Setting myself up to fail? The goal: 300lb bench @165.

[NJtoWI]

Hey guys, so I've kind of hit a plateau and was hoping for some help on hitting my end goal of putting up 300 while weighing roughly 165lbs. Is it realistic, or am I setting my expectations too high?

The backstory:
So I've been working out seriously since before last summer (less seriously before). Once I got into it, I was low/mid 160s while benching a max of 235 around the end of July '08, went on a bulk and was around the low 170s. From there, I focused on strength and eventually cutting, coming down to a bodyweight of 155, putting up a true max of 275 early this month (not an estimated 1rm).

Where I am now:
I've been working out using a 3 day split- chest/tri/forearms - biceps/legs - back/shoulders. I do these three workouts in a row, take a day off, and repeat. Ever since hitting that 275 max, I haven't been able to improve on it, and after going on spring break for a week from the 13th to the 20th this month, my lifts have gone down. (Tough to even put up 265 for me now)

The supplements:
Superpump 250
Sizeon
ON-Pro Complex
ON- Optimen's
Fish Oil
CE2- High Def

Here's the thing, I think after using these supps, I'll cycle off creatine for about 3 weeks and come back on to see if this is contributing to the plateau.

The food:
I eat a pretty clean diet, with very rare cheat meals. I'm under my daily fat intake every day, and taking in plenty of protein and carbs.

The plan:
I want to go up 10 pounds of muscle to get to 165 without too much body fat increase. At the same time, I want to shake off the plateau I've hit with many of my lifts, especially the flat barbell bench.


Please help me out guys...any tips/workout suggestions are appreciated. More specifics on my current workouts on request.

thanks

[TAWS6]

When I was 19 I did 300 at 170 lbs. I was using the BFS program. Right now I am using it again with great results in the strengh department. You can use the rep scheme for bench, squat, and dead lift if you want. I used the same weight for all sets and increased that weight 5 lbs every 4 weeks. Worked really well for me.

3x3
5x5
5-4-3-2-1
10-8-6
4-4-2 [dead/squat only]
Repeat

[Mikael92]

if that's all you want is to hit 300....you might want to incorporate some high intensity singles/doubles as your bench workout. not sure what your bench workout is now....post it up.

[NJtoWI]

Generally the chest portion of the workout looks roughly like this:

Flat barbell bench - 8-6-4 or 3x3 increasing weight
Incline dumbbell press - 3x6 or 3x8
Decline dumbbell press - same as above
Flys - 3x8 increasing weight
Dips - 3x13 w/45 lbs on belt

then on to more tris

[TonySturch]

Its attainable. Its 181% of your body weight. Sounds pretty impressive. Ive done 170% actual and 178% calculated 1RM in the past. But Ive never specifically set that as a goal. If youve already done 275 @ 155 bodyweight, thats already 177%. Id say youre a shoe in. Keep working on those low reps and singles and itll come before you know it.

[NJtoWI]

Thanks, but I dunno...it just seems like I hit a wall pretty hard and I might need to shake things up a bit to get past it

[User4543432]

My workout partner got 410lb at 5'8" 175lb, so it is doable!!! I got 500lb at 290lb, so that's 172%(+/-) of my bodyweight... You just have to be sure you prep your shoulders with a whole lot of stretching, warm up sets...etc., trust me man when you're going beyond the norm to that extent, preparation is key!

Good luck brother!!!!! Be safe!!!!

[Kindred21101982]

If you are looking to increase your core lifts go back to a basic starting strength program or the 5x5 madcow may even be beter for you. 5x5 has had consistantly good feedback from my friends who have done it. (friends much much stronger than me)

[TAWS6]

Generally the chest portion of the workout looks roughly like this:

Flat barbell bench - 8-6-4 or 3x3 increasing weight
Incline dumbbell press - 3x6 or 3x8
Decline dumbbell press - same as above
Flys - 3x8 increasing weight
Dips - 3x13 w/45 lbs on belt

then on to more tris

Too many presses if your lifting that heavy imo. I would alternate inc and dec.

[07hudson]

What Justin said is correct. and I'd lower your core workout reps a little bit. I gained 30lbs to my bench max in a month doing this. Start out at sets of 3x4 or 3x5 with something pretty heavy. As you get stronger move up to 3x6, 3x7, 3x8 etc. Once you get to 3x8..add more weight (for me usually 10lbs) and start over again. Worked wonders for me. But I've switched to doing sets of 3x4 to 3x8 extremely heavy to focus on gaining strength.

And also 300 is a lot of weight for 165..make sure like the one guy said to prepare your shoulders and prep. I'm benching around 250/255 and I'm thinking about taking a joint support supplement. Sometimes my left shoulder and elbow kill me.

[Orlando1234977]

Generally the chest portion of the workout looks roughly like this:

Flat barbell bench - 8-6-4 or 3x3 increasing weight
Incline dumbbell press - 3x6 or 3x8
Decline dumbbell press - same as above
Flys - 3x8 increasing weight
Dips - 3x13 w/45 lbs on belt

then on to more tris

Man if your goal is strength I would reduce that volume and increase frequency. You'll want to hit chest twice/week. Maybe take a look at a Westside template, those guys pretty much own powerlifting.

[TonySturch]

I'm benching around 250/255 and I'm thinking about taking a joint support supplement. Sometimes my left shoulder and elbow kill me.

Start by picking up some glucosamine/condrichton, and take some flax and fish oil. Those are the basics.

[NJtoWI]

Start by picking up some glucosamine/condrichton, and take some flax and fish oil. Those are the basics.

Yeah, I'm taking flax and fish right now, but haven't picked up glucoasmine mainly because I thought I'd be taking Orange Triad but switched last min to ON-Optimens which doesn't have the joint support.

As for lowering volume and increasing frequency, I think that'll be my first change in routine.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

[dkfan9]

definitely look into some of the Westside Barbell principles, even if you don't directly utilize a routine, things like speed reps, board presses, and bands/chains can help increase your bench for sure.

what a lot of powerlifters will tell you is that if you get stronger shoulders(overhead presses) and triceps(dips, skullcrushers, etc), then your bench will increase as well.

utilizing the BFS sets/reps TAWS laid out is another good way, although I never kept the weights the same every week(I brought myself near or to failure on most days actually), and I was increasing my max by a rate of 10 pounds a month at one point(I know I did 265-275-285 over three months), although back problems prevented me from lifting with any back arch at all(and also avoiding any leg lifts that weren't leg extensions or calves) soon after setting that.

[NJtoWI]

I would rep all you guys but apparently it's not worth anything yet. In time...

[InclineDBPresss]

You could also do the Bill Starr template:

Day 1: 5 sets of 5
Set 1 - 50% of your 5RM X 5
Set 2 - 65% of your 5RM X 5
Set 3 - 75% of your 5RM X 5
Set 4 - 85% of your 5RM X 5
Set 5 - 5RM X 5

Day 2: Acclimating
Set 1 - 50% of your 5RM X 5
Set 2 - 65% of your 5RM X 5
Set 3 - 75% of your 5RM X 5
Set 4 - 85% of your 5RM X 5
Set 5 - 5RM+2.5% X 3
Set 6 - 75-85% of your 5RM X 8

Then the next Day 1 your "5RM" becomes what you did on the day 2.

Besides benching, you could possibly do inclines as an accessory 1 day and then dips the other day, but with Bill Starr's 5x5 you don't want to be doing too much volume.

[Nightwolfer]

judging by your chest i would have guessed your already pressing 300. As for giving you advice i shoudent untill i can press it myself hehe gl getting there