Hi everyone,

I don't know if there are answers to this problem, so I might just be venting. Anyway, the issue is this: I am making ZERO PROGRESS with the BB Military Press. I started with 30lb 3 months ago and have been stuck at 35lb pretty much since then. Most days I'm able to finish 3x10 with the 35lb bb, but some days I crap out after 8 on the third set, or have to lift the third set with the 30lb barbell. I definitely can't do 3x12 (which is my cue for increasing the weight) and in fact, I've never done 12 reps at all, not even once. I don't understand it. I'm making steady progress on every other exercise (though slower now than when I first started), but I've hit some kind of annoying plateau with the stupid military press and its frustrating.

Has anyone else had this problem with a particular exercise? Are there any good strategies for getting around it?

I know shoulders are one of the hardest areas to make gains but are you doing other shoulder exercises as well?

How pyramiding your weight rather than staying the same weight? I always had better experience increasing the weight if my sets weren't all at the same weight.

maybe something like 1x12 at 20, 1x10 at 25, 1x8 at 30, 1x6 at 35 ?

Or you can even try BFL style where the last set you increase the reps again and decrease the weight then immediately switch to another shoulder exercise.

eg
1x12 at 20, 1x10 at 25, 1x8 at 30, 1x6 at 35 1x12 at 25 (immediately switch) 1x12 at 25 on another shoulder exercise

Oh my gosh, me me me!!!!

I am CRAP at the military press - I have been able to add some weight and reps to EVERYTHING else I do, but not that - I am still where I started 3 months ago! Hubby says he knows when I am doing the MP 'cause he can hear me swearing at it!

You are not alone - it is HARD!

Heather

It's funny, actually, because my shoulders have become the most clearly defined muscles on my body. I'm quite proud of them You can even see a little divet between the front and back parts of the muscle. They're nice.

I do lat pulldowns, which I think work shoulders also, and I've started doing upright rows once in a while too. I wonder if my shoulders are just getting tired from doing all the other compounds. I usually do them third, perhaps starting with them might help.

The pyramidding idea is a good one. It never occurred to me, but it might help.

Frustrating, ain't it Heather!

If you've hit an extended plateau, you should change the stimulus and throw something different at the muscles. Nelie's suggestion would do this.

You could also, decide to lift in more of a strenght range for this exercise and instead of going 3x10, you might try 5x5 or 3x8 with a heavier weight.

Or you could try switching to dumbell presses for a bit. This might also uncover an imbalance between your right and left.

Or you could try a push press for a bit of variation.

Or you could just rotate to another shoulder exercise or another vertical push (depending on whether your program is muscle based or movement based) and come back to the military press at a later time. You'll be surprised that sometimes after taking a break from an exercise that you've plateaud in, you can come back to the exercise and start making progress again.

The bottom line, is that it is time to move on to something different.

I would switch exercises for a while. Go to a dumbbell press which is safer for shoulder, IMO. I would stay far, far away from upright rows with any weight where you'd approach muscle failure. So if getting stronger shoulders/bigger shoulders is your goal, just stay away from upright rows. Aside from heavy barbell bench presses, they are the exercise most likely to destroy your rotator cuff(s).

Alternative exercises: standing cable presses one arm at a time, dumbbell presses, standing or seated, body weight shoulder presses from a pike position with your feet on a well anchored bench, a windowsill or your toes on a stability ball if you are feeling really adventurous.

Are you working all 4 heads of the deltoid? You may need to strengthen the rest of your shoulder before you can raise the weights on your overhead press. Don't forget front raises, lateral raises, and rear delts. It sounds sill, but if you grab a lighter dumbbell than you would normally used for any sinle shoulder exercise and "write" the alphabet in giant capital letters with each arm separately(fairly straight but not locked elbow), you will hit all four heads of the delt. Or write any longish words. I have my clients spell their names if they are long enough, write happy birthday, Merry Christmas, etc. Then I tell them do write it in Spanish or French

Shoulders really are the smallest muscles, fatigue most quickly, and damage most easily. You won't see huge gains in what you can lift like with an exercise that targets primarily legs. In the last six years, I managed to progress from 8 lb lateral raises to 17.5. Yes double, but not much compared to my squat numbers. I've actually dropped the weight that I lift overhead and have increased the difficulty of the overall exercise by adding instability. My tendons and ligaments just wouldn't take any more weight even though the muscle was willing.

