Thread: not progressing on routine...

so i hit 275 on bench press (before injuring my finger, see my other post about it... ) and I have been stuck on that weight for like 2 months. The time has come for a change. Now I have tried different things in this time, like switching exercise order, increasing volume and decreasing volume, but basically I did chest once a week on monday. I have done anywhere from 9 total sets for chest down to 4 total sets and still am stuck at this weight.

The question is, how do I know if I either A)need more rest time to get past this, or B)increase the frequency of training to get a different response?

Is there a general rule of thumb to follow when you are not making progress, assuming everything else is constant? I feel recovered and perfectly ready to go for each session, something tells me I may need to increase the frequency a bit just to get past this plateau.......opinions?

thanks

Try some speed training. Basically, lift 50-60% of your 1RM on the bench press using compensatory acceleration (Lift it as fast as you can). I usually pause the bar on my chest for a couple of seconds when doing this so as to kill the stretch reflex. Do 8 sets or so using 3 repetitions.

Make sure you are using proper form. Check out Mudge's signature for a link. I don't feel like digging it up.

If the bar is getting stuck a few inches off your chest, then you need to train your lats more. If the bar is getting stuck higher up, then you need to train your triceps more.