Maybe for the more recent work of Jim.
5’s pro is park bench, just doing reps of 5, you’ll have something in reserve at least the first weeks.
Rep PR’s is bus bench here you try to beat the old numbers.
If I understand the analogy correctly.
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I mostly agree, however I think the idea of following reasonable, sustainable programming for the majority of the time with occasional brief bursts of unsustainable training has value. As an analogy it isn’t great, but as a short handle for that style of training it works for me. Possibly because I read/watch a large amount of his stuff and he refers to it extensively.
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The analogy is poor in my opinion so don’t get too bogged down in it.
The way I see it, plus sets could absolutely be sustainable long term, and could absolutely be park bench if the remainder of the workout was fairly reasonable. I ran plus sets for bench for the entirety of last year. I couldn’t have run Smolov Jnr for the entire year, it would break me.
As a rule: if I look at a program and nothing about it scares me, that’s park bench. If I look at a program and something jumps out at me as “fuck, that’s awful”, that’s bus bench. Bus bench are usually time limited by design, park bench are usually open ended by design. Mass Made Simple is 6/7 weeks, depending on which version you use. 531 has mechanisms in place that mean it could be run for years. Bus bench are often unbalanced programs because you can afford to be unbalanced for 6 weeks. Park bench requires balance because you can’t afford to be unbalanced for 6 months.
Edit: bottom line is, I think I need a new shorthand to express this concept because my current way isn’t working for people.
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Could what your describing be as simple as saying goal driven vs process driven training?
Possibly so, yes. I’d have to think about it.
Work for today:
Press:
5 x 40kg
5 x 45kg
5 x 50kg
Arnold Press: 5 x 10 @ 14kg
Deadlift: 5 x 3 @ 120kg
Complexes:
5 rows
5 powercleans
5 front squats
5 push presses
5 back squats
3 rounds @ 50kg
Squats:
3 x 25 @ 50kg
Notes:
- Tired, sore, struggling to breathe. This sucked. Recovery needed
- I have an extra gym session planned for Thursday night this week as schedule allows it. It will absolutely not be a MMS session, because they suck.
- 4/14 done. Next week the “to fifties” start.
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Suddenly squats feel this way. I’m about to load them on the bus and push that thing off a cliff.
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In terms of your goals, do you feel there’s a benefit? Seems to be 2 conflicting schools of thought there.
Well, that’s the dilemma. I like deadlifting and have a clear goal with that lift. After that, I’m not sure.
I’ve reached a point where I hate leg training. I don’t care about adding size and I have no clear goals (for lower body) besides deadlift.
I still have the pipe dream of squatting 4 plates, but the misery of training is outweighing my desire to pursue it. I also have to ask the question of why with my injury history.
I really need my shoulder to straighten up so I can see if I can still dunk. That will have an impact on my goals.
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It might come down to whether or not you believe the “hormone cascade” that comes from squatting heavy weights is real and important enough to go through the pain of squatting for.
Personally, I don’t think I’m likely to get bored of the main 4 lifts anytime soon, however I like variation in my workout layouts
I could easily convince myself that the hormonal effects of deadlifting every day are good enough… and as I get older, I might just be looking for an excuse to go to the HRT doctor. 
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I’ve considered that myself, Bruni just don’t think I can justify it for the sake of a hobby. Especially when I know full well the culprits are sleep, stress and years of abusing my body.
Weighed in at 198.8lbs. Which is still down from my start point after 4 days of heavy eating. I think I may be doing mass gaining wrong.
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Work for today:
Deadlift: 5 x 1 @ 130kg
Hamstring curl: some
Straight arm pull down ss lat pulldown: some
Rear delt crossover: some
Bicep curl machine: some
Straight arm pulldowns: some more
Notes:
- Had an unplanned session so tried a bit of a change of pace, chasing the pump after deads.
- Right knee didn’t feel too happy or stable on deads so went for prone hamstring curls as a knee/lower back friendly assistance. I quite liked it, to be honest. Definitely the best leg curl machine I’ve used. I may well make use of it again. I have knee sleeves on order, should be here by next squat day.
- I really liked this lat superset. Worked pretty well. Will probably be even better if I got the right weights from the start. I based it on this superset by Paul Carter, but working with the equipment I had.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B7KdzSjj8T5/?igshid=1eqfc3snx613q
- I did some curls. I really should start doing curls regularly. They don’t exactly dig much of a hole in recovery and I must be the only guy in the world whose biceps and abs are the least developed part of their physique.
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Yeah, nah. There’s a few of us out there.
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Lol yer add me in that group too. Haven’t done much in the way of bicep work in years now and they were never a strong point even when I trained them often.
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I have no biceps.
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Ditto. Traps and quads gang checking in!
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Weigh in today: 198.2lbs.
Slight drop again, but not significant. Not sure what to make of that as I added a tonne of calories on 2/3 of my lower calorie days to make the most of the extra lifting session. Might have to consider even more food. Damnit.
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Work for today:
Front Squat:
5 x 55kg
5 x 60kg
5 x 65kg
Bench:
5 x 65kg
5 x 75kg
5 x 85kg
6 x 10 @ 60kg
Complexes:
5 x row
5 x powerclean
5 x front squat
5 x push press
5 x back squat
3 rounds @ 50kg
Squats:
30 x 40kg
30 x 50kg
15 x 60kg
Notes:
- Bench felt solid as anything today, barely a twinge from the elbows. Forgot my bands so warmed up with face pulls instead. Seemed to do the job fine.
- Front Squats are not my best friend. I really don’t think I’m getting much benefit from them so they’ll definitely get cut once this program is done. They’re pretty much just a minor annoyance that I’ll keep doing for completeness.
- Complexes feel fine, not sold yet on their muscle building qualities, feels more like a conditioning session to me so definitely having to trust the process there.
- Squats sucked, as always. Probably slightly less than last time and the set of 15 was pretty easy, all things considered. Again, feels more like conditioning than strength and muscle building. Trust the process, I guess.
- Went and bought myself some knee sleeves because my knees have been giving me a bit of grief all week. I’m not usually a fan of using gear, but I can make an exception if it stops my knees exploding. Felt pretty good, definitely made my knees feel much better about life. I intend to only use them when my knees are getting iffy though.
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