Lifting support thread 2

[RayKray]

Just noticed I was the last to post on the lifting support thread as it went to 1k so here's another.

Original thread intro post here from
@Work2live

"Thought I’d start this thread as a few people thought it’d be a good idea.

"It might be a nice place to support each other and talk about lifting in general, ask for tips and advice on workouts, how to get enough protein etc.

"All levels very much welcome, from complete newbies to those who’ve been weightlifting for years! 💪🏼"

Hi everyone! I’m new to this thread but need some advice. I’ve hit a plateau in bench press of 47.5kg for 4 reps. I can go up to 50 but just for 2-3. I’ve been stuck here for a few months. The weight moves easily for the first couple of reps and then my form seems to break down. It’s driving me nuts. Any advice? I bench a couple of times a week and split upper body x3 and lower x2. I’m fairly inexperienced and have been benching for about 8 months.

Hi @Dentistlakes !

I do cali but started with weights. And did bench press for the first time in ages this week!

Others will be better able to advise on bench press specifically, but I would say that with all strength training the initial gains do slow down (and that seems a good weight!) , and things do plateau sometimes. If I can I switch things up for a bit (so in your shoes might go to eg decline push ups and other hard progressions), and also work on any accessory/supplemental exercises, and then go back to the original. Everyone is different though.

And this can be useful to give you a very rough idea of what a good target would be
https://strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/bench-press
you can do for age and weight.

@Dentistlakes bench just is v finicky. Are you losing tension part way through the set? I do. You could try thinking about shoulders back and down, chest up, like you're breaking the bar. Leg drive. But I try all that and still lose tension.

Spoto press helped me get it a bit better as that stops you dumping the bar on your chest.

Jen Thompson puts some good stuff on Instagram about bench.

But yeh it's common to struggle with that.

I’ve hit a plateau in bench press of 47.5kg for 4 reps. I can go up to 50 but just for 2-3.

That's the grind. Keep at the higher weight to failure. Someone I follow on YouTube says that most people don't really push hard enough to failure, and that generally we have 2-3 more reps in us than we think.

The plateau always gets you up higher!

But I'm envious of your bench - I don't bench enough and my PB is stuck at 42.5 kg. Lat pull down is solid for 10 reps at 54 kg though so getting there with upper body.

Echoing what others have said, 47kg bench after 8 months is seriously strong, many people plateau long before that!
I'm a bit frustrated that bench and squat are currently consistently a bit lower than PBs I got last summer, not really sure what that's about but will keep plugging away. Though I did just put a lift (one armed row) into strengthlevel.com and it came up with 'advanced'! I know it's only a guide but it was exciting as usually im novice or teetering into intermediate.

Ahh @Proteinpud I've posted often enough about my up & down strength - last week couldn't shift 87.5 kg deads for more than 2 reps. Yesterday, did 2 sets of 3 at 90kg & it didn't feel too heavy. I was enjoying it more the heavier the bar got.

Does anyone else get that? Warm up set at 60kg feels annoying, 75 kg feels heavy, 90 kg feels great!

My PT just laughs at me now when I whinge. All the evidence is that I'm getting stronger, but slowly now. In deads, my 1RM is 100 kg and I've done that a few times. THe next step is to do 2 reps at 100, then keep grinding to get up to 102.5. And so on - although at 65 & a late starter, I do have to face the realty that I may never pull more than 100kgs ...

@YourPithyLilacSheep you sound like you're doing amazing. Most women don't ever get to the point of lifting over 100kg, regardless of when they start!
I do think our brains/CNS adjust a lot too. Today I did 38kg X4 bench and the last one AMRAP and I managed 6. Felt like I genuinely struggled on 6. Then I was annoyed, set up something else, went back to bench and managed 38x10.

Now if only I could translate that stubbornness to squats!

This is very helpful, thanks. I will keep going at the higher weights and hopefully something will happen eventually! It is frustrating as I do think some of it is my form slipping. Sometimes it feels ‘right’ and other times it’s just hard from the first rep. If I could get some consistency that would
at least be something.

I get this variability a lot, especially deadlifts. I think they really expose my weaknesses when I’m particularly tired, which is often now I’m nearly 54. Some days the weight shifts easily and others I can barely lift 75/80 for 6. I have bad a particularly tough time recently, just so bloody tired and I had to back off massively. I’m just trying to get back to where I was, but it’s slow progress.

@Dentistlakes if you're experiencing lots of inconsistency, which you're probably right is form breaking down, and tiredness grinding through heavy weights might not be a great thing to do. Both of those are things that are higher risk risk factors for injury.

It all depends what your goals are and what you enjoy of course. I'm a powerlifter so my goal is lifting the most I can on the platform. That is a big stress on my body. So longevity is also a goal and that means not lifting in ways that might injure me and not lifting maximally all the time. Strength adaptations don't need 100% all the time.

But that's not for everyone. I used to train in ways where I'd do loads and go all out often. And it can be a lot of fun. But I also used to pick up all sorts of little injuries. And I was nowhere near as strong.

