The Ultimate Plateau Buster

I’m naturally strong at the bench press.

It didn’t take long for me to hit 225 pounds for reps.

I hit 315 a few years after that.

But once I hit 315 pounds on the bench, I got seriously stuck.

I felt like maybe I’d never progress past this point.

315 pounds is a respectable amount of weight, and I could have stopped there…

But I wanted to hit “Elite” strength levels.

My goal was to be able to bench at least 2X my body weight for one rep.

At 175 pounds, this means benching 350.

But I hit a plateau.

After being stuck for a while, I decided to take a break from the bench press.

I spent more time on bodyweight stuff.

Weighted dips.

I also hit impressive strength levels on one-arm push-ups.

I came back to the bench several months later.

I was slightly weaker at first (only because I was slightly out of practice).

A few weeks later, something incredible happened.

I blew past 315.

Worked my way to 350 and beyond (PR is 380).

Now 315 doesn’t even feel that heavy.

Even if I haven’t bench pressed for some time, I typically can hit 315 pounds for about 5 reps.

I focus more on incline dumbbell presses most of the time.

But I like to test my bench strength every so often.

I’m convinced the reason I was able to break my strength plateau was due to focusing on body weight training.

Bodyweight training is a closed-chain exercise.

During a push-up or dip, your hands are fixed to the floor/bar and your body is moving through space.

This is different than lifting weights…

Where your hands are moving freely to move an object.

*Closed chain movements allow for greater muscle activation.

Our bodies are better able to generate force in a closed-chain position.

In fact, one of the techniques to bench heavier is to focus on pushing your body into the bench.

You are essentially trying to mimic a closed-chain movement.

This method allows you to deliver more force to the bar.

So you are able to lift heavier weight.

Mastering the one-arm pushup also works the stabilizer around the shoulder, works the core, etc.

The insane core strength and anti-rotation strength carry over well to punching power.

Because of this, I highly recommend mastering the one-arm pushup.

And if you think one-arm pushups are killer.

The one-arm chin-up takes things to the next level.

I’ll talk about that in a future email/article.

Talk Soon,

Greg O’Gallagher