range, or are you lifting a higher %?

The other option would be to go back to the original TM, and just rotate between Carni TM and regular TM when you hit a wall. Either way is ok. Best of luck figuring this out!

Edit: I was looking at your log, so here is what I would do if I was you. Assuming your max bench is around 275, I would start at just below 90% @ 245. If it is lower or higher, just do around 90% of it, and aim a little on the lower side. Just do 8x1. When you do your rep, throw the shit out of it. You only have to do one, so make it count. Take 3-5 mins between sets, or longer if you need it. Add 5 pounds per week to start, and keep an eye on your bar speed. If it starts to slow down, jump 2.5 and then see what happens. You may even be able to add 5lbs again in the future.

Other than that, just make sure your are getting your calories, and make sure you aren't warming up too much. To practice leg drive, on the last rep of each warmup set, pause the bar on your chest and then drive it up. This will help you get better at it, since it is harder to do it during touch and go's (it is for me anyways).

Yeah, my max is 275 x 1. Yesterday I went for 245 x 6 x 3 but failed horribly even though the week before I got it. Could be that I squatted beforehand, so that tired my arms significantly. it pissed me off because weeks ago i got 250 x 3 x 5, but that was on a bench-only session. i always have very slow bar speed.

[peacerenity]

nope 200 lbs for 5 months and i wanna keep it that way. that's why i've been doing only sets of 3's; supposedly they are better for strength without gaining mass

That's probably it right there. Usually you can gain strength for a while at a certain weight with rep schemes like that, then things slow down. If you want to get stronger without getting bigger, you might want to try a slow bulk for about 10-15 lbs and then cut back down. You'll gain strength on the bulk and preserve most of it after the cut, and end up stronger than where you started.

Alternatively, you might want to decrease the number of sets to allow for more recovery. How many sets are you doing?

[Carnivroar]

That's probably it right there. Usually you can gain strength for a while at a certain weight with rep schemes like that, then things slow down. If you want to get stronger without getting bigger, you might want to try a slow bulk for about 10-15 lbs and then cut back down. You'll gain strength on the bulk and preserve most of it after the cut, and end up stronger than where you started.

Alternatively, you might want to decrease the number of sets to allow for more recovery. How many sets are you doing?

well the problem is i am still fat from my previous bulk so i want to lean out a bit (even though Im not dieting... i just want to lean out slowly over the course of a few months)

i do 6-8 sets on volume day

i guess it's time to change things up? when I first switched to 8x3 my progressed suddenly increased dramatically but now it's stopping. diet has been the same.

[Carlos Daniel]

Maybe it's something to do with the creatine.

[Carnivroar]

Maybe it's something to do with the creatine.

i started taking it again on sunday 20 grams a day

i did notice a difference. the first two reps of 245 are smooth as fuck, but i lose it at the third for no reason. it';s like i have no endurance at all. holding 225 felt like it was 135 but i couldnt get passed 4 reps.

maybe it's because i squatted heavy right before....?

[Carlos Daniel]

i started taking it again on sunday 20 grams a day

i did notice a difference. the first two reps of 245 are smooth as fuck, but i lose it at the third for no reason. it';s like i have no endurance at all. holding 225 felt like it was 135 but i couldnt get passed 4 reps.

maybe it's because i squatted heavy right before....?

Hum, give it anothe day or two, with loading creatine takes about 3-5 days to be fully saturated.