Road to a 405 Raw Bench

Training Powerlifting
121

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
for all you guys chasing 405, i’m going to let you in on a secret that i have used to get my raw bench into the 500’s.

most can agree that hitting a max attempt can be very initmidating because it’s uncharted territory and it just feels so damn heavy on that liftoff. i find that when lifting the weight off and it feels heavy, psychologically, it can contribute to missing before you really even start.

so… how do you make that max attempt feel light(er) thus building your confidence and hopefully leading to a new weight PR?? here’s the secret- i like to do my warmup sets leading up to the max attempt off a 4 board or higher. doing this allows me to train with supramaximal weight and primes my body to handle the heavy weight but it doesn’t fatigue me leading up to the max attempt. the 4 board press is done touch and go. that means allowing the bar to sink in and then explode to lockout. below is an example of a warmup to a max attempt.

4 board press
135x4
225x2
315x1
405x1
495x1
565x1

-after that last set go straight to a max full ROM attempt at 520.

you will be amazed at how light your max attempt will feel after going above it on the board press. also, not doing a full ROM warmup won’t fatigue you leading to the max attempt.

having said all this, obviously one would need to spend some time getting familiar with board pressing before trying this.

i also use a similiar warmup on deadlifts and squats. I’ll do elevated deads (above the knee) before attempting a max and i’ll do heavy reverse band squats as a lead up to a max attempt.

this style of supramaximal training is also the cornerstone to how i increase my strength overall, not just for max attempts. [/quote]

Would you say that those sort of methods could be used for beginner guys like me? Or should I really save that sort of thing a few years down the line when progress is much more difficult?

122

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
for all you guys chasing 405, i’m going to let you in on a secret that i have used to get my raw bench into the 500’s.

most can agree that hitting a max attempt can be very initmidating because it’s uncharted territory and it just feels so damn heavy on that liftoff. i find that when lifting the weight off and it feels heavy, psychologically, it can contribute to missing before you really even start.

so… how do you make that max attempt feel light(er) thus building your confidence and hopefully leading to a new weight PR?? here’s the secret- i like to do my warmup sets leading up to the max attempt off a 4 board or higher.

doing this allows me to train with supramaximal weight and primes my body to handle the heavy weight but it doesn’t fatigue me leading up to the max attempt. the 4 board press is done touch and go. that means allowing the bar to sink in and then explode to lockout. below is an example of a warmup to a max attempt.

4 board press
135x4
225x2
315x1
405x1
495x1
565x1

-after that last set go straight to a max full ROM attempt at 520.

you will be amazed at how light your max attempt will feel after going above it on the board press. also, not doing a full ROM warmup won’t fatigue you leading to the max attempt.

having said all this, obviously one would need to spend some time getting familiar with board pressing before trying this.

i also use a similiar warmup on deadlifts and squats. I’ll do elevated deads (above the knee) before attempting a max and i’ll do heavy reverse band squats as a lead up to a max attempt.

this style of supramaximal training is also the cornerstone to how i increase my strength overall, not just for max attempts. [/quote]

Would you say that those sort of methods could be used for beginner guys like me? Or should I really save that sort of thing a few years down the line when progress is much more difficult?[/quote]

it can be used by anyone as long as proper form is learned on the variations first.

123

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
for all you guys chasing 405, i’m going to let you in on a secret that i have used to get my raw bench into the 500’s.

most can agree that hitting a max attempt can be very initmidating because it’s uncharted territory and it just feels so damn heavy on that liftoff. i find that when lifting the weight off and it feels heavy, psychologically, it can contribute to missing before you really even start.

so… how do you make that max attempt feel light(er) thus building your confidence and hopefully leading to a new weight PR?? here’s the secret- i like to do my warmup sets leading up to the max attempt off a 4 board or higher.

doing this allows me to train with supramaximal weight and primes my body to handle the heavy weight but it doesn’t fatigue me leading up to the max attempt. the 4 board press is done touch and go. that means allowing the bar to sink in and then explode to lockout. below is an example of a warmup to a max attempt.

4 board press
135x4
225x2
315x1
405x1
495x1
565x1

-after that last set go straight to a max full ROM attempt at 520.

you will be amazed at how light your max attempt will feel after going above it on the board press. also, not doing a full ROM warmup won’t fatigue you leading to the max attempt.

having said all this, obviously one would need to spend some time getting familiar with board pressing before trying this.

i also use a similiar warmup on deadlifts and squats. I’ll do elevated deads (above the knee) before attempting a max and i’ll do heavy reverse band squats as a lead up to a max attempt.

this style of supramaximal training is also the cornerstone to how i increase my strength overall, not just for max attempts. [/quote]

Would you say that those sort of methods could be used for beginner guys like me? Or should I really save that sort of thing a few years down the line when progress is much more difficult?[/quote]

it can be used by anyone as long as proper form is learned on the variations first. [/quote]

Do you have a specific reason for choosing board presses over other overload variations?

