Stagnant Press ?

[Coconut Chris]

Hi everyone- first time poster, but not new to the boards.

Stats: Male / 20 / 185 lbs @ 5'11, ~20 % body fat

I'm running the Advanced Novice form of SS and seem to get stuck at 135 on the press, using the strict Press 1.0. About half the time I succeed in getting all 15 reps, other times I miss a rep or two, not always on the last set. I've reset here on press probably 5 times, and improved by 5 pounds in the past 3 months (pressing, but no Squat or DL after stubbornly worsening a back injury for about 4 of those weeks). Longer rest periods (~5 minutes) helped marginally.

When I jump to 140, I get 4, 3, 2 or 4, 2, 2 reps (the latter two OHP sessions ago) - and the next workout is usually no better, so I drop down 10 - 15 lbs and try again.

I've tried using a belt to help with core tightness, but I found no difference in my 5 rep sets. If it matters, my last bench workout was 215 x 5, 5, 4, and I've pressed 160 for 1 rep on a couple occasions. Although I didn't get the last workout on bench press, the progression at least feels predictable and pointed in the upwards direction.

Where should I be looking to help move the damn thing? More frequency / volume (i.e. backoff sets)? Heavier doubles / triples? Creatine (own some, but am not using right now)? I really want to be able to press bodyweight, if only for one rep.

[Immortal_k]

1- Rest longer than 5 minutes, this isn't a sprint. I'd say more along 10 minutes between sets.
2- If you feel that the belt doesn't help tighten you up then you may not be using it properly. It's either too loose or you aren't contracting your abdominals hard enough. I notice that I like to tighten my belt when Pressing to the same degree that I tighten it during Bench Pressing.
3- How is your Bench Press? A stronger bench will raise your press.
4- If BP and Press are both exhausted using advanced novice, you should consider a TM program.
5- Why aren't you taking Creatine?

[Simon Rest]

maybe the 5lbs is too big a jump now. if you don't have access to smaller plates, maybe stay at 135 until you can get 3 sets of 7, then try 140

and yes, take the creatine

[Coconut Chris]

Thanks for the advice guys. My press workout yesterday was a successful 135x3x5 with good bar speed. Started loading the creatine mono today.

1- Rest longer than 5 minutes, this isn't a sprint. I'd say more along 10 minutes between sets.
2- If you feel that the belt doesn't help tighten you up then you may not be using it properly. It's either too loose or you aren't contracting your abdominals hard enough. I notice that I like to tighten my belt when Pressing to the same degree that I tighten it during Bench Pressing.
3- How is your Bench Press? A stronger bench will raise your press.
4- If BP and Press are both exhausted using advanced novice, you should consider a TM program.
5- Why aren't you taking Creatine?

How tight do you use the belt when bench pressing compared to squat or deadlift? I think my bench is about proportional with the press for sets across at 215, if not a little bit stronger- I've not really tried benching with a belt.

maybe the 5lbs is too big a jump now. if you don't have access to smaller plates, maybe stay at 135 until you can get 3 sets of 7, then try 140

and yes, take the creatine

Sounds good, I'll try for more reps next time.

[Greg Esres]

I get 4, 3, 2

I would keep doing sets until achieving the 15, even if that meant a bunch of singles. Resets have never worked very well for me.

[BareSteel]

maybe the 5lbs is too big a jump now. if you don't have access to smaller plates, maybe stay at 135 until you can get 3 sets of 7, then try 140

Yeah, a Greyskull-LP type of rep scheme can work in these situations when microloading isn't feasible. Otherwise Chris, you're probably looking at some sort of weekly periodization like Immortal K said.

Microloading is a really useful tool for extending linear progress if you can do it.

If the back injury was press-related, make sure you're really bracing the abs hard and doing a hard valsalva before each rep. When the weight gets heavy, it's easy to over extend.

[Larry T]

If you don't have fractional plates, get a set of adjustable ankle weights at Wal-Mart. They can be as light as half a pound increasing to 2.5 lbs in half-pound jumps by adding or taking out the weight slugs. Hang them on each end of the bar and now you can micro-load 1 lb at a time.

[Immortal_k]

If you don't have fractional plates, get a set of adjustable ankle weights at Wal-Mart. They can be as light as half a pound increasing to 2.5 lbs in half-pound jumps by adding or taking out the weight slugs. Hang them on each end of the bar and now you can micro-load 1 lb at a time.

Awesome. Never seen that idea suggested.

[scwot]

I'm not a good presser at all (might just break bodyweight during my current cycle) but things that have worked for me
- cycling through 3x5, 4x4, 5x3
- microloading (using ankle weights)
- frequency. Pressing twice weekly or even better using ladders every training session. Starting very light, reps of 1, 2, 3 for 3 rounds. Never fail a rep. Increase weight when hit reps.

Things that haven't helped
- doing anything other than pressing hoping it will help. This includes DB press, getting my bench up, focusing on tricep strength.

[Coconut Chris]

An update about 1 month later: My press was successfully unstuck (as well as presses are), and today I did 145 x 3 x 5. This is with maybe 8 intervening sessions, and me being stuck with 5 pound jumps.

Things that helped in this mini-journey:
- Greyskull LP
- Cycling using stretch reflex and dead stop (Press 1.0) to get extra reps where possible when starting a new jump.
- Dessert for gainzz

Things that maybe helped:
- Bench Press increasing (215 -> 230 in the same time frame- hmmm... almost as if the lifts go up proportionally. But did the Bench drive OHP or OHP drive bench?)
- Slightly longer rest periods
- Quicker warmups (i.e. jumping 45 -> 75 -> 105 -> 125 instead of 45 -> 65 -> 85 -> 105 -> 125)
- Creatine

Things that didn't help:
- Using a belt (still doesn't seem to benefit much for rep work)
- Changing the rack height: lower and quarter squatting it out at a floating rack vs. taking it out closer to resting on shoulders. Stuck with high unrack.
- Doing more shoulder dislocations before upper body work. I did this originally thinking that it would help stave off intra-workout delt soreness, but the appearance of delt soreness was a prognostic factor for a harder workout, regardless of whether I could make it go away, it seemed.