Bench Not Improving

[quote]reallywittyname wrote:
Alright so I’m not sure if you guys are wrong about what 6’4" 165 looks like or if I’m wrong about my weight. But I don’t think I quite look like the volleyball player. Anyway here’s a really shitty pic I just took so that there’s no confusion. Please excuse my dirty bathroom mirror and abnormally small nipples.

Anyway I know you can’t tell much, but it’s not like my arms are complete sticks and I’m not, yknow, emaciated looking. At least.[/quote]

Dude, you just need to eat, then eat again, then eat some more. Im around 6’6" 235 and trying to get to 250. Make sure your form is on point and like I said earlier, eat.

Sorry man, you’re just not very big plus you have to have a bunch more muscle to move the same amount of weight as someone who is shorter. You really are going to have to put on some appreciable mass before your lifts are going to go up much, especially your bench. Just keep eating a ton and lifting, it’s going to be a slow process.

Oh, and she’s not a volleyball player she’s a high jumper named Blanka Vlasic.

Sorry I just hijacked this threat about fruits and vegetables and weak ass bench presses (I’m included in this).

OP, I’m actually very jealous of you that you’re bulking. Take advantage of it. You’re never hungry, can eat as much as you want, and get great pumps cause of the carbs and fats. I’m only taking in maintenance calories and it feels like I’m seriously always starving. Just force feed yourself, and eventually your body will come to except that number of calories and it will be easier.

At 6’4" IMO to look good, you’ll have to weight at least 230 probably 240+. I’ll have to weigh 220+, so I still have quite a ways to go also. You don’t have to get their tomorrow. Short term goals worked best for me, say for you 170 by Thanksgiving and at least 175 by Christmas I think would be good. Don’t forget to throw some “Power Hours” in once a week, literally eat everything in sight for an hour straight.

[quote]Reed wrote:
Yeah that guy is a fucking joke and he continues to post shit on here and gets his ass ripped every time fucking idiot. Have you checked out his other videos on youtube they are epic. My favorite personally he “deadlifts his bodyweight in bananas”.[/quote]
I have never heard of this…

Is this it?


Gandhi was a Fruitarian for 5 years.

Big puller, The Gand.

I’m going out on a limb for you here bud.

I don’t think your diet is terrible. College was actually a good time to bulk for me, abuse the hell out of your meal plan, put as much down as you possibly can every time you go in. So diet, in short, is okay. As others said more carbs. I would just say to try to get a bit more down every meal and add in 1 or 2 shakes a day with milk.

Regarding your training, I started lifting right around the time I was 18. I was 6"4 and 180lbs so similar to you. I pulled out some old training logs I had from college and my bench was not far off from yours either. Looking back, here are some things that might help you.

  1. As just mentioned, eat a bit more
  2. I’m not a big fan of the program you laid out. Benching 3 times a week is IMO no good. I would tell you to train the hell out of it once a week and then do some accessory pressing work the second day. I think West Side for Skinny Bastards is a great program

http://www.tnation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/westside_for_skinny_bastards

  1. As others have also said, start early working on form. The two fastest ways to up your bench are to up your weight and better your form.

What monopoly said, he’s a smart guy, as are the others who gave you good advice. The only difference is I dont think it is too out of line to bench 2x-3x a week as you have your bench portion laid out…aconsidering you are such a rank beginner. More frequency = more opportunities to practice and perfect good form/techniques, and habits. On the other hand, moat young guys fall into the death trap of “bench 3x a week” & never improve because they ignore all the other fundamental things in training…like other body parts especially legs and back.

Dont be afraid to back off on the bench frequency. As a long armed lifter, you are going to a) have a slower time building your bench–i am, and I do. And I started with a 1RM of 95 lbs. And now it is 400+. And b) you are going to require more accessory and weak point training for your bench…stuff working chest, tris, delts. So in the short term don’t sweat it, you have only startes to lift, you havent truly stalled–it’s just slow to get better. The biggest thing for now is 1) diet diet diet and 2) forming good technical habits on the lifts and especially bench right away. This pays off multiple dividends later.

Btw, bench is highly correlated with bodyweight, so aside from getting more coordinated and better at technique, gain wieghr :).

Oh and soery for typos, im on my phone

OP–honestly overall not a bad routine, i’ve seen far far worse and I kinda like it. Pretty balanced and simple, hits all major movements. However–there is no chest work in your routine (bench should be, but as you said you feel it all in your long arms…)

Try adding 4x 10 flies at the very end of two of your days. just a short term thing, but you’ll need some work there eventually because the tri’s are at such a disadvantage at the bottom of the bench. Easiest way is to just do the flyes in between sets of ab work during your rest period. Saves time. Might cause a bit of siffixulty in the short term due to soreness but should help in the longee run.

For Bench…

For overall progress, (especially note Defranco’s “Hour of Power”)…
http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_interviews/roundtable_the_cure_for_skinny

I give almost 100% of my wanted weight gain to #2 above ^

Try DB bench. I am a long armed lifter and I found that DB are perfect for me. I was always good at them but I used to stick with the bench. They hit my pecs from the inside out. My pecs are becoming my best body part because I don’t care about the bench anymore.

But as a beginner I think you should stick with bench a little before.