Would bands or chains work as well? I ask, because I’ve never done much board work. Though this might be good motivation to start.

124

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
for all you guys chasing 405, i’m going to let you in on a secret that i have used to get my raw bench into the 500’s.

most can agree that hitting a max attempt can be very initmidating because it’s uncharted territory and it just feels so damn heavy on that liftoff. i find that when lifting the weight off and it feels heavy, psychologically, it can contribute to missing before you really even start.

so… how do you make that max attempt feel light(er) thus building your confidence and hopefully leading to a new weight PR?? here’s the secret- i like to do my warmup sets leading up to the max attempt off a 4 board or higher.

doing this allows me to train with supramaximal weight and primes my body to handle the heavy weight but it doesn’t fatigue me leading up to the max attempt. the 4 board press is done touch and go. that means allowing the bar to sink in and then explode to lockout. below is an example of a warmup to a max attempt.

4 board press
135x4
225x2
315x1
405x1
495x1
565x1

-after that last set go straight to a max full ROM attempt at 520.

you will be amazed at how light your max attempt will feel after going above it on the board press. also, not doing a full ROM warmup won’t fatigue you leading to the max attempt.

having said all this, obviously one would need to spend some time getting familiar with board pressing before trying this.

i also use a similiar warmup on deadlifts and squats. I’ll do elevated deads (above the knee) before attempting a max and i’ll do heavy reverse band squats as a lead up to a max attempt.

this style of supramaximal training is also the cornerstone to how i increase my strength overall, not just for max attempts. [/quote]

Would you say that those sort of methods could be used for beginner guys like me? Or should I really save that sort of thing a few years down the line when progress is much more difficult?[/quote]

it can be used by anyone as long as proper form is learned on the variations first. [/quote]

Do you have a specific reason for choosing board presses over other overload variations?

Would bands or chains work as well? I ask, because I’ve never done much board work. Though this might be good motivation to start.[/quote]

i like boards because it really limits the ROM and doesn’t take much out of me to perform them. it allows me to hold heavier weight in my hands. that’s the main reason i like these.

125

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
for all you guys chasing 405, i’m going to let you in on a secret that i have used to get my raw bench into the 500’s.

most can agree that hitting a max attempt can be very initmidating because it’s uncharted territory and it just feels so damn heavy on that liftoff. i find that when lifting the weight off and it feels heavy, psychologically, it can contribute to missing before you really even start.

so… how do you make that max attempt feel light(er) thus building your confidence and hopefully leading to a new weight PR?? here’s the secret- i like to do my warmup sets leading up to the max attempt off a 4 board or higher.

doing this allows me to train with supramaximal weight and primes my body to handle the heavy weight but it doesn’t fatigue me leading up to the max attempt. the 4 board press is done touch and go. that means allowing the bar to sink in and then explode to lockout. below is an example of a warmup to a max attempt.

4 board press
135x4
225x2
315x1
405x1
495x1
565x1

-after that last set go straight to a max full ROM attempt at 520.

you will be amazed at how light your max attempt will feel after going above it on the board press. also, not doing a full ROM warmup won’t fatigue you leading to the max attempt.

having said all this, obviously one would need to spend some time getting familiar with board pressing before trying this.

i also use a similiar warmup on deadlifts and squats. I’ll do elevated deads (above the knee) before attempting a max and i’ll do heavy reverse band squats as a lead up to a max attempt.

this style of supramaximal training is also the cornerstone to how i increase my strength overall, not just for max attempts. [/quote]

Would you say that those sort of methods could be used for beginner guys like me? Or should I really save that sort of thing a few years down the line when progress is much more difficult?[/quote]

it can be used by anyone as long as proper form is learned on the variations first. [/quote]

Do you have a specific reason for choosing board presses over other overload variations?

Would bands or chains work as well? I ask, because I’ve never done much board work. Though this might be good motivation to start.[/quote]

I havent devoted much training to bands and/or chains but I absolutely love boards. If you stall on a PR attempt just get your training partner to pay close attention to where you stalled out, be it a 1 board, 2 board, 3 board etc. Press off one board less than where you stalled.

