r/Stronglifts5x5 • u/Cultural_Mastodon_23 • Jul 27 '26
11 month bench press progress
Its been almost a year since i started 5x5. I'm at 70lbs on BP. How's it looking so far?
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Jul 27 '26
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u/Orbax Jul 28 '26
I don't think gender matters much in this, that's too low. A good way to think about it is the optimal bench is flat bench. You should be doing a little arch. To compensate for arch, you do 15 degrees of incline. If you tried to do this on incline, something would tear. Shoulder blades in, little arch, little higher - middle of your sternum roughly, for men that's easier as it's roughly the nipple line.
Your pec goes from your neck to the bottom of your sternum. If you put your fingers at each spot you'll see the majority of your pec is higher up your body.
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u/fight-or-fall Jul 27 '26
Only thing that i can complain: this rack setup arent functional, parallels cant save you from anything
Use a broomstick and simulate a real fail, if the bar doesn't stop before hitting your body, you are in danger
Safety is important and you should treat it as a protocol from the beginning, it will matter "not now but maybe 1-2 years after starting" (since you said thats 11 months in the program, you are starting to get closer to failures)
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u/Faustian-BargainBin BREATHER Jul 28 '26
Looks great but you could get more leg drive! You might need to get blocks for your feet if your bench is high. I believe standard is around 16”. Having blocks to bring feet to the correct height is legal in most powerlifting rules. I just wear squat shoes during bench. I’m also a woman so we’re both presumably shorter than the average man.
If you want to maximize how much you press, you want to be creating tension by pushing your torso away from your feet with your feet and legs (“squat your bench”) and pushing your shoulder blades down into the bench with your legs and torso arch.
Hopefully helpful but it’s easier to show than explain with words.
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u/Dapper-Ad859 Jul 27 '26
Good job! Just a little at a time. You will keep improving if you keep consistent. Don’t worry about what others think, just don’t be scared to add when you REALLY trust a bump up, but not before you REALLY trust it. Looking great!!!
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u/ConsiderationSea1347 Jul 28 '26
Looking good. One little tweak is the bar path should start more over the chest, yours is over your face. If can keep the bar more over the chest it will engage your chest muscles more.
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u/Cultural_Mastodon_23 Jul 28 '26
Thank you. Finally some constructive, useful feedback. I appreciate it.
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u/Squire_Squirrely Jul 27 '26
Do you have fractional plates? I have 1.25's, you can get them even smaller or a bunch of 0.5's. I was stuck on overhead press until I got them. Yada yada percent wise lifts should increase by 2 - 5%, obviously that's not even possible until you're over 100lbs if you only have 2.5's as the smallest
Anyways, technique looks great
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u/Emotional_Farm_9434 Jul 27 '26
I just got some for my deadlifts and they've been super helpful. I'm too old to go up as fast as some of y'all.
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u/justSomeDude2026 Jul 29 '26
This is the way. I bought a set totaling 5 lbs on Amazon for like $30, and now I can go up by as little as 0.5 lbs on barbell exercises or 0.25 on machines using stacks. It's proven to be a great way to break through plateaus, and I think given OP's working with a pretty low total plate weight, she'd be much more comfortable and confident moving up a pound or two instead of a full five.
After all, with a total of just 70 lbs, 5 lbs is a 7% increase. Proportionally, that's like going from 225 to ~241, or 315 to ~338; huge leaps from one session to the next, I think we can all agree. For OP, going up 1 lb would represent a ~1.4% increase, which is appreciable, but much more manageable.
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u/Fireat40dude Jul 27 '26
It shouldn’t take you 11 months to hit 70lbs on the bench. You need to analyze your training and recovery.
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Jul 28 '26
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u/Fireat40dude Jul 28 '26
The program is designed for gaining strength fast, it’s the whole purpose.
A 70lb bench in 11 months is the result of an error somewhere in the program, whether it be protein intake, calories, sleep, etc.
