Hey guys, I’m 23 years old…6’0" 245 lbs. Played football in college, so I’ve been training hard for about 5-6 years. My deadlift is 620, squat is 600, I can do about 25-30 pullups. Basically, I feel like I’m fairly strong. But my bench has been draggin’ ass for about 2-3 years and I’ve tried about everything. My technique is solid, tight back and shoulders, tail on the bench, feet anchored into the floor, explosive movement, but I can’t seem to get it above the 385 mark. I’ve tried Westside templates, expiremented with various things over the years, added lots of variation. I’m on Wendler’s 5-3-1 program right now. Any suggestions or possible reasons as to why my bench lags behind would be greatly appreciated…Thanks
You say that you were doing the westside method, can you elaborate on that. Are you refering to doing DE and ME work, or were you doing the DE and ME conjugate style?
Conjugate Method, Dynamic day, Max Effort Days etc. A pretty standard Westside Template
Where are the sticking points in you bench? Have you tried using bands, chains, or boards?
How hard have you been training your back and shoulders?
EDIT: Stupid question, just saw he can do a crapload of pullups.
What about the shoulders?
[quote]Rmoss0 wrote:
Hey guys, I’m 23 years old…6’0" 245 lbs. Played football in college, so I’ve been training hard for about 5-6 years. My deadlift is 620, squat is 600, I can do about 25-30 pullups. Basically, I feel like I’m fairly strong. But my bench has been draggin’ ass for about 2-3 years and I’ve tried about everything. My technique is solid, tight back and shoulders, tail on the bench, feet anchored into the floor, explosive movement, but I can’t seem to get it above the 385 mark. I’ve tried Westside templates, expiremented with various things over the years, added lots of variation. I’m on Wendler’s 5-3-1 program right now. Any suggestions or possible reasons as to why my bench lags behind would be greatly appreciated…Thanks [/quote]
Give 5/3/1 time to work. Did you back off of your maxes and start light?
Like Jim’s says in the 5/3/1 book, you got to find that Kroc Row.
My problem with Westside the constant maxing out, even though you rotate exercises for ME day, you still are pushing your CNS, constantly working above the 90% mark.
For me, I am older, I respond better to frequent workout with weights in the 70% - 85% range and always stop short of failure. Old timers ( Doug Hepburn ) believed in mastering the weigh and exercise before moving on. There is a lot said for working your weak points and then practice and master the lifts that you want to improve on.
Do you spend any time on over head pressing ? If not, spend the heavy days hitting the shoulders hard and triceps and perform your benches as practice lifts say 5x1 with 80 - 85% of your max.