For the record if you stall at a 1 board it just means you need to get overall stronger lol

126

Todays workout went ok:

flat bench
225x6
265x6
285x4
225x10

incline bench
225x7
245x5

I say the workout only was ‘ok’ because I’m starting to get pains in the back of my shoulders and I have to end my workout before I can fatigue my chest.

The pain mostly comes on during incline movements (barbell/smith machine), maybe its because i can’t tuck back my shoulders as much on a incline bench…

Brusies show up after my workout on the back of my shoulders also =/

127

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
Todays workout went ok:

flat bench
225x6
265x6
285x4
225x10

incline bench
225x7
245x5

I say the workout only was ‘ok’ because I’m starting to get pains in the back of my shoulders and I have to end my workout before I can fatigue my chest.

The pain mostly comes on during incline movements (barbell/smith machine), maybe its because i can’t tuck back my shoulders as much on a incline bench…

Brusies show up after my workout on the back of my shoulders also =/

[/quote]

If it hurts then dont do it. Try an incline db press instead, and if that doesnt work then drop it all together. No use injuring yourself chasing a goal

Make sure you’re hammering the crap out of your triceps too. My biggest bench gains have always come with my biggest tricep gains

128

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
for all you guys chasing 405, i’m going to let you in on a secret that i have used to get my raw bench into the 500’s.

most can agree that hitting a max attempt can be very initmidating because it’s uncharted territory and it just feels so damn heavy on that liftoff. i find that when lifting the weight off and it feels heavy, psychologically, it can contribute to missing before you really even start.

so… how do you make that max attempt feel light(er) thus building your confidence and hopefully leading to a new weight PR?? here’s the secret- i like to do my warmup sets leading up to the max attempt off a 4 board or higher. doing this allows me to train with supramaximal weight and primes my body to handle the heavy weight but it doesn’t fatigue me leading up to the max attempt. the 4 board press is done touch and go. that means allowing the bar to sink in and then explode to lockout. below is an example of a warmup to a max attempt.

4 board press
135x4
225x2
315x1
405x1
495x1
565x1

-after that last set go straight to a max full ROM attempt at 520.

you will be amazed at how light your max attempt will feel after going above it on the board press. also, not doing a full ROM warmup won’t fatigue you leading to the max attempt.

having said all this, obviously one would need to spend some time getting familiar with board pressing before trying this.

i also use a similiar warmup on deadlifts and squats. I’ll do elevated deads (above the knee) before attempting a max and i’ll do heavy reverse band squats as a lead up to a max attempt.

this style of supramaximal training is also the cornerstone to how i increase my strength overall, not just for max attempts. [/quote]

Hey meat, have you ever used this during a meet as part of your warmups? It makes a lot of sense, and I remember you telling me a while back that the best way to get stronger is dealing with supramaximal weights.

I’ve been considering getting a pair of those fat gripz to do my warmups with…allegedly the normal bar feels like a toy after getting the CNS primed up with the fatter ones.

129

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
for all you guys chasing 405, i’m going to let you in on a secret that i have used to get my raw bench into the 500’s.

most can agree that hitting a max attempt can be very initmidating because it’s uncharted territory and it just feels so damn heavy on that liftoff. i find that when lifting the weight off and it feels heavy, psychologically, it can contribute to missing before you really even start.

so… how do you make that max attempt feel light(er) thus building your confidence and hopefully leading to a new weight PR?? here’s the secret- i like to do my warmup sets leading up to the max attempt off a 4 board or higher. doing this allows me to train with supramaximal weight and primes my body to handle the heavy weight but it doesn’t fatigue me leading up to the max attempt. the 4 board press is done touch and go. that means allowing the bar to sink in and then explode to lockout. below is an example of a warmup to a max attempt.

4 board press
135x4
225x2
315x1
405x1
495x1
565x1

-after that last set go straight to a max full ROM attempt at 520.

you will be amazed at how light your max attempt will feel after going above it on the board press. also, not doing a full ROM warmup won’t fatigue you leading to the max attempt.

having said all this, obviously one would need to spend some time getting familiar with board pressing before trying this.

i also use a similiar warmup on deadlifts and squats. I’ll do elevated deads (above the knee) before attempting a max and i’ll do heavy reverse band squats as a lead up to a max attempt.

this style of supramaximal training is also the cornerstone to how i increase my strength overall, not just for max attempts. [/quote]

Hey meat, have you ever used this during a meet as part of your warmups? It makes a lot of sense, and I remember you telling me a while back that the best way to get stronger is dealing with supramaximal weights.

