[prosa123]

Hope someone can help, this is very perplexing ...

I've been on a 10x3 routine for the past few months. It calls for doing ten sets of three reps each, with no more than a 60-second rest between sets. While the routine seems to be working okay with respect to squats, deadlifts and pull-ups, bench press is a different story, to say the least.

When I began the 10x3 routine I started out with 225 on bench press. I benched once a week, and went up five pounds every second week (thanks to those 2.5-pound plates) . This meant two weeks at 225, two weeks at 230, and so on. On April 14 I was up to 245 and made it through the session okay. And that, unfortunately, was the end of my success. Ever since, it's been mainly downhill:
April 20 - Attempted 245 again, struggled so much I had to stop after the fifth set.
April 27 - Dropped to 240, made it through okay.
May 4 - Attempted 240 again, struggled, had to stop midway through sixth set.
May 11 - Dropped to 235, struggled big time, had to stop after fifth set.

As you can see, in less than one month I've gone from being able to do a 10x3 routine with 245, to being unable to do the routine with 235. One possibility that comes to mind is that over the same one-month period I've lost at least seven or eight pounds due to stringent dieting and lots of cardio work. I'm down over 15 pounds in the last three months; I started out weighing about 245 and am now down below 230 for the first time in *many* years. Could the weight loss be contributing to my deteriorating bench? Keep in mind that my other lifts haven't suffered, though my most recent squat and deadlift amounts on the 10x3 routine, 295 and 275 respectively, are considerably farther away from my 1RM's than is my bench press routine weight (bench 1RM = 275, deadlift 1RM = 395; I've never tried for a squat 1RM but a few months ago got three reps at 375).

I hasten to add that I'm willing to sacrifice some poundage off my bench press in return for bodyweight loss. Also, if it's any help, my sticking point on the bench is almost always midway through the ROM.

Thanks for any advice.