Chest development?

[GotLift]

I've been doing WBB#1 for about 2 months now. I seem to be struggling on my bench. I just don't seem to be getting stronger. I bench 130lbs. for 8 on my first set and I stuggle to bench 160lbs. for 6 on my second set. I do seem to be getting stronger on my inlcine dumbell press. I'm up to 60lb dumbells for 2 sets of 8. My dips are definitley getting better. At first I could barely do two and now I'm doing two sets of 8. I changed the routine a little and do 2 sets of flat flys with 25lb. dumbells. I just don't seem to be getting stronger on my flat barbell bench. I don't have a spotter for any of the excercises.

My diet.
I usually wake up and eat a bowl of whole grain cereal with skim milk.

two hours later I have a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole weat bread, wheat thins (occasionally), a 6 ounze yogurt, and good serving of cantelope (SP?), water or skim milk.

3 hours later I have a regular meal with large portions. Usually beef, ground beef, or chicken, potatos, and a side of veggies. water or skim milk.

3-4 hours later I have a large bowl of oatmeal, a 6 oz. yogurt, a pint of skim milk and water.

I don't eat sweets and I don't drink anything but water and skim milk... (Oh yeah, beer occasionally on weekends.)

Occasionally I will have a Subway tuna sandwich (6 or 12") when I'm in a hurry.

I do cardio on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 3.5 miles/30 minutes on treadmill.

My diet is pretty consistant on my work days because I am on a schedule. My days off aren't as consistant. I still eat good just not as often. Sometimes 2-3 meals per day, but I'm working on it.
Any advice?

[Gr3mlin73]

Have you tried doing dumbell bench presses for a change? I got stuck for a time doing normal bench, switched to DBs for a while and when they started to go up, I went back to BB bench, with good results. Are you eating enough of the right foods? Getting enough protein per your body weight? There are many factors but these seem to be the ones that people have trouble with.
Hope this helps.
Gr3m.

[Sensei]

I've been doing WBB#1 for about 2 months now. I seem to be struggling on my bench. I just don't seem to be getting stronger. I bench 130lbs. for 8 on my first set and I stuggle to bench 160lbs. for 6 on my second set. I do seem to be getting stronger on my inlcine dumbell press. I'm up to 60lb dumbells for 2 sets of 8. My dips are definitley getting better. At first I could barely do two and now I'm doing two sets of 8. I changed the routine a little and do 2 sets of flat flys with 25lb. dumbells. I just don't seem to be getting stronger on my flat barbell bench.
...Any advice?

IMHO, your main problem is that you've been doing the exact same routine for two months... You really need to mix things up a bit. Change the sets, reps, weights, exercise order, etc. for a while and see what happens.

Also, what kind of warm-up are you doing for your bench press? It could be that you are doing too much before your main sets.

Lastly, consider doing lower reps (and higher weights) for a while. Sets of 3-6 for 3-5 sets might be just the change you need.

[twm]

Uhm, I'd say to continue exactly what you've been doing except you should increment the weight slower on BB bench. You've obviously gained strength and some muscle since, so if its not broken, don't fix it. Instead of 130->160, try 130->140->150 etc

You don't need to fail on bench to build muscle

[jkirkpatrick]

^Ditto. Give yourself some time. Two months is still only two months. I also second the dumbbell presses. It's all I did for my first year when I started out. Incline, flat, decline, flyes, whatever.

[RussianRocket]

Uhm, I'd say to continue exactly what you've been doing except you should increment the weight slower on BB bench. You've obviously gained strength and some muscle since, so if its not broken, don't fix it. Instead of 130->160, try 130->140->150 etc

You don't need to fail on bench to build muscle

iI was about to suggest the same thing. But with even less weight, when i have a problem with bench i dont slap on 10 pounds, i just go up by 5, 130 > 135 >140> 145 etc. It takes a bit longer but i find my muscular endurance increase as well.

[GotLift]

Thanks guys! I geuss I just need to keep it in perspective. I did switch to DB press last week. I think I will do that for 2-3 weeks and switch. If that works then I'll do that every few weeks to change it up.

[waynis]

IMHO, your main problem is that you've been doing the exact same routine for two months... You really need to mix things up a bit. Change the sets, reps, weights, exercise order, etc. for a while and see what happens.
.

agreed

[Hatred]

Try uisng a lighter weight for more reps as your workset.
or heavier for fewer.
or add 1 lb to the bar.
Mess with it.
I still have to **** with stuff to figure things out.

[GotLift]

So today was my chest/back day. I did the flat DB press 50lbs 1x8 and 60lbs. 1x8, incline DB press 60 1x8 and 65 1x7, flat bench flys 25 1x8 and 30 1x8, and dips for 2x8. The DB excercises fealt great and I fealt much stronger today. It's funny though, I was able to lift 65's on incline and 60's on flat. I thought I was uncommon to be stronger on the incline. Anyway, I'm going to do two weeks on DB and two weeks on BB to see if I see any difference. I will definitley play with the weight/reps as advised. Thanks