You can use lighter weights and go with higher reps. You can go with heavier weights and lower reps. You just need to mix things up. Some people like transitioning to dumbbells for a period of time to challenge their body in a different way. Even stuff like ballistic or clapping push-ups, weighted dips, skull-crushers, etc can help get you out of a stall.
I do dumbbells along with my benching. I like to get them both in a workout. I know I have been pushing my tri's a lot lately but dont think that would cause issues like this.
Drop back to 185-190lbs and then each week re-introduce 5lbs. When you get back to 205 you'll likely push through it.
Why do you do both? Commit to one during a given workout and push it pretty hard. Doing both is a bit much and 1) you may not be pushing yourself entirely on the one because you're saving up to perform on the other or 2) you're out of energy. You can alternate dumbbell vs barbell every other workout, but just focus on one on a given day. Give it your all. See how it goes. And as I said, mess with the rep scheme of each. Maybe you just need to get a little bit more excited/pumped to do it so you can push yourself a bit more.
When I do get to dumbbells, it is at the very end of my workout. I do a light weight for a quick burnout of my chest before I leave.
I think I might drop it a bit for a few weeks. Thanks guys.
A burn-out is typically frowned upon if you're actually going for strength. Research has shown that the burn typically means you're stressing yourself to fatigue, which creates excess oxidative stress. That oxidative stress has been shown to increase the amount of AKT (an enzyme) that actually minimizes muscle hypertrophy. That could be contributing to your lack of strength gains. Stick with a 3x5 or 5x5 only - don't add the burnout. See if that changes anything.
Did not know that. Ill get rid of that and drop my bench back down to 195 for a few weeks and build up by five. I was adding my weight by 10lbs which worked at the lower weights but now I guess I should be doing smaller gains due to the weight starting to get high.
How often do you bench?
Do you incline bench? I just started doing it a couple months ago and found it helped my flat bench, as well as my DB shoulder press. I had pretty much stalled on both of those lifts for awhile before adding the incline to my routine.
More than likely you over trained. I would do one of the following. The first one would be bench every 10 days. Or split your chest routine into twice a week. Flat bench one day, incline the next. Or substitute dips for flat bench for a couple of weeks. Without seeing you, it could also be mental as well. So a breakup or increase in time between bench sessions would help in that area as well.
Going with a heavier weight as suggested could also benefit as well and not a bad approach. You could also drop one or two sets from your routine as well. I wouldn't go with lighter weight higher reps. The problem is if your over trained, you will only further the recession. But I think splitting you chest routine will also help your incline.
Also if you are newcomer, less than 3 years steady, training your arms twice a week like that also will retard growth or cause sticking points to happen more often. It sounds like to me you have a typical case of being over trained. Rest and doing a little less for a bit can do wonders all around .
Once a week. My routine is
Monday-Chest/Tri
Tuesday-Back/Bi
Wed-OFF
Thrusday-Shoulder/Tri
Friday-Leg/Bi
I change the days every few months to keep myself from falling into a rut.
You are either overtraining which I doubt, you are not eating enough, or you aren't changing around your workout routine. More than likely, if you are staying at the same weight and strength you aren't eating enough. I found out that my diet is more important than the training itself.
You don't magically overtrain by working your arms heavily a few times per week. Beginners can withstand a fairly good amount of volume, especially early on. What you're saying just doesn't stand up. Many serious lifters train bench three times per week and are clearly fine. If he's been training seriously for over 8-12 weeks, then he may be experiencing some central nervous system fatigue. But I definitely don't support reducing the bench frequency to once every 10 days. That's just unreasonable.