I’m wondering if anyone has tried the old Muscle Media 2000 Shawn Phillips bench press program, from about a decade back, before the magazine went mainstream and then folded. I tried the program about four years ago, but I was new to lifting, barely knew what I was doing, and didn’t keep a real good training log, so it’s hard to judge what my gains were. I saw one post here from someone who really liked it, and would love to hear from anyone else who’s tried it, and what their gains were like. Thibaudeau’s new bench program looks awesome, but I’m not gonna have a whole Sunday free to lift like that for about six or seven months.
I tried it about 10 years ago, thought it sucked. There are much better programs available on this site for increasing your bench.
I tried when it first came as a special insert with the mag. I did it exactly as laid out and half way through my strenght plummeted. I think it just doesnt have enough recovery time built into the program.
If I can find my training log from then I will post exactly what happened.
Just on a side note I think this workout was wrote about the Phillips assholes ooops I mean brothers having a bench contest. Which I think Shawn won because he did this workout and took I think Vandal Sulfate?
God I hate Bill Phillips! TC if you are reading this please tell me you pissed in his coffee or slept with his girfriend, mother or sister!
I gained 30lbs on my bench from the MM2K add 40lbs to your bench program.
I went from 240 to 270. 300 is getting closer and closer.
Like any program out there, some people get good results and some don’t.
It worked well for me when I was about 22. I tried it last summer(now 28) and it didn’t give me quite the same results, probably due to decreased recovery capacity.
[quote]GDollars37 wrote:
I’m wondering if anyone has tried the old Muscle Media 2000 Shawn Phillips bench press program, from about a decade back, before the magazine went mainstream and then folded. I tried the program about four years ago, but I was new to lifting, barely knew what I was doing, and didn’t keep a real good training log, so it’s hard to judge what my gains were. I saw one post here from someone who really liked it, and would love to hear from anyone else who’s tried it, and what their gains were like. Thibaudeau’s new bench program looks awesome, but I’m not gonna have a whole Sunday free to lift like that for about six or seven months. [/quote]
I tried it a few times when I was 18/19. It works, but dont expect to put more than about 20 lbs on your bench. I think it’s a good program for a beginner - very simple and basic. However, for someone more advanced with many years of training under their belt, something along the lines of C.T.'s new bench program would be more appropriate.
I tried it on 2 different occasions about 6 years ago. did add some strength but not the whole 40 or 50 pounds the program claimed.
i tried the original program and gained 40lbs in 6 weeks. later when they re-released it(about 1 1/2 years later), i gained 55lbs in 3 (yes, 3) weeks, although as i also hit a plateua for 3 weeks. i thought the progam worked well(obviously it did for me) and was pretty simple for people to use. the only thing i would do different is not go ahead of the progam-that’s why i stalled out the second time.
p.s. i had several buddies that tried it…all got the same results…
I still think its a good program for beginners. I remember carrying that little blue pamphlet everywhere thinking that Shawn Phillips actually earned those abs on the BFL cover. Heh.
I tried original program and went from 295 to 325 back when I was around 155lb. I still remember the workout when I smoked 3 plates for the first time. Better than sex.
My brother and his friend also had great results…he stayed on it for 2 cycles and went from 225 to 287 in competition at 127lb and set ca teen amateur record. Don’t remem if he was shirted.
Ronin
anyone able to list the program? or at least remember what most of it was based on? That was before i even knew the difference between a dumbell and barbell (2000).
Would be peachy to try if anyone knows it or can get it.
Spanks.
[quote]Lotus wrote:
anyone able to list the program? or at least remember what most of it was based on? That was before i even knew the difference between a dumbell and barbell (2000).
Would be peachy to try if anyone knows it or can get it.
Spanks.[/quote]
You can find the entire program if you do a search of the internet.
I have used the program on several ocassions (about 4) and have found it to be rather beneficial. The program is about 14 workouts long (2/week) and I have found that after the 10th workout I usually have diminishing returns. So using it for the first 5 weeks (10 workouts) I have had consistent results, gaining 30 pounds to my bench press max. I have found that this program usually works best to push me past a plateau. I would recommend it for someone to toss into their workout rotation once every year or two.
Regards,
Sensless
Thanks. god bless the internet.
[quote]Dontseame wrote:
God I hate Bill Phillips! TC if you are reading this please tell me you pissed in his coffee or slept with his girfriend, mother or sister![/quote]
Did 'em all: girlfriend, mother, sister, and once, after a bottle of Cuervo, his dad.
Kidding! Kidding!
Thanks for all the feedback. Did you guys who used the program remember if you did the older or newer version? It seems to me like the newer version looks a little better.
thinking back I did version 1 my first time and version 2 my second time. I got them off the internet I may still have some PDFs/HTML pages with an outline of the program and how to progress in weight. If anyone is interested PM me and I can email them to you.
Can anyone list this program, ive hit a horrible plateu in my bench for the last month my whole body is progressing besides my bench ive been eating right everything ive tried several diffrent programs nothing has worked! so if someone could post it, it owuld be much appreciated.
I did it twice and the first time it worked pretty good…got an extra 25 or 30 pounds.
This was 6 or 7 years ago and I would like to think that my training has become much more scientific since then and it would be of much less value to me now.
I think for a beginner to early intermediate who never carefully tracked his numbers and made a serious effort to jump them slightly week in and week out, the idiot-proof system laid out in this program is a beautiful thing. If you fall into those categories and can find the program, try it for sure. It will help. More experienced guys won’t get much out of it most likely and there are much better bench systems circulating around…some on this website.
[quote]GDollars37 wrote:
Thanks for all the feedback. Did you guys who used the program remember if you did the older or newer version? It seems to me like the newer version looks a little better.[/quote]
I did the older version of the program. I was going to repeat the program again, but I am going to try something different instead for variety.
Bump!
Yes I think these people did it wrong. It specifically tells you to back off other lifts many don’t listen.
I made sucky progress outside of it as a beginner and never failed to gain 25-30lbs every time. The problem I have with it is you don’t progress other lifts, so you need to take time off to bring them up before repeating. The program also does little nothing for speed strength or technique it just gets you to the goal.
I leave it on standby and if my training isn’t making enough progress on bench I would do it again but kills my speed so I really avoid it if possible. Westside is great I do fine with that without all the bands and chains. However if you didn’t care about anything but bench you could make a lot more progress just doing this 12 week program back to back (8weeks plus 4recovery with dumbbells). I do question results at heavier poundages but the booklet goes to over 500lb if I remember and I recall a person who went straight to 400 in a few years doing only this.
For myself, after 4-5 cycles of it I started getting impingement despite the cuff work. I stopped using it after 265.
I’ve always been curious about adapting it to squat because I’d love to make good progress there but it’s a little dangerous with the 120% negatives. 
Even with a safety bar I don’t think I’d trust a spotter and my spine isn’t what it used to be unfortunately.