Deadlift and Bench Strength

Training
1

Hey Coach,

So every 3-6 months some of my gym partners and some friends create a fitness related goal, train for it - together and separately - and then have a competition. We are all former athletes and find it very motivating, plus the winner gets major bragging rights. Last competition it was a 400m dash. We have had some pretty cool ones in the past

I am a Neurotype 2A and find having these goals helps me stick to a program way better with fewer changes.

The next competition involves about ten of us and will be the classic bench press and barbell deadlift. I’m 6’2” 190lbs and have a 300lbs bench and 405lbs deadlift. I have never really trained them for strength though.

Any chance you can guide me in the right direction with any structure, any of your programs (paid or unpaid), any special methods, etc. that you find best and most applicable to gaining strength in these two lifts?

Anything you’re willing to share is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

2

What’s your body type? Long limbs/short torso? Short limbs/long torso?

Where is your sticking point in the deadlift and bench?

1 Like
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I have super long legs and a really long femur - short torso. Everywhere I go people comment on how long my legs are.
Longer arms too, but not as disproportionate as my legs.
Sticking point for bench is definitely about half way up… I can get it off my chest and then as it’s going up it fizzles out about half way.
Also I have done some barbell floor press a few times and notice that my barbell bench press is way stronger than my barbell floor press. Not sure if that’s normal or not.
Deadlift I feel weakest at the floor, and then stronger and stronger as I go up. Lockout is never a problem.

4

How often are you planning to train and what type of schedule/split do you prefer?

How long do you have until the “competition”?

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My schedule currently allows me to train up to five days per week. Any split is fine with me. I’ve noticed that I don’t really prefer any split over another, just as long as I believe in the program then I have success and adhere to it, and the only programs I’ve ever believed in are yours :slightly_smiling_face:

The “competition” is in approximately 4.5 months!

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Do you have any other goals or for those 4.5 months that’s you main one?

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Good question… I’d say those are my main goals. Although, I’m naturally very thin, and I’ve spent a long time building up some muscle mass on my body. So a goal of mine is to always maintain or gain muscle. Obviously I want to look good, but it helps my confidence a lot…if that makes sense.

I’m a former sprinter and still sprint train a lot. So after this ~4.5 month preparation and competition, I’ll likely transition to slightly more explosive training and sprint training since that’s what I usually do mid year to keep my speed :slightly_smiling_face:

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Ok, so what I’d recommend is my Omni-contraction approach plus a GAP/hypertrophy workout on the 4th day.

DAY 1 (Monday) - Eccentric focus
DAY 2 (Wednesday) - Stato-dynamic/isometric focus
DAY 3 (Friday) - Concentric/normal lifting focus
DAY 4 (Saturday) - Gap workout (single-joint hypertrophy work)

For the 3 main workouts, you’d use a whole-body approach, based on big basic lifts with an emphasis on the bench and deadlift. I’d probably stick to only 3 lifts, maybe 4 per workout to allow for 1) more work on the key exercises 2) better recovery.

Let’s look at three 4-weeks phases and one peaking phase of 2 weeks.

PHASE 1
Eccentric day (doing the eccentric phase in 5-6 sec): RDL, Bench press, Front squat, 3-4 sets of 3-6 reps, adding a rep every week (3,4,5,6)
Stato-dynamic day (holding a position for 8-15) sec then doing 3-5 reps): Deficit deadlift (pause 2" from floor), Incline bench press (pause at mid-range), Front squat heels elevated (pause at mid-range), lengthening the pause every week (8 sec, 10 sec, 12 sec, 15 sec)
Concentric day (normal reps, trying to lift the weight as fast as possible): Trap bar deadlift (low handles), DB bench press, Zercher squat… something like 3-5 sets of 6 reps, adding a set each week (3,4,5,6)

PHASE 2
Eccentric day (slow eccentric, in 5-6 sec), RDL, bench press, front squat. For 2-5 reps, decreasing the reps every week while adding weight (5,4,3,2)
Stato-dynamic day (include three 2 sec pauses during each rep; top 1/3, mid, bottom 1/3). Deficit deadlift, DB bench press, front squat heels elevated. For 2-5 reps, decreasing the reps every week while adding weight (5,4,3,2)
Concentric day (normal lifting): Deadlift with heels elevated, floor press, hack squat machine. 6 sets in the for of two waves, except for week 3 (week 1:6/4/2, week 2: 5/3/1, week 3: 5/4/3/2/1, week 4: 3/2/1 waves)

PHASE 3
Eccentric day (supramax eccentric, 1 rep per set done as slowly as possible with 105-110% of your max, only do the eccentric phase, use a power rack) deadlift and bench only, 3-6 sets, adding 1 set per week (3,4,5,6)
Stato-dynamic day (functional isometrics around your sticking point), max effort for 6 seconds. Deadlift and bench only, 4-7 sets, adding one per week (4,5,6,7)
Concentric day (contrast supra-max partials and normal lift): rack pull above the knees with deadlift, 2-3 reps each, 2-3 min of rest between both; top half bench from pins with bench press, 2-3 reps each, 2-3 min of rest between both. Do each complex 3-4 times

PEAKING
Week 1
(here we stop with the contraction type training)
Monday: Deadlift ramp up to a 2RM, then 3 x 2 @ 90% of 2RM. Bench: same thing
Wednesday: Deadlift and bench, 5 x 2 @ 70% of 2RM
Friday: Deadlift and bench, 4 x 2 @ 85% of 2RM
Saturday: Deadlift and bench 5 x 1 @ 80% of 2RM

Week 2 (competition week, assuming the comp is on Saturday)
Monday: Deadlift and bench, work up to 90-95% of 2RM
Wednesday: Deadlift and bench, 5 x 1 @ 85% of 2RM
Friday: OFF
Saturday: TEST

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Coach,

THANK YOU SO MUCH! This looks incredible. This is why you’re the best in the business.

I do have one question - I see you clearly outlined progressions for each phase, e.g., adding reps, sets, duration of holds, etc. but how hard should I be pushing myself each set? Should I be leaving some reps in the tank on certain days/phases?

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When training for strength, you typically leave around 2 reps in the tank. Unless it’s mentioned that you ramp up to an RM, in which case your last set have 0-1 reps in reserve

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Thank you again. This helps me so much. I appreciate you. Can’t wait to begin this program.

I will check back in and let you know how much I’ve improved at the end of this program! :grinning:

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And don’t hesitate to ask me about anything you’re not sure of, or if there are some roadblocks down the line

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Nice ! I want to see how it goes for you. I had fun with the Omni-Contraction, but did not follow it long enough (Covid hit) and was going too heavy, not 2 reps in the tank lol

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How’s it going?

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