So rather than just grinding through and hoping for the best, I'd do lots of bench variations to help fix your form. A PT could probably tell which ones you need as it'll depend where your weakness is or where your form breaks down. But if you don't have that just adding in variations will help get you stronger anyway and you'll probably hit upon one that does what your body needs.

That’s very helpful thanks. I’ll definitely look at getting some advice. I don’t have any injuries or niggles at the moment, but like you say, that could change and once you get injured it’s hard to come back from. Better not to go there in the first place!

How's everyone doing? And soon time for a new thread! This week was meant to be deload week according to my programme, but given I'm away next week I upped the reps on my main lifts. Did 85kg X6 for my last set of deadlifts and it felt like I could have comfortably done a few more, so that's feeling a lot more solid (previously anything above 80 I've been in very low rep ranges) Feeling confident that I'll be hitting a new PR when the time comes for it.

Still working on my pull ups but have managed to make some progress on volume (including banded) though I think it'll be a while before I'm adding reps to regular. It's still sets of 2, or 3 on a good day.

I managed to fail my top set of deadlifts today at a weight that should normally be pretty doable for me. Ugh! Blaming it on lack of food...

Three more weeks to lean out a bit more and then normal service resumes with more food! I have dropped a decent amount of body fat but I am SO weak :-( I will be glad when I finish my cut! Pleased with the results though, I can see way more muscle definition that I have been building over the past 6+ months.

Hello, back from walking holiday when I managed to fall on my sore elbow...but it actually seems much better anyway! And miraculously even tho I ate loads, walking up all those mountains means I've shed a couple kg so going to try to lose a bit more as it will help my cali and be less hard on the joints.

@Proteinpud , you are probably doing this but I find adding holds pn the negatives to low numbers of pull ups helps with volume - you can spin two reps out that way 😂. Awesome deadlift numbers 😀

@everycowandagain it sounds tough but like you are pleased with the results!

Thanks @MsMartini , I'm going slow on the negatives but haven't specifically done holds for a while, good reminder to do them once I'm back.
Where was your walking holiday? We're last day of a walking/cycling holiday in Brecon beacons, it's been lovely! Pushed myself, which isn't saying a lot given my cardio level of fitness but think the strength training definitely helped me getting up the hills. Do feel like I've eaten plenty to fuel though!

Yayy @Proteinpud ours was the Austrian Tyrol. Really walked a lot - I was surprised - and wonder if the evening swim and saunas actually do help recovery......

So an update from me. I've competed again, I put 10s of kg onto my total, and hit the qualifying total for English 🥹😎💪

As usual I had an awesome day, am very proud of myself, and excited for what's next.

I can't actually count that total due to timings as English is this weekend, and you have to set it several weeks beforehand and then the window opens again after. So I'll have to do it again. But that's fine, I have almost a year to do that (and British which is very much within reach too)

Yaaaaay! Go @RayKray that's amazing news! You must be so proud! I love how specialised your training is that you are almost working in the dark, just trusting your coach, and then it gets you results like that on competition day. So exciting about future comps!

@MsMartini that sounds beautiful. Ours was somewhat less exotic but I've loved how rural it is - cycling on tiny lanes where the hedges are taller than the road is wide. Managed two rides totalling nearly 60km mainly off road (some of that was hike a bike as some of the routes were a bit technical for me, but fun nonetheless) Today was according to Strava, my longest and highest walk. With a very good pub stop near the end.

Looking forward to getting back to lifting after a week off.

Whaaaat @RayKray that is super amazing. Well done. You must be chuffed to bits. I'm also fascinated by your descriptions of the process, and how well it suits you. Are you getting to know people at the comps?

@Proteinpud I know that area a little - so lovely. Cycling it is impressive!

Thanks both

And totally @MsMartini . It's the most welcoming community. I have loads of really wonderful friends, the loveliest people I've ever met, so supportive. We don't see each other that often but are messaging all the time with encouragement and support. It was British masters last weekend and English this so I've been doing loads of wishing people luck and congratulating, and I get the same back. When I go to meets now I'll always know at least some people there

@RayKray , that's brilliant!! How very happy-making.

Well done @RayKray that's so brilliant! You must be so pleased with yourself. Love the support and community too, what a wonderful thing to be part of.

All these active holidays sound great.

I am now less than 3 weeks to the end of my deficit, looking leaner and going for the final push. Thumb rehab is going well and, despite deficit related lack of strength, my big lifts are feeling smoother.

Well done for keeping focused during your deficit @everycowandagain !
Managed to squeeze in a gym session tonight. Thought I'd feel good on my lifts due to the extra calories, sleep, and rest (from weights at least) this week, but actually everything felt tough as ever 😂 Oh well! Managed to hit everything I needed to on the programme at least. Will keep chugging along!

Congratulations @RayKray sounds like the competition was ace!

I pinged my knee cartilage a while back (several name changes ago) and today, finally, got back to feeling safe with barbell back squats: just gentle today - top set only 45kilos. But it felt great. Last week DLs went well - multiple reps at 90 kilos (no reset between lifts, which is tough).

Wish I could stick to a deficit @everycowandagain . I'm trying to limit to 1600 cals - it's hard!

Was about to post and realised it'll be the end of the thread, so will start anew!