I haven't benched in a month

[dakid]

Hey I'm 23 yrs old, 5'7 165lbs. Back in late November, I was benching around 295 with a rep of 9 with 225. I took a break due to finals week and over winter break I was unable to workout due to illness and lack of gym access. I returned to school this week and went to the weight room on Tuesday. I regressed DRAMATICALLY. 225 was actually the highest I could go smh. I just wanted to ask how long would it be until I regain my old form? I'm still around the same weight and eating well. My traps and shoulders are still the same as before but of course my arms and chest got a little smaller.

Will it be a tough task to get back to 295 or do I just need to shake some rust off for a few weeks?

 

[Goldfish]

1x295 at 165? I have a lot of difficulty believing that you have legitimately achieved that without learning enough about yourself to be able to answer your own question.

What are the specifics of your bench press technique? That includes where you grip the bar, how you grip it, what your eyes are doing, what your head's doing, what your shoulders are doing, what your elbows are doing, what your wrists are doing, what your upper back is doing, what your trunk is doing, what your hips and legs are doing, your foot position, the range of motion of your bench press, bar path and bar speed.

How do you program your bench press? That includes within the workout, and from workout to workout, week to week, month to month.

And what assistance work do you do? That includes bench press variations, general chest, triceps and shoulder work, and exercises to balance out the workload so that you don't create muscle imbalances or injuries (eg rows, rotator cuff exercises).