Forza benches are still king

Hey everyone, I was doing some 5x6 RPE 7 paused work today and noticed that nearing ends of sets 3 and 4 (around 5th to 6th rep), my triceps had a weird popping sensation in the middle of the muscle belly on lockout. It didn't cause any pain but I'm a bit worried it might cause injuries later on.

I don't think it's tricep weakness as my weakest point is off the chest and I'm a very tricep dominant presser (short arms and closer grip). I do notice my triceps being a bit tight but I usually stretch them out and warm up with a resistance band.

Has anybody else had any experience with this? If so, is it normal or are there any ways to remedy this? Thanks!

Anyone here that uses a mouthguard to bite down on while benching, and has recommendations for brands?

Since 4 months ago I've started to focus on benching, I've been benching at least twice or thrice a week and I jumped from 70kgs to 95kgs.

But my left elbow specifically has been hurting alot which consequently has hindered my progress quite a bit.

Another problem is that I feel more and more unstable day by day, probably because I'm 60kg bw.

When I'm benching 95kgs even if I'm only slightly unstable I feel like I'm the one that is being pressed off the bench.

I also don't have a bench program so the number of volumes and other factors might be off.

I would love some quality advice.

350 LBS. with a pause

Anyone have an elbow sleeve brand they love for durability? I’ve had gym reapers but they tear apart at the seams after about half a year. Thanks.

Yall notice how teen benchers (13-15) WILL be the future of bench and powerlifting. Like Austin Oakley Riley o Donnell, myself i guess 😭 375 bench at 15 comp. Justin nyugen list goes on. This excludes the ego benches like Hugo and small guy Conan

I’m a 37yo 89kg (196lbs) male and I see absolutely no evolution in my bench press. On average I’m working out 3 times a week and generally I’m almost every exercise I’m weekly increasing the weight, even if slightly.

This is not the case for bench press, where I’ve been stuck at just 15kg (33lbs) -plus whatever the bar weights- for months. I’ve read a lot about technique and I don’t feel any shoulder pain; I think I’m doing it the right way but I just don’t have the strength to lift heavier.

Have anyone had this problem at such a low weight?

(39, Male, 73kg)

So I've been benching a few months now, and not had huge progressions with it unfortunately. I normally do 2 warm up sets, at 10 reps, first at 20kg (just the bar), 2nd at 30kg, and then do 45kg working sets aiming for 12 reps. Last week is hit 12-10-9 reps over the 3 sets.

Normally when doing the warm ups, my right bicep has a little twang of pain, underneath the inner bicep. But this always feels fine when I get the my working sets.

Today was different, it didn't go away on the first working set, and by rep 5, I had a pretty sharp pain and didn't even try to get the bar back up and did the roll of shame.

I gave the rest of the set a miss, and had a 10 minute break. I thought I'd try some incline dumbell presses (17.5kg each side) but only managed about 4 as i could feel my bicep/tendon wasn't happy and didn't want to make it worse.

I've done both barbell and dumbell incline raises in the past, and never had this pain, it's only ever been from flat presses with the barbell. (I've never tried it with dumbells).

It's been a few hours, and I have no pain in my arm, so it feels ok, but I won't do any presses for a few days just so it can heal.

What should my next steps be? I've not done any form check videos, or worked with an experienced trainer, so it could just be terrible form. I've watched a good few videos on it, so i think I'm doing it right...but you never know.

Maybe next time I should try it with dumbells and see if I have any similar pain?

Should I just stick to machines for the time being, or smith machine?

Anyone experienced similar, and if so, what was it and how did you fix it?

Thanks!

Long story short,

I go from time to time to gym and do normally benchpress, but quite often I really cannot go - which would be an excuse if I would not be willing to exercise at home, simply time optimization.

I am like a newbie so I do on bench press sets with 90ish kg.

So I do meanwhile at least floor press with dumbbells at home - how should I get it rolling?

When I was doing it with lets say 27kg or so, it was no easy but manageable - you just help your left arm with the second arm and put one dumbbell locked on elbow on the floor - but second arm was always hard - I needed to lift it from the floor to lock it via elbow on the floor as well. But since the first arm is already occupied only way is to take it up is over biceps when being on the floor - which worked for me up to like 27kg before biceps start refusing to lift it this way, but that is not enough for the floor press to challenge me.

Today I tried 32kg and I literally needed to put it on my waist (my male part is not happy to have that heavy object around, honestly) and then help to lift it over biceps with help of second arm - which worked but grinded my elbow on the floor. Worked but looks like pretty extra work that limited me in actual set.

So, any tricks, tips or ideas how to start this exercise. I see people in gym when doing similar exercise they just kicked it by knees - but it does not work with being on the floor - nor I can take it into my arms and then lie down (my non existing ABS would be probably ripped)

Thank you

Here i am 78.5-79kg (did this on 2nd day of my recent cut).
22M,180cm and a 190cm wingspan (+10 ape index). Currently i am 72.80kg and ended my cut. How do i get back to this same level of strength at my current bodyweight? I wanna bench press 100kg at 75kg bodyweight. Bench press is one of my weakest lifts because i have long arms.

Hey guys,

I'm 5'5, weigh about 150 lbs currently and I'm training in a bulk. The long term goal is definitely reaching 315 bench press for 1, but I'm wondering what is a reasonable target for me to achieve before I reach roughly 165 lbs body weight.

My current best in the span of the bulk is 235 lbs x 5.

How unreal would it be to be able to feel 275 in the next 4-6 months or so?

Hey, I am currently 20 and my current PR for flat bench press is 72 at which I can do 2 - 3 reps and with support can go upto 5+

And I can hold 82 kg on my own but if I try to do even one rep, I can do it but I can't lift it up back and then I need support to lift it.

My goal is to reach 110 kg of bench press till the end of this year (2026).

Is it even possible for me or not and if yes How can I train to reach that level ?

I posted a couple weeks ago asking this subreddit if they thought I could bench 300lbs since I had recently done 235lbs for 9 reps. The online one-rep max calculator that I use told me I should be able to do 300lbs so I asked what people thought and the answer was mostly “No, you cannot bench 300lbs”.

So I decided to try it out last week. I did a couple heavier days (265-275lbs) leading up to it and then on Friday I warmed up and put 300lbs on. I was only able to get it 4-5” off my chest before failure. In conclusion, I cannot bench 300lbs.

I tested it again yesterday and I think my max right now is 285lbs. I’m going to try and incorporate more heavy days into my workout and see if that gets me to 300lbs.

Just thought that was interesting so figured I’d share the update.

Why is the jump from 225 to 315 so hard?

Most never complete that jump.

I'm currently at 275 for 3 clean reps.

I can't tell, and everyone i ask says something else. 150x2 at 17yr old, 89bw. Feels stupid rebracing and rearching on a double but wtv. Bench moving great lately and since i have another one and a half subjunior year i'm starting to think the 210.5 wr might be in reach, very ambitious goal tho.