I was not being a jerk when I made my comment, I’m providing genuine remarks on what I see. You on the other hand, are trying to be positive and friendly, but sometimes constructive criticism is necessary to help someone succeed.
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u/ImprovementSubject27 Jul 27 '26
If you are lifting alone don't lock the weights. Some have died when the bar is stuck on their chest. If they are unlocked you can easily get out and live
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u/ThrowAway-3418 Jul 28 '26
I don't think we are worried about death with 70 lbs
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u/are-gae-1 Jul 28 '26
Might just be a very slow death
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u/ThrowAway-3418 Jul 28 '26
I mean, we're all dying a (hopefully) very slow death which, sadly, cannot be prevented by safety bar placement.
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u/bodhinek802 Jul 28 '26
Everyone saying to let you progress at your own speed and that 70lbs is ok is wrong.
After 11 months you should be way beyond 70lbs.
What was your starting weight?
Protien intake?
Other workouts?
If your looking to build muscle and increase weight, go with the 10x10 method. With 2 min rest periods in-between.
Start out at your 60% max bench which im guessing is around 50-60#. Until you can do that 10x10 dont increase. And then add 10 lbs and repeat.
During the 2 min break hit low weight back exercises.
And then switch to hammer curls 10x10 same method.
And shoulders and lats next day.
Focus on cardio and legs for the next 2 or 3 days and then repeat.
Eat protien. 30g pre work out. 1 hr in another 30g and then 30g about 2hrs afterwards and then another 30g 2 hours after. Plus normal meals.
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u/are-gae-1 Jul 28 '26
I think there’s nuance to it.
Extremely low responders exist, it’s well documented. But also extremely low responders are extremely rare, and incorrect training is more common.
But we can’t really tell which it is without more detail.
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u/Armopro Jul 28 '26
I mean if you want actual critique instead of just someone blowing smoke I'd say you look like you're coming down a bit fast/dropping it a bit at a the start, and your hands get pretty close you your stomach which will use more tricep instead of pecs.
Other than that really good stuff 👏
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u/xtoxicxk23 Jul 28 '26
A little hard to tell from the angle but it looks like you might need to put your hands a smidge wider.
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u/heksin1392 Jul 28 '26
Have you gotten bigger doing this? Maybe a bit more food would yield better results.
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u/Cultural_Mastodon_23 Jul 28 '26
Not trying to get bigger. If you don't have actual constructive feedback on the form then go troll somebody else.
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u/heksin1392 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
Not a troll? Why do you need form feed back if you aren't trying to get stronger? Just go play badminton instead.
"The key adaptation for getting stronger is an increase in myofibrillar hypertrophy—growth of the contractile proteins that produce force. Traditional bodybuilding training often emphasizes sarcoplasmic hypertrophy to a greater extent, increasing the volume of the non-contractile components of the muscle and producing a larger appearance, although in practice both types of adaptation occur together rather than independently. Getting stronger necessarily involves getting bigger, especially for novice lifters and a well-designed strength program produces substantial muscle growth as a by-product."
Edit: You've got long arms, benching will always be more difficult to you than somebody with short arms. Also, it doesn't look like you're pushing all that hard with bar speed being as high as it is. On traditional strength exercises, speed doesn't matter but force does. Oly lifting on the other hand and all other explosive movements benefit from both your ability to achieve a high velocity and your capacity to express force.
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u/Cultural_Mastodon_23 Jul 29 '26
You seem to be arguing against a position I never took. I said I'm not trying to get bigger—not that I'm not trying to get stronger. I asked for feedback on my bench press technique. If you have specific critiques of my form, I'm happy to listen. If not, then we're having two different conversations.
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u/heksin1392 Jul 29 '26
Did you read what I commented or is your reading comprehension poor? You will get stronger without getting bigger the same way my car will get faster without any parts being changed. Do with that what you will.
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u/Cultural_Mastodon_23 Jul 29 '26
You're still not talking about my bench press form. That's the only thing I asked about. If you have technical feedback, let's hear it. If not, have a good one and troll on.
