Please help on Bench

Alright, in March 07 I maxed out on bench at 210. Today in June 07 I maxed out on bench at 210. No increase. My bench workout lately has been anywhere from 1-6 reps and 5-6 sets. I hit my triceps lats and abs with each bench workout. Im eating about 5000 calories a day, and can't gain a single pound. What can possibly be wrong?
 
the type of calories...

but also, stop "maxing out" so much. work in different rep ranges. for most people that test their maxes on whatever lifts, squat, deadlift, bench, etc...they work up to their max over a period of time.
 
you eat 5000 cals a day? but cant gain a pound bodyweight? then you probobly arent eating 5000 cals..

Maybe you hae an imbalance? Its typical for bench progress to stop if the back is too weak.
 
How much do you weigh and how sure are you that you're eating 5,000 calories a day?

You could try changing your workout a bit, like doing high reps and fewer sets for a few weeks (10x3 for example) to add some variation
 
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Stats are

Height - 6'0
Weight - 151
BF% - 12%
Age - 15, 16 on june 12
Calories/day - usually about 4200-5000 i have about 5 full course meals a day and snacks such as yogurt and fruit but theres little variety in my meals. Usually peanut butter and jellies and snack foods for lunch and i usually go to resterauntes for steak and veggies etc. I dont really record much of my calorie intake but its a rough estimate. i dont eat that clean and i'm not going to shoot myself if i eat a fatty food. I know many kids who are benching 300 + who eat a lot less healthy than me, smoke weed, and just bench press.
Bench max - 210
Squat Max - 235
Deadlift Max - 355
Box Squat - 270 x 4
Seated Cable Rows - 5x10 @ 120
Weighted Sit-Ups - 4x12 @ 115 (Dumbbell)


I was doing workouts provided by a professional weight trainer at my school, although i want to use my own workouts. Like i said, 1-6 rep range for about 8 months straight. I have NEVER used dumbbells for flat bench, mainly because I have trouble getting more then 50 lb dumbbells to the start position. I'm pretty sure i have to gain weight, but lately i have not been doing any cardio and eating massively so that i can, and i cannot gain a pound of anything whether it be fat or muscle.

The basics of the workout i was doing looks like this:
Monday: Deadlifts, GH Raise, Rows, Abs, Sleds
tues: Bench, Military Press, Abs, Chin-ups, Barbell Burls
thurs: Squat, Straight Legged Deadlifts, Abs, Sleds
and i added my workout on Sat: Bench, Close-Grip Incline Bench, Side Raises, Lat-pulldown, Barbell Curl
 
Last edited:
Stats are

Height - 6'0
Weight - 151
BF% - 12%
Age - 15, 16 on june 12
Calories/day - usually about 4200-5000 i have about 5 full course meals a day and snacks such as yogurt and fruit but theres little variety in my meals. Usually peanut butter and jellies and snack foods for lunch and i usually go to resterauntes for steak and veggies etc. I dont really record much of my calorie intake but its a rough estimate. i dont eat that clean and i'm not going to shoot myself if i eat a fatty food. I know many kids who are benching 300 + who eat a lot less healthy than me, smoke weed, and just bench press.
Bench max - 210
Squat Max - 235
Deadlift Max - 355
Box Squat - 270 x 4
Seated Cable Rows - 5x10 @ 120
Weighted Sit-Ups - 4x12 @ 115 (Dumbbell)


I was doing workouts provided by a professional weight trainer at my school, although i want to use my own workouts. Like i said, 1-6 rep range for about 8 months straight. I have NEVER used dumbbells for flat bench, mainly because I have trouble getting more then 50 lb dumbbells to the start position. I'm pretty sure i have to gain weight, but lately i have not been doing any cardio and eating massively so that i can, and i cannot gain a pound of anything whether it be fat or muscle.

The basics of the workout i was doing looks like this:
Monday: Deadlifts, GH Raise, Rows, Abs, Sleds
tues: Bench, Military Press, Abs, Chin-ups, Barbell Burls
thurs: Squat, Straight Legged Deadlifts, Abs, Sleds
and i added my workout on Sat: Bench, Close-Grip Incline Bench, Side Raises, Lat-pulldown, Barbell Curl

I was kind of like you at your age. When I graduated high school I was 6'1 160 in spite of eating as much as I could and lifting regularly. It may just be the late bloomer syndrome. The size just started catching up with me as I got older. I think you just have to reach a certain physical maturity level before you see real gains. Some guys hit it really early, some have to wait until their 20's. In my experience a lot of the guys who were huge at 16-17 were the same guys who grew facial hair when they were friggin 13.

That might bum you out that you have to wait to get big, but the good news is a 210 bench press is pretty damn good for your size, especially since you have long arms. A shorter guy at your weight might be able to do more.

I'm not huge or anything now (I don't intend to be) but I'm about 50 lbs heavier at probably the same body fat. Of course, I'm ancient...32:D (it won't take that long...I've been maintaining. I bet in college you'll start getting big.

On a side note...why do you care how much your max bench is unless you're a power lifter? I kind of look at maxing out as a waste of a workout.
I have no idea what I can bench, but I dumbell press damn near my bodyweight for reps(12 on my first couple sets).

If you want to use dumbells you have to sit them on your legs and kind of push them into position as you lie back...at least that's how I do it. ..and yes is hurts your legs at first. Occasionally I still get a bruise. I like dumbells especially when working out alone....if you can't press out that last rep, just kinda carefully drop them.
 
There is no medical condition in the world that I am aware of that would prevent someone from gaining weight while eating 5000+ calories a day.

List your diet on a day when you think you have hit at least 4500calories.

Either your expending more calories then some long distance runners on a daily basis, Not actually eating that much, or have some freakishly weird medical problem.
 
I will track my calories for tommarow...keep in mind, i eat a lot of good stuff like steak but i also eat a lot of bad stuff like Burger King. But you cannot tell me I'm not increasing because of a few bad foods because i have seen and know many people who eat a lot worse then me and can do a lot more then me. The other night i had a 22 oz ribeye steak with 2 8 oz porkchops, broccohli, carrots, coke, and corn on the cob for a pre-dinner meal. My metabolism is apparently super fast for whatever reason. I am going to have to agree with gooch because thats exactly what my dad told me, and I'm guessing that is it, however, i am mistaken for being 18 quite often.
 
Yeah, I found that things like dips and rows helped my benching the most when I first started lifting

Absolutely. When my bench would get stuck, i started doing heavy dips. My bench started moving again. A lot of the bench process is related to your triceps. If you haven't made any gains in 6 months, you are not still doing the same workout are you?? If so, then your body has adapted, and you need to shake up that routine a bit.
 
There is no medical condition in the world that I am aware of that would prevent someone from gaining weight while eating 5000+ calories a day.

Being a 30 stone long distance runner? :D
 
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