Bench Press check

[francesco.decaro]

Hi!
Progress on the bench has been going up steadily the last few weeks and I finally hit 90kg (198lbs). I don't have any real form issue as far as I can see, except the fact that I train alone so it's difficult to take the bench out of the pins by myself without wasting a lot of energy. Could that be the reason why the 5th rep is always much slower than all the others? Or do I have the neuromuscular efficiency of a woman? I'm thinking it's the latter and that I should switch to sets of 3 whenever I start stalling.
I'd like to know if there's anything you see that I could correct in order to keep this progress going (besides eating enough).

Thank you for your time!

Bench Press - 90kg - 16.12.20 - YouTube
(This is the 3rd set of 5)

[Ryan Arnold]

Keep your butt on the bench when you unrack. Otherwise they look good. If the reps are slowing/stalling its probably a programming issue

[Lost and Found]

Pardon the interruption and I don't mean to sound like a smart ass but isn't the 5th rep usually harder than the other 4 and therefore it slows down?

I always assumed the last rep of any set was where a lot or most of the stress benefits came from.

Fire away!

[Mark Rippetoe]

The 5th rep will not slow down markedly in the early phase of the NLP, if the correct starting work set weight has been selected.

[francesco.decaro]

Keep your butt on the bench when you unrack. Otherwise they look good. If the reps are slowing/stalling its probably a programming issue

I feel more confident in lifting my butt because I can push harder against the bench and more easily unrack the bar. Is this just my imagination or is it actually useful?
I wouldn't do it if I had someone to unrack it for me.

[francesco.decaro]

The 5th rep will not slow down markedly in the early phase of the NLP, if the correct starting work set weight has been selected.

I'm in Phase 3 of NLP and BP has been going up linearly for the last few weeks so I think I'm just approaching a stall.
I will adjust programming/diet accordingly

[Ryan Arnold]

I feel more confident in lifting my butt because I can push harder against the bench and more easily unrack the bar. Is this just my imagination or is it actually useful?
I wouldn't do it if I had someone to unrack it for me.

I think the tradeoff you are making for unracking easier is that you are moving an overextended lumbar spine under load. Its not a tradeoff I would make. But hey - whatever blows your hair back

[francesco.decaro]

I think the tradeoff you are making for unracking easier is that you are moving an overextended lumbar spine under load. Its not a tradeoff I would make. But hey - whatever blows your hair back

I see, honestly speaking I haven't given the butt on the bench unrack a try in a while, so I'll do it next time and see how it goes. Thank you!