On the upper body days I really want to focus on my bench, and as I’ve always responded well to horizontal pressing twice a week I was thinking of combining the 3/5/1 for powerlifting and convential 5/3/1 templates, using Bench and CGBP on respective days (with CGBP replacing Military as the main lift)
Monday - 3/5/1 with Singles
Bench
Thursday - 5/3/1
CGBP
To avoid pressing too heavy twice a week, I’ll use 85% of my CGBP max, while still going for as many reps as possible on the last set of CGBP day.
Wendler touches on this in the 52 FAQs, where he says swapping military press for CGBP would be “OK”…
make sure you still do shoulder pressing…even if not for strength, full ROM barbell pressing will train your body in a movement pattern far different from just benching or even incline pressing. Im only coming to realize how much redundency in movement patterns can lead to imbalance/overtraining rather than just volumes and intensities.
[quote]InTheCity wrote:
Wendler touches on this in the 52 FAQs, where he says swapping military press for CGBP would be “OK”… [/quote]
That’s not exactly what he says… Anyhow, I would never take out overhead press. Keep CGBP as a supplement and do the simple accessory template with it if you like. You could even do CGBP on both OHP day and bench day if you wanted, but I wouldn’t make it one of the big lifts, because it isn’t.
[quote]bignate wrote:
make sure you still do shoulder pressing…even if not for strength, full ROM barbell pressing will train your body in a movement pattern far different from just benching or even incline pressing. Im only coming to realize how much redundency in movement patterns can lead to imbalance/overtraining rather than just volumes and intensities. [/quote]
Redundancy in movement patterns leads to perfection of ability. As a sport based on only a few skills (3 lifts and the components of each) training for powerlifting affords one the opportunity to specifically practise and master solely what is neccesary - the 3 lifts.
This is my opinion but to me things like conjugate method and avoiding the core lifts, is like telling a basketball player to throw a baseball in practise then show up and try to throw a basketball at the meet. Again, just my opinion!
That being said, I see no reason why 2 presses per week wouldnt be an excellent idea. Focus on tight, controlled, optimal form and it can pay huge dividends to bench more often. I think twice a week ought to be a minimum frequency for bench.
I do 5/3/1 bench on tuesdays, then later in the week I take the top set of my 5/3/1 work and I do it for a bunch of triples (if it’s 5 week) doubles (if 3) or singles (if 1 week), Chaos-and-pain style if you’re familiar with Jaime Lewis. Then after that heavy benching, I do 5/3/1 overhead press. That way I’m not neglecting my pressing, But I’m still benching heavy while I’m fresh on that day. Plus you have the added bonus of knowing that ANYTHING you can strict press in that 5/3/1 after the benching, you will most definitely be able to hit fresh, without a problem.
This has worked very well for me. I suck horribly at benching, but switching to this 5/3/1 + chaos and pain style of training broke a plateau I was stuck at for almost a year. Might be worth a try.
I would look into Josh Bryant’s ebook, Metroflex power building guide (something like that). He has a couple templates in there that focus on bench only, and i have seen him say that one can use 5/3/1 loading for the main lift, then i would follow his lead on all the supplementary lifts.
I believe bench day is followed by pause benches, dead benches, fly, dips etc. and CGBP is the main movement on day three and followed by plyometric pushing movements, military press, and supp shoulder work. I believe it is the BJ whitehead program that has it. I was actually thinking of doing something similar while focusing on squats.
Why not just do a program that already has two dedicated bench days? 5/3/1 is a good program but it makes zero sense to do the program just for the sake of doing the program.
Aside from previous success when benching twice a week on Madcows, the main reason I was thinking about this was to give my horizontal pushing work on the second upper body day some focus so as to ensure steady progression. I feel this would be more benefical for me than the recommended 5x10 etc for CGBP after military press (although I acknowledge how 5x10 is a idiot proof way to ensure you’re getting the necessary hypertrophy, and I intend to follow this for my other lifts).
I was actually thinking of doing something like…
Monday
Bench - 3/5/1 with Singles (90% TM)
Military Press - 5x10
Dips - 5x10
Back work
Thursday
CGBP - 5/3/1 (using 85% TM)
Incline DB - 5x10
Tri Assistance - 5x10
Rather than dropping OHP entirely, I’d just use CGBP as the accessory for OHP, thereby achieving a dynamic bench day to supplement your max effort day. But I use CGBP for my main 5/3/1 bench movement, and pretty much suck at it, so what would I know.