jca17
Level 5 Valued Member
Hey guys. It's been a while since I've been active on the forum. Back in November I attended the Barbell Certification. I'm not in the fitness or wellness profession, but I love training, and went mainly for the experience and knowledge (while of course hoping to be able to pass the cert as well).
The certification was as awesome as people say it is. Unfortunately I wasn't able to train for the month right before the cert, so I had to adjust to where I was at, not where I hoped to be.
I was able to pass the squat and deadlift technique tests. I skipped the one rep DL test because I didn't quite feel it given the previous month of not training. I also skipped both upper body lifts because those have always been my struggle and I knew I wasn't close yet.
To fill in that gap, I did a PlanStrong program for overhead press and bench press for the last 2 months.
I really enjoyed the frequency and the amount of lifting at a variety of intensities. While I had indicated I'd prefer to gain muscle with the program, I ended up losing 2 pounds by the end of the 2 months. This is with eating past comfort and drinking 2 gallons of milk per week. At 6 feet tall and 167.5 pounds, I tested overhead press at a 100 pound 1rm and bench at a 155 sort of max.
After the 8 training weeks, weighing 165.4 (I know the loss of weight isn't just water difference, because water weight difference actually had me down to 162.4 today), I hit 115lb in the overhead press, a 15% increase in 8 weeks on a lift I've been training continuously for over a year!
On the other hand, I hit a 160pound true one rep max on bench press. I missed a 165 that quickly got stuck to my chest. 3 months before, I at least ground the sticking point until my spotter took over, so I was essentially weaker than I started. This was pretty disappointing, because I started the program with an easy 155 1rm. I've been training bench consistently for over 2 years now and the body weight press remains elusive. 2x body weight DL was relatively easy. It felt like no matter the program, I made progress. Starting with 185x5 and PttP, I cruised to 225x5. Then I switched to 5x5 and cruised again to 270. Then I tried a rotation of GreySkull and 5x5 to get up to 345 1rm at 170 pounds. I'd also hit 335x5 in training. This was just by 1 set AMRAP with 10 pound increments per week.
So, why is bench so difficult? Psychologically, I felt like this program helped me conquer the lift. I got used to just always making lifts, doing it near daily, hitting reps over 90% max every week. I suppose the overhead press test 3 days before could have still had me drained. I don't know. It's a bit frustrating because at this point I've tried many flavors of bench training and while every other lift shoots up, the one lift I want to increase remains stagnant. Once a week, twice a week, 5x5, amrap, PttP, and now PlanStrong. Bench press won't budge. I think I'm going to focus on some hypertrophy training since the times my bench has actually moved, it's when I'm putting on muscle.
Would it be worth trying the new StrongFirst American style program with the 4 main lifts for strength and muscle growth? Or is a sub-bodyweight bench two light for it to be worth it?
The certification was as awesome as people say it is. Unfortunately I wasn't able to train for the month right before the cert, so I had to adjust to where I was at, not where I hoped to be.
I was able to pass the squat and deadlift technique tests. I skipped the one rep DL test because I didn't quite feel it given the previous month of not training. I also skipped both upper body lifts because those have always been my struggle and I knew I wasn't close yet.
To fill in that gap, I did a PlanStrong program for overhead press and bench press for the last 2 months.
I really enjoyed the frequency and the amount of lifting at a variety of intensities. While I had indicated I'd prefer to gain muscle with the program, I ended up losing 2 pounds by the end of the 2 months. This is with eating past comfort and drinking 2 gallons of milk per week. At 6 feet tall and 167.5 pounds, I tested overhead press at a 100 pound 1rm and bench at a 155 sort of max.
After the 8 training weeks, weighing 165.4 (I know the loss of weight isn't just water difference, because water weight difference actually had me down to 162.4 today), I hit 115lb in the overhead press, a 15% increase in 8 weeks on a lift I've been training continuously for over a year!
On the other hand, I hit a 160pound true one rep max on bench press. I missed a 165 that quickly got stuck to my chest. 3 months before, I at least ground the sticking point until my spotter took over, so I was essentially weaker than I started. This was pretty disappointing, because I started the program with an easy 155 1rm. I've been training bench consistently for over 2 years now and the body weight press remains elusive. 2x body weight DL was relatively easy. It felt like no matter the program, I made progress. Starting with 185x5 and PttP, I cruised to 225x5. Then I switched to 5x5 and cruised again to 270. Then I tried a rotation of GreySkull and 5x5 to get up to 345 1rm at 170 pounds. I'd also hit 335x5 in training. This was just by 1 set AMRAP with 10 pound increments per week.
So, why is bench so difficult? Psychologically, I felt like this program helped me conquer the lift. I got used to just always making lifts, doing it near daily, hitting reps over 90% max every week. I suppose the overhead press test 3 days before could have still had me drained. I don't know. It's a bit frustrating because at this point I've tried many flavors of bench training and while every other lift shoots up, the one lift I want to increase remains stagnant. Once a week, twice a week, 5x5, amrap, PttP, and now PlanStrong. Bench press won't budge. I think I'm going to focus on some hypertrophy training since the times my bench has actually moved, it's when I'm putting on muscle.
Would it be worth trying the new StrongFirst American style program with the 4 main lifts for strength and muscle growth? Or is a sub-bodyweight bench two light for it to be worth it?