I started SS again about 1.5 months ago. Right now I'm doing 175 for 3 sets of 5. But, I fight pretty hard to get this weight up, especially on the last 2 sets. Bar speed is VERY slow at the bottom of the press but I somehow manage to get it up. I would ask for a spot, but nobody is at the gym at the time I go. I'm sure that the next time I increase the weight to 180 I will get stuck.

I'm deathly afraid of having a bar crush my chest, so I'm thinking about switching to DB instead. I figure the program would have to change a little since the jumps in weight for DB are too much for me to hit 5 reps on every time. Anybody have experience/tips with this?

I thought I could do 5 reps of max weight, then the next time do 6 reps of same weight, then try 7 reps of same weight. Then I would move up to next higher weight. Excuse my noobness...

I ran into this same problem. Since the gym was empty, I started doing my bench presses in the power rack, and set the bars to chest level.

If you have only been lifting for 6 weeks, and you're already benching 175, that's pretty dang good. Keep it up.

Have you tried benching in the power rack?

If you're lucky, you'll be able to set the pins right below your chest, and if you need to bail, you can just unarch your back and dump the bar

Increase reps, change to a more sensible program.

I don't believe beginners should ever be under 5 reps, much less for the most dangerous exercises that they are still trying to master technique-wise.

I don't believe beginners should go over 5 reps on an exercise they are still trying to master technique-wise.

OP, you just need a better situation for your bench press. A power rack would be best. Mark Rippetoe says "bench press is an important lift, because it teaches us to push on stuff real hard". At first I thought it was a joke, but the more I lift, the more I understand it. You're afraid to bump it up to 180 for fear of getting buried, but in reality, increasing the weight is exactly what you need to do.

If you don't have a power rack to use, there are ways to improvise. Maybe see if they have some plyo boxes or something that you can set up on either side of the bench press station?

Wow thanks, benching in the power rack never crossed my mind. I guess it's because the bench is always on the other side of the gym near the cables so I never connected the idea. Hopefully I can set the pins low enough so it'll catch the bar if I un-arch my back. If not I'll just have to settle for stopping a little higher than my chest.

Power rack. Awesome. You're set.

Well, it's really more of a concern for the isometrically contracted muscles. When all those muscles that hold your shoulder blades 'back and down' tire out, your form is gonna go to shit no matter what load you're using.

So let's say the average beginner can hold a good tight position for 20sec. I would rather him get five good reps with a decent weight, than get five good reps and three bad ones with a lesser weight.

EDIT: Failing a lift due to excessive load isn't too bad, it just teaches you your limits. Failing a load due to your shoulder rolling forward could be potentially disastrous.

And in no way am a suggesting that a rank beginner start with a 5RM load. Always start with less than your capability and work your way up.