Help! I've been stuck benching 140lbs for a good 1 month. I try overloading but it has not worked because I would just get tired. I'm 15 years old, 5'3 and weigh 105lbs. Is it because of my weight? My height? Or is it because I have adapted to bench pressing that it has no effect on me? I have mostly been working on my Fast Twitching Muscle Fibers. Maybe this is the cause of my plateau.I'm willing to switch to endurance exercises to improve my Slow Twitching Muscle Fibers but I'm not sure if this will help me break my plateau.Any advice will be appreciated.
the concern i think of you will desire to do is replace your workout. double reps, do some days of various extra gadgets etc. attempt staring at muscle and wellness magazine or there cyber web web site. seek for advice from own coach
Well if you're trying to beef up you need to eat more protein. If you're not a big eater then eat your three meals a day and snack on protein bars. As for the plateau just take a break from bench pressing like for a week then go back at it. Doing the same thing causes muscles memory. If you're looking to increase strength then try resistance training for a while then go back to bench pressing that way you don't fall into a plateau. Resistance training is a little more work on muscles so you probably want to start with less then 140Lb of resistance. Switch your workout up this will help keep you from the plateau effect.
Hitting a sticking point on your bench press typically has nothing to do with your chest muscles. The supporting muscles of the shoulders are weak, causing your body to stop muscle growth of your pectorals(major and minor) to avoid injury. Another common reason for a plateau is an imbalance. I assume you use a bar for your bench press. The disadvantage to this is your strong arm(typically your right arm) can lift a greater percentage of the total weight. This naturally causes one side to become stronger and the body, again, will shut down chest growth. I recommend using dumbells for your chest routine this will avoid the imbalance and additionally will hit stabilizer muscles in the shoulder. Now, let's work on those shoulders. The front head(like it says the muscle in front) of your shoulder connects to your pectorals. Strenghtening this muscle will get you over this sticking point. I recommend front shoulder raises, overhead press(with dumbells, you should know why now), and side raises. These exercises with strenghten those weak muscles and you'll get past this plateau in no time. Hope this helps, feel free to email me with any other questions. I enjoy answering questions in my field of research. Chris M.S.,C.S.C.S.
