I have been on a 5-3-1 variation for about two years now and I'm still seeing gains in my legs (squat and deadlifts). However, my bench and overhead are a different story.

I've repped out 16 bench presses at 225 which says my calculated 1 rep max should be in the 340s and I've had a shoulder press estimate around 215ish. But when I get to weeks where the reps are decreased and the weight is increased, I'm not coming close.

For example, I could get barely 1 rep at 285 today on bench. Now I did get only four hours of sleep and haven't eaten anything in 12 hours, but I would have only gotten 2, maybe 3 reps if those things weren't issues.

What am I doing wrong?

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Posted by Bonkers119

Baton Rouge

Member since Dec 2015

11995 posts

Posted on 8/16/19 at 4:36 pm to facher08

Because calculators are just an estimate? When people ask what my lifts are I don't tell them my estimated maxes. If I haven't lifted it, it doesn't count.

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Posted by Adam4848

Member since Apr 2006

19781 posts

Posted on 8/16/19 at 5:07 pm to facher08

Rep maxes are only estimations and it’s not linear as it appears but more like a bell curve the further away you get from your normal rep ranges.

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Posted by NotoriousFSU

Atlanta, GA

Member since Oct 2008

12442 posts

Posted on 8/16/19 at 5:15 pm to facher08

Not that I’m an expert or anything close, I’d say your central nervous system needs to “feel” that weight before you go after it. As in, don’t do it for reps, but maybe after you warm up on bench, put that weight on the bar like you’re going to max out, then just lift it from the rack and hold it steady above you. That’s my recommendation, as well as doing heavy sets when you’re least fatigued, not after you’ve done a lot of reps.

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Posted by Nobelium

Member since May 2018

865 posts

Posted on 8/16/19 at 5:26 pm to facher08

This post was edited on 5/9/21 at 8:35 am

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Posted by Hu_Flung_Pu