Good luck! Try something different

Mel

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I appreciate it. Mel, the only isolation exercises I do are occasional tricep extensions, otherwise I just do a big bunch of compounds--the lazy woman's weight lifting So I think I'm working all my shoulder muscles (it *looks* as though I am) but I'm not completely sure. Maybe I'll try it with the dumbbells. I definitely have a right/left strength imbalance, which is why a db press scares me a bit.

Depalma, what is the advantage of doing 5x5?

Not depalma, by a 5X5 scheme is used to increase strength as opposed to either high reps for endurance or 10-12 reps for hypertrophy. If you are working for max strength, you also REST for 3-5 minutes between each set.

This is how I trained for bench press comps. Not to discourage you, but it's excruciatingly boring to rest long enough. You need to REST- not do crunches or anything else in between.

I'd really suggest going to dumbbells especially if you have an imbalance. Work to your weaker side and bring it up to the level of your stronger. Imbalances will eventually come back to haunt you in the form of aches and pains or outright injury. My left arm always fails first on presses due to an old bicep tendon injury. That's fine- when my left arm fails, I'm done.

Compounds aren't the "lazy woman's weight lifting"! They make much more sense than strict isolation exercises if you don't want to spend 5 days a week in the gym or aren't a bodybuilder. For overall fitness, compounds mixed with plyometrics and some cardio is the best way to go IMO. But if you also add the goal of constantly trying to increase the weight of your lifts, you need to change the style of your training. Different goals require different training modalities.


Mel

Yes, as Mel said, 5x5 is for strength. Basically, you are looking to create more of a neural adaptation than training in the hypertrophy zone. Basically you are trying to get your Central Nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers. It's one way to change things up a bit and get your body to break the plateau and start adapting to your workouts again. Yeah, it can get boring with the longer rest intervals and it is also more taxing on your CNS, so you would probably want to drop the total volume of the workout a bit to compensate.

Therefore, switching to dumbells or just taking a break from the military press may be better options for you at this time.

Oh, and compounds are far from lazy. Don't confuse "efficiency" and "maximizing your time" with laziness. You are doing the "hard-working woman's weight-lifting." Give yourself the credit for the hard work and sweat you are putting in at the gym.

Can someone explain to me what 'compounds' are? Thanks.

Hey Settie, Compounds are exercises that work big groups of muscle instead of a single muscle (isolation exercises). Bicep curls are an isolation exercise because they only work the bicep. Military presses are compound because they work your shoulder muscles but also your triceps, chest and parts of your back.

They're much more efficient because you hit many more muscle groups with each exercise and because you're training 'movements' (ie, pushing, pulling) rather than specific muscles. I like 'em because I just do four upper body exercises on upper body day and can bust out my workout in 20-25 minutes rather than laboriously training all the millions of muscles. I feel like a bit of a slacker because it's so quick and simple, but you can't argue with the results.

Thanks baffled. I guess I've been doing isolation exercises. Can I ask which four compound ones you do?

Hey Settie,

There's a thread on this downstream a ways if you want to take a look--I think it's called Questions, Questions, Questions. Depalma helped me to put a routine together. This is what I do for upper body:
Flat DB Press OR Incline DB Press
V Bar Pulldown OR Lat Pulldown
BB Military Press (I don't currently have an alt for this one)
One-Arm DB Row OR Seated Rows
I switch between the alternatives each time I do upper body work. Sometimes I do tricep extensions as well, but not all the time. For lower body I do squats, stiff-legged deadlifts and lunges. And I run. I've basically been doing the same things since the beginning of June and I keep meaning to switch it up. That's going to take more research, however, so I haven't gotten around to it yet

Bear in mind, I'm no expert and YMMV. Everything I know I learned from Mel, Meg, Depalma, the internet and the Body Sculpting Bible for Women.