# of reps a problem for strength gain?

I've been stuck at a certain weight for my bench press for about a month while my other lifts have increased. I was thinking, I have been doing bench at a weight where I can only do 2-3 reps per set. Mostly this is because of my pride and because friends of mine use that same weight .. could this be a problem? I'm only interested in strength gains and was wondering if this could be a reason I'm not moving up.

Could be- You might have hit a plateau when it comes to bench, and there's a number of things you can do to break through it. Try lowering the weight and doing more reps, see how that helps- How are you warming up right now? When do you work out your triceps and shoulders in relation to your chest?

ORIGINAL: OG123

I've been stuck at a certain weight for my bench press for about a month while my other lifts have increased. I was thinking, I have been doing bench at a weight where I can only do 2-3 reps per set. Mostly this is because of my pride and because friends of mine use that same weight .. could this be a problem? I'm only interested in strength gains and was wondering if this could be a reason I'm not moving up.

Yup! That's exactly why your bench is not increasing.

Let's say you are lifting 225 for 2-3 reps. You should drop down to 150-160lbs for 5 sets x 5 reps. I know you can do more, not that's not the point. Increase the weight 5-10lbs per week. I guarantee that when you get back up there, you'll be getting 5 reps with 225.

Strength training is not going to failure(only about 5% of the time). I cannot stress this enough.

"Z Last Book You'll Ever Need On Strength Training"
by Todd E. Bostrom

Thanks for the great responses I'll try this out.

O but wait... if I am able to move up to lets say from 2-3 reps of 225 to 5 reps of 225, should I continually try to move up slowly until I happen to hit another plateau and repeat the process? ... and about the lifting to failure, what exactly do you mean by this, if I'm just able to get the last rep out at 225 for 5 reps is that to failure? or is lifting to failure when I can't complete it and need slight help to lock out.

Only about 5% of the time do you go to failure. Most of that is during the peak of the training cycle.

There is alot more to a great program, but basically, when you reach a weight where you cannot complete all of the reps, you drop the weight back down. When you drop the weight back down, you want it to be slightly higher than the last time you dropped it down.

"Z Last Book You'll Ever Need On Strength Training"
by Todd E. Bostrom

o and another thing bossman :) I was looking back at an old post of mine about squats/deadlifts and you mentioned it being ok to split squat/deadlift if each was worked only once a week (something like that), anyway, for me I have 3 days to lift a week. mon-wed-fri, I was wondering if I should have 2 upper body days and one lower body day or vice versa, what's your opinion?

I guess it depends on what your goals are. I come from a powerlting background, so I would want to focus mostly on the big three lifts. I would go with one of these:

Mon-squat/bench, Wed-lat pulldowns,shrugs/curls, Fri-deadlift/bench

or

Mon-squat/bench/deadlift, Wed-lat pulldowns,shrugs/curls, Fri-squat/bench/deadlift

or

Mon-squat, Wed-bench/lat pulldowns,shrugs/curls, Fri-deadlift

Something like that.

"Z Last Book You'll Ever Need On Strength Training"
by Todd E. Bostrom

I was thinking of following your third layout plan, but I was wondering, what other exercises should go on the deadlift day? For the squat day I was planning squat, 45 degree leg press, and 45 degree calf raises, but I'm not sure what other exercises I should do after deadlifting.

The only things I do for legs is squat, deadlift and calf raises. I wouldn't even do the leg press, but that's up to you.

Since deadlifts are so similar to squats, I would just do calves afterward. Maybe shrugs since you are stressing that muscle in the deadlift. That way your traps will be fully recovered than if you trained them on a different day from deadlifts

"Z Last Book You'll Ever Need On Strength Training"
by Todd E. Bostrom

Bossman I tried sending you a PM but dunno if it got thru so I'm just reposting the question here.
How long do u generally let muscle groups rest, for example if you did bench presses on monday when is the next day you would bench again? This may vary for strength gain and muscle gain so if anyone else has answers please answer with strength gains in mind.

I usually don't do the same exercise again until I feel fully recovered in those muscles.

I responded to your pm.

No matter what lift(or muscle group) you are training, you can train it twice a week as long as you are not training to failure. This will give you 2-3 days in between the same exercises for rest. This is pretty general.

The only ones who could train more often are beginners. Beginners can train the same muscle groups every other day in the beginning of their training career. After 2-3 months, you would want to change that to twice a week.

Another exception would be a lifter on a strength training program. In between training cycles, they may want to try the every other day approach, but for no more than 4 weeks.

"Z Last Book You'll Ever Need On Strength Training"
by Todd E. Bostrom