My 8 reps has slowly improved as I changed my diet recently (not especially healthy, I still live in the US and am broke af so healthy food is a treat for me) and I’m up to 185 lbs (bar+ Plate and 25 each side), I very rarely do 1 Rep Max because it gets me exhausted for the rest of my exercise unless I drink a shitload of water. Last I checked I’m at 205 (bar+ Plate and 35 each side). Sorry if this is confusing to anyone because of the Lbs to Kilos dilemma. Around 84 kilos for 8 Reps, around 93 kilos for 1RM, what are yall at?
Easier said than done, but basically just slowly increase the weight over the course of time. Like one week I’ll do 160, next week I’ll try to do a full set of 165, if I can’t get it, I’ll practice until it moves up a bit. That being said, all of this is much easier with a spotter. But even without a spotter you can still practice the fundamentals through Dumbbell benching (you don’t need a spotter but be careful when bailing on the weights, I’ve seen people nearly injure themselves or others by tossing weights aside when struggling with a dumbbell bench)