I have super long arms and obviously struggle to lock out any press. I bench 95kg but deadlift 225kg.
My bench has gone from 90kg1 to 951 in 11 months!!!
I tried triceps isolation work - overhead (one arm overhead extensions, as well as seated tate press) and lying (ez bar and db extensions). It didn’t do shit for my bench or press. Possibly because I didn’t gain any triceps mass.
I’m doing 5-3-1. I tried doing floor press 3*10 on overhead press day. It hasn’t done shit for my bench.
I do Savickas Presses from mid-face 3*10 on bench press day. It might be helping my overhead press but isn’t doing shit for my bench.
What assistance can I possibly to do to improve my lockout on bench?
OR should I be changing my main exercise from bench to floor press or board press (if I was going to consistently use the same board - would it be a 3 board? Surely this would mean my chest gets detrained unless I do push ups or bench press 3*10 as assistance?) ?
Do close grip one board presses. Gain weight/tricep mass. Profit.
Edit: A lot of people don’t progress on bench using 5/3/1. I did 5/3/1 for 5 months and gained a 100lbs on my squat and 70lbs on my DL, but my bench regressed. So yeah.
What’s a good program for bench then? 5*5? How can I do that while keeping 5-3-1 for Squats and Deadlifts?
I don’t think I could do Westside for bench as I would lose overhead press from the program. Unless I can do Westside ME one day and 5-3-1 Overhead Press another - surely Westside doesn’t work without the Dynamic Effort day?
Close Grip one board presses as assistance or main lift?
I don’t know what is a good program for bench, but what I’ve been doing the past two months has been working splendidly. I’m working up to a heavy set of three or so on flat bench, making sure not to flirt with failure, then I do two sets of 5-8 with lighter weight(e.g. I might to 125kg3, then 110kg8*2). After that I move on to some paused close grip one board presses for two or three sets. Then I finish up with incline pump work.
I’m also doing shoulder work and tricep assistance, but that’s on another day. This has been working for at least.
That’s good info.
I’d like to give something like that a go but I’d be scared of doing that volume of pressing. I’ve had shoulder irritation in the past and was stuck with dumbbells for 9 months. I now bench with a close grip.
My setup for my two upper body days looks like:
cl grip bench 5-3-1
Bent over rows 510
Overhead press assistance (Zavickas press from forehead) 310
Face Pulls
Zavickas Press 5-3-1
Chins
Bench Press assistance (not sure what exercise to put in here - haven’t found one that seems to work)
Db Rows
External Rotation
[quote]ros1816 wrote:
Question 1. What program can I use to increase my bench while keeping 5-3-1 for deads, squats and military?
Question 2. What Bench Press assistance or Main Exercise variant can I use to get results given weak lockout?[/quote]
I am not sure if anyone has a good answer for the first question from what I have seen on the forums. You might just consider experimenting for yourself. To stick with 5/3/1 I think almost any bench variation will work, floor/board/lockouts from rack, even chain/band if you have them. All of those are harder on the top end which should work for you. 5/3/1 is not great for bench press but maybe it will work better with one of the variants. For assistance you can also do regular bench press but not every month, change it every 1-2 months. Also do speed bench work on OH Press day but maybe alternate weeks or months when you are doing that.
I’ve never gotten anything out of tricep ‘isolation’ exercises. The only thing that has made my triceps stronger and bigger are variations of benching and shoulder pressing.
Band and board presses and to a lesser extent closegrip pressing have done for my triceps than anything. I find push presses for me tend to be more triceps dominated and less shoulder. You might need to experiment with different rep schemes too.
Having long arms I’d probably think you might wanna try to get more speed on the bar coming off your chest making it easier to push into lockout. Pause bench does a good job of this. If you want to add some tricep mass imo close grip bench and dips do this and carry over well to the bench and overhead press.
Zavickas Press 5-3-1
Chins
Speed Bench 82 w 50%
Db Rows 310
External Rotation
Question 1: Thats a lot of pressing on Bench Day - should I maybe drop the 3*8 Bench work?
Question 2: Why do you suggest changing the assistance work every month or two?
Question 3: Can I stick with Rack Lockouts as my main exercise for, say, 10 cycles?
Question 4: Should I really be doing Speed Bench after 5-3-1 Overhead Pressing? Surely I won’t be fresh for the speed work?
[/quote]
It looks like your wanting to do the opposite days assistance work on the current day. If your going to do that I would say don’t do it it on both days. The following might work better for assistance
This month
Bench Day: For pressing, only bench assistance
Press Day: Overhead Press Assistance + Speed Bench
Some other month after you change lifts
Bench Day: Bench Assistance + Overhead Press Assistance
Press Day: Overhead press assistance only, no speed work
Mainly because your progress slows down or stalls, then you switch to another lift and progress on that instead. 3 months is a long time to do 1 lift so I personally change every 2 months.
Probably not a good idea, Every good bench program I’ve seen rotates the lifts every week. On this site look up the article “Dave Tate’s Six-Week Bench Press Cure”. To not go too far away from 5/3/1 you can probably stick with the same lift for 1 cycle then switch it the next. Maybe even just rotate 2 lifts like lockouts and floor press every month, similar range of motion.
I’ve done this before and its really not too bad. I have not tried this yet but might try doing speed bench on a cardio day either before or after OH press day.
ros1816 - Just thought I’d throw in my two cents. I did Dan John’s 40 day program and my bench strength increased about 25 lbs if I remember right. It was a while back and I think I only did 20 days worth. It’s quite boring but I’d do it again if I hit a plague. Good luck
5/3/1 kidn of suck for bench cus there are just not enought reps…do more high rep work along with the heavy triples and singles. bench need more volume .
I personally struggled with my first few cycles of bench on 5/3/1 and it wasn’t until I cut weight back so I was getting 10 reps on ‘3’s week’ that I began to progress (same with Military Press).