overhead press!

[cumminslifter]

i have been stuck at 95Lbs 5 times for like a year now i just cannot get past this point. idk what to do anymore. all my other lifts go up. i eat more. i try diffrent rep ranges i just cant get past this. any advice?

[jgreystoke]

Overhead press seems to be the worst big lift in this regard.

Banging your head against the brick wall of 95 x 5 is not the way forward. A year is a very long plateau.

A great approach was used by the great Doug Hepburn. Pre-steroid, he was a great strict presser:

Drop the weight. Going max-effort all the time to your 5RM is NOT working. Drop the reps for a change, and add sets not reps.

Go back to 80lbs, and forget your ego. Do four or five sets x three reps. Add sets not reps, until you get to double the number of sets.

After your warmup sets, which might look like:

45(bar) x 10
55 x 5
65 x 3
75 x 2

Your worksets in successive weeks would look something like:

80 x 4 x 3
80 x 5 x 3
80 x 6 x 3
80 x 7 x 3
80 x 8 x 3 you doubled the sets, so reward yourself by adding 5lbs next time:

85 x 4 x 3
85 x 5 x 3
85 x 6 x 3
85 x 7 x 3
85 x 8 x 3 you doubled your sets, so reward as before:

90 x 4 x 3 etc

Every five weeks or so, you'll add five pounds. You are never going to failure, which just makes you stall and plateau, as you have found out. You are also cycling the volume, which acts like a deload at the start of every cycle.

You should get to 95 the next cycle, then 100, then 105 etc.

When you are doing 110 x 8 x 3, you would probably get 110 x 6 for a single set, way ahead of where you are now.

Another approach, is to go to 5 3 1. Most people say it is only for more advanced guys. But it is working a treat for me, starting from a very low base due to joint issues. Again it is slow steady progress of about 5lbs for your press every 4-6 weeks, depending on the exact template used. Very versatile.

When just adding 5lbs a week on linear progression isn't working any more, then adding 5lbs every month or six weeks is GREAT PROGRESS.

A year ago, after a disastrous three months of Westside style training, my old joint issues resurfaced to the extent that I couldn't put the empty bar overhead without pain, followed by being unable to sleep on my side etc.

5 3 1 is a Godsend for me:

A year later, I can now put a plate(135) overhead. Not saying it is easy for me, or that it is a great weight even for an ol' fart of 60. But starting out with the bar(45), that is some progress over the same year that you were stuck.

[anglac6]

Trying hitting a ton of reps on the Incline press. I know all my pressing feels great when my Incline is moving.

[cumminslifter]

thanks alot stoke!