Major issues

Hi all

Just after a bit of advice from the experts out there. I have been training now for over 3 years in which I have made good progress all over apart from my arms, chest and shoulders all which are being held up by my triceps failing constantly on pushing exercises e.g. Bench press, shoulder press etc I cannot even manage 3 sets of 8 reps barbell bench press at 50 kgs after over 3 years of training and kids around me are passing me in strength and all this I'd down to my tris not being able to push the weight back out so am not even fatiguing my chest at all. Have seen
many PTA and tried all sorts of tri workouts but nothing seems to be working. Does anyone have any ideas I can try? See stats below.

28 yrs
6 ft 2
14 st 8

Started with sl 5x5 training making good gains and have since done bill Starr, 531, ppl, upper lower splits.


Cheers for any help
Matt

What are your other lifts like?

It's unlikely that it's just your triceps causing the problem because if you are eating enough for all your other muscles to be progressing there's no reason why your triceps wouldn't be, particularly given the bench press is predominantly a tricep driven movement.

Hi there CK

Other lifts are not bad at all and triceps are fine on pull down movements and kickbacks it is mainly pushing movements this happens on it gets the the point where I'm twisting during the being press to be able to lock my arm out as the tri has totally failed. Legs and back work especially good squatting 130kg free bar and dead lifting approx 150 so don't seem bad figures to me. Thanks again.

Hmm yes your bench is very disproportionate. How much were you benching when you started lifting? Ie how much have you progressed on the lift?

What about bent over rows, how strong are you with them?

Welcome to my world!
 
Not to dishearten you, I have tried everything possible to get my bench up and it's still, quite simply, my weak lift.
 
I used to think it was triceps and put them on a programme of intense training and super rest for a year, with immense success (I might just have the best strongest tri's in my gym now, and my gym is full of big trainers), but my bench is still disproportionately mince! 
 
I keep working at it and make slow progress, I use a variety of approaches now, altering incline, grip, set and rep ranges. I utilise flyes and pullovers. I ensure very good rest, in fact everything I can to get my bench up, and very slowly I am doing so - but it's slow.
 
Just so you know, I squat 270 for reps and pull 290 on deads but only bench 120 for reps with a SRM hardly more than that.
 
I now think it's just the way I'm made. My overhead work is good and I can produce power through cleans no problem. If I go narrow grip I can smash them out for fun too. Something in the way I recruit muscle for the bench holds me back though and I just have to live with it I think.

Cheers for the replies guys.
 
CK - my BOR are fine so i think i normally superset BOR with back flyes using a weight of approx 80-90 Kgs for the BOR and 18Kg DBs for the back flyes.
 
I sound very similar to your issues Bollard failing inthe same way, my Tris feel and work fine on other tri exercises its just the pushing part its very strange and can do weighted dips with 60kg plates on lap etc so very confused but thought its time to get this sorted as i cannot progress any further and my training partner is leaving me behind with the weight to getting very dimoralised now.
 
Thanks again
Matt

Whats your overhead pressing like?

Try not to get demoralised. It might be worth dropping the bench for a while and hitting the DB press and doing loads of fly work.
 
I'm a big believer that progress or not, training should always be fun. I've said to people before, and I mean it - I'd train if it was bad for me and made me weaker becasue I actively enjoy the work.
 
My biggest advice just now would be to stop stressing about it, alter your routine a bit, and find the love again bro!

Many thanks again for the encouraging advice Bollard will give it a go.
 
Big D - my overhead pressing is poor also due to the same feeling of tri failure mainly in the right arm which goes first, seems to be the pressing movements which cause this issue.
 
Thanks
Matt

Ok, you might as well try and imporve your tricep strength anyway.
 
Do you train your triceps seperately to chest / shoulders? If so, I'd stop that. 2 days on a small muscle group is probably too much for most. I'd always advise triceps on a push day.
 
When you are doing tricep work, don't just repeat a load of pressing work, it's next to pointless. Use the rope for pushdowns and overhead tri extensions - go for powerful extensions with super slow negatives (7-8 seconds) and really concentrate on the tricep releasing the rep.  You'll probably need to drop the weight for this but don't worry, you'll be recruiting deep into the fibres which will all assist when it comes to recruiting them again on the big presses.  Also, utilise straight arm push downs to get them working in different planes and from different angles -again, it all helps with recruiting the muscles slightly better when needing them on a big press.
 
As I mentioned above, blasting my tri's didn't necessarily improve my bench, but it certainly hasn't hindered it.

Many thank Bollard for all your advice.
 
Cheers
Matt