Hit a Plateau

[Wild Dan Hibiki]

Hey guys i've been on the stronglifts.com 5 x 5 program for the last few months and it's finally stalled on bench press and squats (for about the last 4 weeks or so). So i think it's time to switch it up. I think squatting 3 times a week took its toll on me so here's what i was thinking of starting from next week:

Monday:
Squats

 

[Old Man]

Yeah, that looks alright. You might consider a week off before doing anything new to deload.

I like this program which has a deload phase: Bill Starr - Glenn Pendlay 5x5 - Periodized Version, Dual Factor Theory

 

[Manistoner]

i would switch from barbell to dumbbell bench.

to mix it up, instead of a push pull squat, u could do one push, one pull, and one squat a day.

 

[Old Man]

i would switch from barbell to dumbbell bench.

I second that. I got past a big plateau on the bench by not benching and doing a lot of other assistance exercises for a few months. I started by not doing any pressing for a short time to rest, then I did dumbbell bench, 1-arm dumbbell bench, and floor press.

 

[Wild Dan Hibiki]

coolies, guess i'll take it easy next week then. thanks guys

 

[Gary Peters]

Just a thought but maybe you are hitting a plateau because you are doing 3 full body workouts each week? Perhaps you should try 2 heavy full body days with a seperate day for intense plyos or a standard Pull, Push, Squat routine so you give certain areas of your body (mainly your lower back) a rest from all the hip dominate work.

 

[enright3060]

Do a re-set with your bench and squats. Take 10% off your last set and do the 5x5. I would then work back up.

If a re-set does not work, you might want to change things up.

 

[dfoster]

1-arm dumbbell bench

Great exercise.

 

[Mark Limbaga]

I'd focus on overhead pressing twice a week instead of doing bench and dips in the same cycle

 

[Wild Dan Hibiki]

oh! yeah i've been plateauing on my OHP as well ~50kg 5RM. so what do you recommend i change?

 

[Wild Dan Hibiki]

ttt