I have reached a plateau

I'm trying to find different exercises to overcome my plateau. I have read the other threads and they seem kind of vague and I feel like everyone is probably different in terms of what they need to do to overcome plateaus at different weights (correct? I could be wrong).

Im 21 years old, 5'10.5", and 185lbs.

Bench: 3x10 @ 190lbs
- DB Bench 3x10 @ 80lb DBs
- DB Incline 3x10 @ 70lb DBs

Skull Crushes: 3x10 @ 90lbs
Curl: 3x10 @ 80-85lbs
Military: 3x10 @ 40lb DBs
Lat Pull Down: 3x10 @ 130lbs
Squat: 3x10 @ 200lbs (I neglected my lower body for a long time)

I feel like I don't have a well rounded workout. I do more exercises than that, like biceps I will do seated DB curls with 40lb DBs but they are all basic exercises and I have been stuck at these weights for about a month and a half. Should I be working more back muscles to help with bench? If so, what types of exercises. Could anyone give me some more leg exercises to do? I really want to just maintain my same weight but continue to increase the above weights. Any way I can do this?

less reps more weight

The idea now is to get our advanced trainee out of his chronically overtrained state and prime him for some fresh gains. In this case, it won't be as straightforward as the first example. The problem lies in the strategy of the loading of the weights. If you load him too soon, you won't allow for adequate nervous system response and the opportunity for gains will be missed. This is the chronic problem with trainers who are unexperienced in administering micro-cycles such as the 5x5. They often have the trainee doing his maximum weights by the 2nd week and do not back off enough during the first week to allow adequate priming of the nervous system. You must keep the progression fairly linear and shoot for smaller gains. After all, if you have been stuck bench pressing 185lbs for the last 2 years, I'm sure you won't mind a 20-25lb increase over 5-10 weeks.

So let's use the following test weights for 5 reps:

Bench Press: 185lbs
Squat: 185lbs
Row: 185lbs

(You might be surprised how common it is to see weights like those above and how they are all the same)

Deadlift: 225lbs
Standing Military Press: 85lbs
Pullups: Bodyweight x 5 reps


WEEK 1

Format - Weights x reps x sets

Workout 1 (monday) rest at least 5 min in-between squat and row sets.

Bench: 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 175x5

Squat: 160x5x5 (warmup 45x5, 115x5)

Row: 160x5x5 (warmup 135x5)

Workout 2 (wednesday)

Deadlift: 205x5x5 (warmup 135x5, 185x2)

Squat: 135x5x5

Military press: 75x5x4 (4 sets)

Pullups: Bodyweight x5x5

Workout 3 (friday)

Bench: 165x5x5

Squat: 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 145x5, 175x5

Row: 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 145x5, 175x5


WEEK 2

Format - Weights x reps x sets

Workout 1 (monday) rest at least 5 min in-between squat and row sets.

Bench: 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 180x5

Squat: 170x5x5 (warmup 45x5, 115x5)

Row: 170x5x5 (warmup 135x5)

Workout 2 (wednesday)

Deadlift: 215x5x5 (warmup 135x5, 185x2)

Squat: 140x5x5

Military press: 80x5x4 (4 sets)

Pullups: Bodyweight x5x5 + 5lbs

Workout 3 (friday)

Bench: 170x5x5

Squat: 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 145x5, 185x5

Row: 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 145x5, 185x5


WEEK 3

Format - Weights x reps x sets

Workout 1 (monday) rest at least 5 min in-between squat and row sets.

Bench: 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 190x5

Squat: 180x5x5 (warmup 45x5, 115x5)

Row: 180x5x5 (warmup 135x5)

Workout 2 (wednesday)

Deadlift: 225x5x5 (warmup 135x5, 185x2)

Squat: 145x5x5

Military press: 85x5x4 (4 sets)

Pullups: Bodyweight x5x5 + 10lbs

Workout 3 (friday)

Bench: 175x5x5

Squat: 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 145x5, 195x5

Row: 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 145x5, 195x5

Full routine:
Eclipse Gym :: View topic - Bill Starr 5x5 Primer - How to create your own 5x5 program (http://www.eclipsegym.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=57)

Overtraining:
Overtraining: What it is and what it isn't. And why you've stalled. - Bodybuilding.com Forums (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=1715261)

Besides where you say a 5 min break, what is an adequate amount of time in between sets. I used to go about 2.5-3 mins. And then someone at the gym (who was pretty ripped) said they wait until the lactic acid feeling subsides. Others say wait 1-1.5 mins. What is the norm?

EDIT: Thanks for writing that down, greatly appreciated!

I was going to make this thread but about losing weight. I'm going to the gym 3/4 times a week and I've adjusted my diet but I've stopped losing apparently..

Besides where you say a 5 min break, what is an adequate amount of time in between sets. I used to go about 2.5-3 mins. And then someone at the gym (who was pretty ripped) said they wait until the lactic acid feeling subsides. Others say wait 1-1.5 mins. What is the norm?

EDIT: Thanks for writing that down, greatly appreciated!

You kind of have to learn the hard way a few times to determine adequate rest.

I've more or less failed on rows/pullups a few times when I didn't wait long enough. It's not the lactic acid though.. it's just muscle fatigue, and your body won't push the weight pain or not.

On Pullups if I struggle on the 4th/5th reps of the third set for example.. I'll need a solid 5 minutes in order to struggle through the 4th/5th reps of the 4th set. If I only waited 2-3 minutes, the last few reps I wouldn't really be getting chin over the bar.

On Squats I can usually push through, but my form suffers... same with Deadlift. Overhead press even after a tough set I'm usually okay again in 3-4 minutes. Different muscles seem to require different amounts of rest, and the upper back seems to need the most for me.

You just have to find out for yourself. If a set is easy, you'll probably be fine after only 1-2 minutes, but the theory on this routine is to hit your reps first and foremost regardless of rest. I personally won't take more than 6-8 minutes and I've only felt I needed that long on 1 or 2 occasions.