Going Back to Westside for My Bench

So latley Ive been thinking about my bench. A few months ago I could rep 225 8 times if I was feeling my best, and around that time I maxed at 285. That was when I was working in lower reps of course, now im doing 5/3/1 and havent been below 5 reps in about 5 months.

Now im repping 225 11x, but in the past 2 months ive failed at 285 and 290. And tonight I tried 290 again, and failed horribly. And afterwords BARELY making 280. It’s obvious 5/3/1 has improved my endurance, and that ive lost my raw power. If I plan on maxing in febuary, I dont think I can continue following the 5/3/1 bench program. But I will stick with the DL and squat 5/3/1 program, it’s benifited me to much to stop.

My plan is to go back to a westisde template, sticking to only the basic flat bench and 2-board, nothing fancy, and having a ME and RE day every week. My 2 month layout will look like this:

Monday: Squat 5/3/1
BBB

Tuesday: ME bench
2-board, 4 triples
lat pulldowns
shrugs

Thursday: Deadlift 5/3/1
BBB

Friday: RE bench
CG bench 5x5
MP 5/3/1
DB row
low row

The only changes I really made are the reps and the added RE day, I will be keeping the 4th week de-load. What do you guys think? If anyone has a better way to peak my strength please tell me, this shit is on my mind 24/7.

Why don’t you stick with 5/3/1 since it seems to be working and work up to a 90%+ rep on your 5/3/1 week every cycle or two to work on maximal strength? I’m sure just a little bit of maximal training would help you realize the strength that you have been building with 5/3/1. Alternatively, you could enter a realization phase of training before your intended test or competition date, spending 3-4 weeks working with 90%+ weights, deloading, and then testing/competing.

Seems like that makes a lot more sense to me than scrapping everything and going to something that doesn’t seem to be very structured.

[quote]Stronghold wrote:
Why don’t you stick with 5/3/1 since it seems to be working and work up to a 90%+ rep on your 5/3/1 week every cycle or two to work on maximal strength? I’m sure just a little bit of maximal training would help you realize the strength that you have been building with 5/3/1. Alternatively, you could enter a realization phase of training before your intended test or competition date, spending 3-4 weeks working with 90%+ weights, deloading, and then testing/competing.

Seems like that makes a lot more sense to me than scrapping everything and going to something that doesn’t seem to be very structured.

[/quote]

Thanks for the comment.

That thought didnt cross my mind, but now that youve broughten it up it definitly seems like it would work better than what I put together.

Not discounting that your max could have dropped on the program, but what kinda deload did you have before attempting a max? It’s quite easy to work your bench and supporting muscles to the point that a week or two of minimal work is needed to recover and attempt a max weight.

If your total volume or fatigue is up over when you were doing Westside, then you are in effect trying to bench tired continuously and you can’t compare the effectiveness of 5/3/1 until you try with less accumulated stress. The flip side of this is that if you feel like crap but are still pushing the same weight, you know you’ve improved.

I get the idea JW is promoting 5/3/1 as a lng haul program. i.e. if you stick with it you’ll get there (and further) in the end. In other words you get stronger as the reps will naturally reduce each adjustment, so maybe what I’m saying is ‘patience’, oh and read page 8 “You have to keep inching forward. This is a very hard pill to swallow for most lifters. They want to start heavy, and they want to start now. This is nothing more than ego, and nothing will destroy a lifter faster, or for longer, than ego.”

I’ve been doing 5/3/1 for almost a year now. My last training cycle I got 315 [all time PR] with a training max of 245. I just got 225x13 the other day. I guess what I’m trying to communicate is that we are similar strength wise, but working with low reps has not been a problem for me.

Hope it’s helpful/motivating.

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
So latley Ive been thinking about my bench. A few months ago I could rep 225 8 times if I was feeling my best, and around that time I maxed at 285. That was when I was working in lower reps of course, now im doing 5/3/1 and havent been below 5 reps in about 5 months.

Now im repping 225 11x, but in the past 2 months ive failed at 285 and 290. And tonight I tried 290 again, and failed horribly. And afterwords BARELY making 280. It’s obvious 5/3/1 has improved my endurance, and that ive lost my raw power. If I plan on maxing in febuary, I dont think I can continue following the 5/3/1 bench program. But I will stick with the DL and squat 5/3/1 program, it’s benifited me to much to stop.

My plan is to go back to a westisde template, sticking to only the basic flat bench and 2-board, nothing fancy, and having a ME and RE day every week. My 2 month layout will look like this:

Monday: Squat 5/3/1
BBB

Tuesday: ME bench
2-board, 4 triples
lat pulldowns
shrugs

Thursday: Deadlift 5/3/1
BBB

Friday: RE bench
CG bench 5x5
MP 5/3/1
DB row
low row

The only changes I really made are the reps and the added RE day, I will be keeping the 4th week de-load. What do you guys think? If anyone has a better way to peak my strength please tell me, this shit is on my mind 24/7. [/quote]

I’d sctratch the Close grips on the RE day and add in heavy 3,4,5 board presses. Do them as heavy as possible (slightly closer grip than normal but not finger on smooth close). I’ve been doing this and It has helped tremendously.

Maybe consider foam presses on Tuesday? use a Yoga foam block. They fit right under your shirt and are 3" thick- the same as a 2 board only the weight will sink into the foam down to about a 1 board (if you let it). This way your kind of still off the chest but allowing for less shoulder involvement.

[quote]smokotime wrote:
Not discounting that your max could have dropped on the program, but what kinda deload did you have before attempting a max? It’s quite easy to work your bench and supporting muscles to the point that a week or two of minimal work is needed to recover and attempt a max weight.

If your total volume or fatigue is up over when you were doing Westside, then you are in effect trying to bench tired continuously and you can’t compare the effectiveness of 5/3/1 until you try with less accumulated stress. The flip side of this is that if you feel like crap but are still pushing the same weight, you know you’ve improved. [/quote]

Last night I had a week to recover, and the other times a week and change.

[quote]Boffin wrote:
I get the idea JW is promoting 5/3/1 as a lng haul program. i.e. if you stick with it you’ll get there (and further) in the end. In other words you get stronger as the reps will naturally reduce each adjustment, so maybe what I’m saying is ‘patience’, oh and read page 8 “You have to keep inching forward. This is a very hard pill to swallow for most lifters. They want to start heavy, and they want to start now. This is nothing more than ego, and nothing will destroy a lifter faster, or for longer, than ego.”[/quote]

I see what your saying. I really want to get 300 before the end of my senior year, its been one of my goals since I started lifting.

Im thinking about doing a meet around then to, so wouldnt hurt to prepare.

What were your bench weight/rep numbers on the last 5/3/1 cycle?

Total week off, or just doing prescribed reps? What about accessory work, did you still hit it hard?

I have come back to a Westside style bench training approach after following a much more shirt-specific approach for years. A typical week for me is:

DE- 6 to 9 triples; all using some kind of closer than normal grip; sometimes with band tension- but not always; followed by DB pressing for reps and some light upperback work

ME- work up to a max single, sometime dropping back for a lighter 2 or 3 rep set afterwards; I shirt up every 2 or 3 weeks; followed by some kind of raw close grip pressing for a 4 or 5 sets of 5 to 8- floor presses with chains or 3 board presses are typical here; then I’ll usually do some upper back work.

This has been working well for me. Getting out my shirt more often seems to keep me fresher for the heavy shirted sessions. I keep hitting PRs on the various ME lifts. The training variety has made benching more fun as well.