Bench progress

[PVSampson]

You are not doing Stronglifts if you are adding exercises.Stick to the routine AS WRITTEN and you will progress.

[Merkley]

Up your caloric intake

[djflex]

You are not doing Stronglifts if you are adding exercises.Stick to the routine AS WRITTEN and you will progress.

This.

If you are running a basic linear program, tweaking it too much fucks the whole concept up

[Cali]

You are not doing Stronglifts if you are adding exercises.Stick to the routine AS WRITTEN and you will progress.

The only thing added are push-ups, and Mehdi quite literally said "Push-ups are one of those exercises everyone should do." Chin-ups and dips are part of the program as accessory exercises- and they're both built into the Stronglifts app too.

[PVSampson]

Accessories are for when you have built a solid foundation and to help past plateaus.

Stalling at less than 200lb on bench is not advanced enough to be adding accessories,as the foundation has not been established.Focus on the main lifts,adding the poundage as written.

What you did on this day vvvvvv is not Stronglifts. 7x5 squats is NOT 5x5 program.

 http://www.iron-sanctuary.com/forums/index.php?topic=2056.msg100935#msg100935

[Cali]

I revised a typo, total sets should have been 6x5, not 7x5. I did the heavy set first and it didn't feel right; did the working sets at lower weight.
I also noted that I need to order the sets chronologically too, thanks.

Honestly though, I enjoy doing the accessory exercises a lot. I want to be able to do a good number of chin/pull ups and they've been recommended to me by a couple people on here. Same goes for dips and push ups too. Would it be that detrimental to continue with them?

Perhaps I should up the weight to near the point of failure? I'm not really getting too sore anymore- even with the accessories.

[piperdown]

I'm going to throw this out there......
I think 5x5 is great for absolute beginners and older fuks like myself when I starting back up again. I like squatting more than once a week, in fact try and get at least 3 x per week.
Which leads me to this....I do better at hitting each group at least twice a week than just once a week.
Being young like you are your recovery is going to be the best you'll get in your life. Maybe a program that does that will help you out more.

That being said:
What you need is more sleep, more food and consistency in the gym. Sleep is the biggest one that I see lacking. 6 hrs sleep a night is not going to optimize any growth. All it does it wear the body down, cause a lack of focus and increase cravings for simple carbs.

[PVSampson]

Reset the whole routine.Forget about where you are with deads and squats and go back to a point where the progression is equivalent with where you are maxing on bench,and drop 10lb.Start again and focus on the main lifts,leave the accessories for your off days,if you must do them.Stay with 5x5 and follow the plan for the three lifts on the main days,25reps of bench,squat,rows and OHP is PLENTY.Deads will automatically progress.Build your base.If you have trouble progressing on a lift,drop 10lb the next session on ALL your lifts and go again.

Stick to that and in one year from now you will be hitting some good numbers on all the lifts and your body will show it.

[Cali]

Right now, my squat and deadlift are not close to my max. My bench is pretty close to it, overhead press I can progress slowly on, and rows I'm moderately progressing on. Is a reset still necessary for all of it?

E: I can do a couple reps at 135 on the bench, and I'm 10lbs away from it as my working weight right now

[PVSampson]

Post your numbers up for the lifts,that you can do 5 reps comfortably

[Cali]

Comfortably 1x5:
Bench: 130-135lbs
Squat: over 210lbs, not sure how much over though
Row: ~150lbs
Deadlift: 275lbs, maybe more
OHP: 100lbs

My bench sucks and so do my rows.

E: I'll up the calories and protein a more, and sleep I need to sort out. I need to wake up early in the mornings yet I can only really lift past 8pm.

[PVSampson]

For a 100lb OHP the numbers should look like
         155    Squat
         100    Bench
         120    Row
         205    Dead.

That puts you at week 8,in the middle.

Add 5lb each session,10lb for deads.

That adds 20lb a month to OHP,Bench and Rows.55lb a month to Squat and 50lb to deads.

* Include the weight of the bar, you lift it. Olympic bar weighs 45lb               
* If your gym doesn't have 2.5lb plates, get your own pair and take it to the gym.               
* Don't use bigger increments than 5lb/workout or you'll miss reps and plateau early on               
* Once you Deadlift 220lb, switch from 10lb to 5lb increments each workout for longer progress               
* If you miss reps, repeat the weight next workout. Still missing after 3 workouts, deload 10%               
* StrongLifts 5x5 doesn't stop after 12 weeks. Keep adding weight as long as you can               
* More info: http://stronglifts.com/5x5/               

         

[Get-n-fit]

Accessories are for when you have built a solid foundation and to help past plateaus.

Stalling at less than 200lb on bench is not advanced enough to be adding accessories,as the foundation has not been established.Focus on the main lifts,adding the poundage as written.

To further expand on my first post in here, I'm going to agree with this.  Accessory work and pinpointing weaknesses is really for more advanced lifters. At you're level if you want to bench more, you need to bench more!  Plain and simple.  First and foremost get your form dead on,  arched back, shoulders retracted, traps pinned to the bench, feet behind your knees, shoulders tucked....all the basics.  Practice good form with every single rep without exception and then bench, bench, bench, bench.  If you're doing stronglifts, then do stronglifts.  No ad libbing, changing the routine or anything, follow it to the T.  You have to be honest with yourself, your not experienced enough to adjust the plan, that come with time (years!)  At you're age, you should be growing and progressing rapidly, if not, there is a good reason for it.  I cannot emplasize this enough, if you want your bench to get stronger, THEN BENCH!  Without a strong foundation, all the other accessory work is useless.  Seriously, you could ditch everything and only focus on Bench, Deadlift, Squat and OHP and become very strong and look great. 

[Trev71]

To further expand on my first post in here, I'm going to agree with this.  Accessory work and pinpointing weaknesses is really for more advanced lifters. At you're level if you want to bench more, you need to bench more!  Plain and simple.  First and foremost get your form dead on,  arched back, shoulders retracted, traps pinned to the bench, feet behind your knees, shoulders tucked....all the basics.  Practice good form with every single rep without exception and then bench, bench, bench, bench. 

If you're doing stronglifts, then do stronglifts.  No ad libbing, changing the routine or anything, follow it to the T.  You have to be honest with yourself, your not experienced enough to adjust the plan, that come with time (years!)  At you're age, you should be growing and progressing rapidly, if not, there is a good reason for it. 

I cannot emplasize this enough, if you want your bench to get stronger, THEN BENCH!  Without a strong foundation, all the other accessory work is useless. 

Seriously, you could ditch everything and only focus on Bench, Deadlift, Squat and OHP and become very strong and look great.

Same page here, fully agree on this.

At your age, you should be going in every week and obtaining some sort of gain... whether it be reps or weight or better reps (form, speed). Provided diet and sleep are in order

[Trev71]

We've beaten this topic up enough here eh?