Form check me. Going back through my log, I have not put on any weight to my bench in about a year and a half. I am on my second cycle of Cube (nearing the end), with the prescribed bench day being on the weekend with a second during the week (if time permits - 4 month old baby). On the prescribed day, I will typically hit close grip bench sometimes paused sometimes not for 3-4 sets of 6-8 while attempting to increase weight weekly. Then Ill try to hit some extra tricep work for volume. On the second day during the week Ill typically hit a heavy single (below 90%), then do back down sets with 80-85% (3 sets of 3-5). Then some face pulls, band pushdowns, maybe some light military pressing for reps. So in short, bench twice per week with one assistance movement and 1, maybe 2 supplemental lifts for volume. Heres a video of my latest single:
You don’t look very tight there, your legs are wobbling around. Full body tension.
It looks like your bench volume is too low. You’re only doing 7-8 sets of benching each week plus some tricep work and OHP, that’s not much at all. You could probably do close to double that. I don’t know what the Cube recommends, but maybe you need to try a different approach. You could focus on hypertrophy for a while, muscle mass will make a big difference in your bench.
Thanks for the advice. The cube at a high level is one time bench per week prescribed and rotates speed, rep, and heavy work weekly. I started to throw in the second bench day about 5 weeks ago because I felt it wasnt enough. I am weighing my options for programming moving forward here when I finish the current cycle in two weeks.
There is a Cube Predator program where you bench twice a week. You could look at that. In any case, there is no reason why you can’t have two hard bench days a week. If you are making progress on squat and deadlift then you could still use Cube for that and a different program for bench.
I will have to check into that. Deadlift for sure is still moving. Squat is moving too but I also added more volume than what was prescribed. Its hard sometimes having the uncertainty of not being able to train during the week bc of unforseen events. Last week was terrible, our baby woke up like 4 times a night for a whole week straight.
Looks like that Cube Predator program has a light and heavy bench day with 2-3 accessories plus 2 or so supplementals. Looks like a pretty good increase of volume from my current baseline.
You would probably be better off squatting twice a week too. The Cube is a program that Brandon Lily used for himself and he has been lifting for a lot longer than me or you, his technique is much more solid and he is way stronger so less volume and frequency might be better for him.
Makes sense. I have been trying to find a program with 2x bench, 2-3x squat and 1x deadlift but havent come up with much luck. May have to sit down and write something up for myself.
Note: You have poor hypertrophy, you need to gain muscles to significantly improve performance on the bench press. It is true that muscles lift weight, nothing else.
Thanks, that is pretty informative. I just got some adjustable dumbbells and will probably be getting an incline bench to help with getting some more volume and variations incorporated into training.
The training volume increase only with the basic version of the bench press. Additional variants are secondary. More important is the basic variant and quality bodybuilding.
Increasing your bench isn’t complicated. It’s work. Stop doing Cube if it isn’t doing anything for you.
Heavy 5’s for a single set around 80% for 3 weeks and then a single in the 85-90% range the following week works every time. Intensity trumps directionless volume.
Accessory work? Hit the muscles you use for the bench. One movement per body part. Don’t go nuts but don’t be lazy. 2-3 sets in the 8-12 range will suffice. Make the last set heavy on each movement.
Go home. Eat lots of food and gain bodyweight. Get lots of rest. Be lazy when you’re not in the gym. Make lounging your cardio.
Do this for 6 months. If you don’t see vast improvement, you’re not doing something right.
Hard headed i guess? I am going to be running something with bench 2x weekly moving forward with a little more specific programming. Im weighing between Ben Pollack’s Think Strong or Sheiko’s intermediate med load 3 day program.
Not an expert by any standard, but it looks like you’ve got your pins set too high so you’re losing tightness in your back on the unrack. The rack looks adjustable so maybe try unracking from the peg below?
In my opinion, the interviewer doesn’t understand that Brandon Lilly (the author of The Cube Method) once trained under Louie Simmons or Westside Barbell, so he has training that is effective primarily for a equip lifters.
Brandon Lilly wrote The Cube Method as a rebellion against equipped lifting and to simplify training. Anyone who actually read the book would know this.
That being said, his volume days would BURY a beginner.
