Please let me know if we already covered JM Blakely in this thread. I want to avoid redundant posts in this thread for obvious reasons. I just can’t remember, and I don’t have time at the moment to go back and check.
Fletch1986 posted this in my other thread, and it was appropriate here.
Everything below here is from the link above.
"I’m a big fan of JM Blakley, and came across this on another site last night. Thought you guys might find it interesting:
JM Blakley’s 4x6 Bench routine
I. BENCH DAY
Pattern Warm-Up (Mental and Physical Readiness)
- for example: 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 2 (nothing too heavy)
Skill and Neuromuscular Work
-
2-3 sets of singles with near max weight, but light enough to be a sure thing with perfect form (around 85% of raw max)
-
For a shirt trainer the same pattern with the shirt (2-3 x 1 @ 90% of shirt max); should be done at least every other week
Training sets
- Bench with pause 4 sets of six starting at the raw 6RM. Stay at this weight until you get six reps on all sets and then raise 5 lbs and start over, and so on ad infinitum
Once all sets of 6 are done you are done. Go home.
II. ACCESSORY DAY (Tricep Day)
Basic warm-up
Training sets
4 sets of six in the same manner as on the Bench day for two exercises (JM covers 30 plus exercises in the XTM tape but 2 combos he liked where Floor Press with Chain and Reverse Band Press and 3 Inch Rack Lockouts with Comp Grip and JM Presses). Exercises are changed when they start to go stale, roughly every 8 to 12 weeks.
Other Info
Depending on the weaknesses of the lifter, the Bench day or the Accessory day can be exchanged for a shoulder cycle, an A/C repair cycle or a chest drive cycle.
Chest Drive Cycle
Keep your tricep day the same but drop the regular bench press. Pick 2 exercises from his chest selection: deep weighted dips, camber bar bench, deep dumbell press, wide grip floor press. Do 2 of these for 4x6 when not preparing for a meet.
Shoulder Cycle
This cycle is to be done after a meet. Once again no regular bench pressing but do one giant set of collar to collar grip bench press, bench to neck, rainbow press(aka bradford press), 1/2 reverse grip press. Do these for 4x20 doing each exercise one right after the other and then resting after each series. (Emphasis on Technique is Stressed)
Speed work, 3 sets of 7, can be added last on both training days as long as it is light enough not to raise a recovery demand. A quick note about Blakley speed benching: JM did it differently than Westside by starting out slow and progressively increasing the speed of the reps until working at max speed. With the last three being all-out. His rationale for this was to give the body something to compare fast against (slow, faster, faster, faster, FAST, FAST, FAST!!!). On the tape, he mentions being inspired by the fartlek drills runners do.
Closer to a meet or peaking event, the weight can be raised to 4x3 for four to eight weeks.
More about Blakley
12 weeks out from a meet Blakley trained nothing but bench and triceps. When he was benching under 600 he did that chest and tricep routine on the same day every 5 days! He also had a standard back and bicep day and leg day just like a bodybuilder. He had a rule though that he would never do more than 2 exercises per bodypart. He was a big believer in shrugs and also rode the bike a lot. He only trained shoulders for 6 weeks after a meet doing his standard shoulder cycle. He trained shoulders to provide support not strength. Towards the end of his career, when he was getting into the 700 and 800s he only had his bench day and tricep day.
EDIT: Also saw on the same thread that JM’s best JM Press was 540x3. Beast."