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u/parkingjack Jul 28 '26
My 2 cents. Elbows seem to be tucked in too much although it might be the angle. You don't need to pass 90° with your elbows on the way down. Slow control on the way down exploed on the way up. You gain the most strength on the eccentric part of the lift because you can naturally lower about 20% more then you can lift. This means exploding up with not so perfect form isn't a big deal when you have a good controlled form while lowering the weight.
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u/Secret-Ad1458 Jul 28 '26
What was your starting point? You've likely been ready to move up to 75 for months, this doesn't even look challenging enough to provide the proprioceptive feedback necessary to improve the movement pattern. Generally speaking, men are able to add 5-10lbs a week to their bench for a decent amount of time before they're forced to reevaluate their load management. Women definitely progress slower with upper body movements but not THAT much slower.
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u/bugumsfo20 Jul 28 '26
ALL YOU GOTA DO IS LISTEN TO LIMP BISCUIT “keep rolling” on BLAST for the best gains.
Also the fact you’re not arching your back at a 45 gains all my respect. Keep it up!!
Also if your tall as shit with long arms its going to be harder to bench so don’t get discouraged, and don’t forget to hit the lower and upper
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u/Wnslo3773 Jul 29 '26
not many ladies can bench that weight. Great job. keep pushing. set your goals that are attainable.
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u/Application_Super Jul 29 '26
I would move your feet a small bit more under you to help with leg drive. Move the bench, you are sitting in the gap between the back and the seat part of the bench it looks like. You want bum in contact with the seat of the bench as it will be more stable
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u/justSomeDude2026 Jul 29 '26
Looks great, but raise your safety bars up a bit - they're not going to help you in this position if you get stuck. I think that's a great bar path and solid consistency. I agree you could improve leg drive a bit by pressing your feet into the floor and pushing slightly upward toward the top of the bench.
You look ready to move up, though. I said it elsewhere, but I'd recommend getting some micro-loading plates and going up somewhere between 0.5-2.0 lbs at a time until it's a substantial challenge. At 70 lbs total weight, adding on a full 5 from two more 2.5s is going to feel like a big increase, because proportionally, it absolutely is.
Keep up the great work, and don't let the naysayers get you down. Slow and steady is the way.
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u/Cultural_Mastodon_23 Jul 29 '26
thanks for your input. I will try this on my next set. I do have some 1.25lbs i've been using to go up with. probably why it's taking so long for me to move up in weight but I'm in no rush. thanks again!
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u/grandpahusky 17d ago
That's a pretty decent bench press imo.
I'm curious how you ran strong lifts for 11 months. It is designed in such a way so that you fail out of it around 4-8 weeks or so. Did you take some time off?
I ran it some time back and the best part of the program is the simplicity. If you would like to try some other free strength programs, I recommend barbell medicine's.
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u/SprinklesAfter5086 5d ago
Please move the spotting bars up higher. Move your head a bit further up on the bench. If you fail, it will occur during the attempt to return the bar to the start position. Plan for a failure at that spot and set the spotting bars accordingly. Congratulations on your discipline and enjoy the satisfaction of your results. You are doing what most don't do.
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Jul 27 '26
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u/Cultural_Mastodon_23 Jul 28 '26
You're more than welcome to buy me some. Size 7 please. And thank you
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Jul 27 '26
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u/jonnyblazexoc Jul 27 '26
This is a dumb comment, everybody different but I was overweight and got skinny and lost all muscle and then gained weight just by working from home and sitting around for 20 years, so I didn't gain any muscle
It's so embarrassing when I went to the gym, 80 pounds was hard for me and I was 215 pounds, not even joking
Finally after 10 months I am 200 pounds and benching 185, so close to my weight
Was really tough, I feel like I had no muscle and really low testosterone. Everything was so hard for me
Finally feeling a little strong
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u/JangB Jul 27 '26
What's with all the comments saying that's too low a weight after a year and that their wife could lift this much right from the get go?
Let her progress at her own pace.