After 20 years of working out, I learned too late that weak point training is where it's at.
In my case, my gut quit cooperating at 40 and I developed too many food sensitivities to maybe ever recover from. Since progress is more affected by nutrition than technique, I couldn't eat what I needed to recover. But, I press forward, learning as I go and still making progress in other areas like endurance, resilience and flexibility that may eventually carry over to heavy lifts.
If I could do it all over again, I'd listen to the old timers. Like with that sticking point you hit on bench, there are exercises for that. The angle of your elbows and knees can make the difference between wearing down and getting stronger. There are ways of bracing your core that prevent back injury, and so on. Then it's just consistency, and maybe the most important one for overcoming plateaus: periodicity (not variety).
In my case, my gut quit cooperating at 40 and I developed too many food sensitivities to maybe ever recover from. Since progress is more affected by nutrition than technique, I couldn't eat what I needed to recover. But, I press forward, learning as I go and still making progress in other areas like endurance, resilience and flexibility that may eventually carry over to heavy lifts.
If I could do it all over again, I'd listen to the old timers. Like with that sticking point you hit on bench, there are exercises for that. The angle of your elbows and knees can make the difference between wearing down and getting stronger. There are ways of bracing your core that prevent back injury, and so on. Then it's just consistency, and maybe the most important one for overcoming plateaus: periodicity (not variety).