I’ve been considering getting a pair of those fat gripz to do my warmups with…allegedly the normal bar feels like a toy after getting the CNS primed up with the fatter ones.
[/quote]

Ive done this a couple of time(using fat gripz for warm up). I say a couple because I just recently heard of someone incorporating them into their warmups as well. I did see a difference. Most likely just a psychological change but I still performed better

130

Anybody else bench with a narrower grip (pinky on the ring or narrower I would say)? I went wide for about 4 months, but I was feeling too much pain at the tie-in area and brought my grip in. It only had a minimal effect on my strength, though. In two weeks I’ve gotten right back to where I was before I switched.

131

Yeah I bench closer than having my pinky’s on the ring…I’d say I’m anywhere from an inch to 2 inches in. It’s just that closer benching is healther for the shoulders…the wide grip is easier to cause a shoulder problem…even if your shoulder is impingened with a close grip bench you could still get away with benching where-as a wide grip you will feel it.

I was benching wide for a while, between that and a bunch of other things…and not enough pulling I messed up my shoulder. I always bench with a closer grip, and I have to…the beating I have been taking from boxing would make my shoulders fall off lol.

132

We probably are at about the same width. The bars at my gym run kind of narrow in my experience. But you are absolutely right, it was a night and day difference when I brought the grip in. Did you notice a big difference in strength?

133

Yeah it is quite a difference. I didn’t notice a big difference in strength, like you in a couple weeks it was at the same. I’m pretty sure the strength was already there, it’s just practicing the new movement pattern and finding the groove which gave the strength gains, all neural.

Aside from that I definately prefer benching closer MUCH more and feel a lot of power. As well if I want to get my chest involved more I just go over to the dumbbells and perform flat presses and I always get a lot of chest work from that and will usually do that for a few sets after heavy benches. Then back work right away.

By the way, someone just made a thread about the wide grip benching and what not…ironabraham posted a sweet
skit from an article in there for merits of benching closer. check it out man. it’s a few posts down.

134

[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
for all you guys chasing 405, i’m going to let you in on a secret that i have used to get my raw bench into the 500’s.

most can agree that hitting a max attempt can be very initmidating because it’s uncharted territory and it just feels so damn heavy on that liftoff. i find that when lifting the weight off and it feels heavy, psychologically, it can contribute to missing before you really even start.

so… how do you make that max attempt feel light(er) thus building your confidence and hopefully leading to a new weight PR?? here’s the secret- i like to do my warmup sets leading up to the max attempt off a 4 board or higher. doing this allows me to train with supramaximal weight and primes my body to handle the heavy weight but it doesn’t fatigue me leading up to the max attempt. the 4 board press is done touch and go. that means allowing the bar to sink in and then explode to lockout. below is an example of a warmup to a max attempt.

4 board press
135x4
225x2
315x1
405x1
495x1
565x1

-after that last set go straight to a max full ROM attempt at 520.

you will be amazed at how light your max attempt will feel after going above it on the board press. also, not doing a full ROM warmup won’t fatigue you leading to the max attempt.

having said all this, obviously one would need to spend some time getting familiar with board pressing before trying this.

i also use a similiar warmup on deadlifts and squats. I’ll do elevated deads (above the knee) before attempting a max and i’ll do heavy reverse band squats as a lead up to a max attempt.

this style of supramaximal training is also the cornerstone to how i increase my strength overall, not just for max attempts. [/quote]

Another thing that CT metioned is simply unracking the weight above the pins as forcefully as posssible with a supramaximal load.

For example: a highschool sophmore who’s prevrious 1RM is 210 lbs, if he’s shooting for 225 Load the bar with 265, FORCEFULLY lock it out (ROM of 2-4 inches), rack the bar strip the extra weight off each side and then have the athlete attempt 225.

I’ve done this with high school athletes and it has worked wonders (5-20 lb. prs). Most highschool athletes are learning how to become more efficient at recruiting muscle fibers, and they are typically intimidated by heavy weights.

135

a little later than expected, but hooray

136

[quote]HolyMacaroni wrote:
a little later than expected, but hooray[/quote]

Nice work, good lift dude.

137

365x1 at 203lb BW and 15 years old…
I normally stay very light leading up to a record (135-185 for sets of 20), carb load for days before and lots of water, rest, and movement. Does anybody else do this?

I’m also trying to compete in physique that’s why I’m doing sets of 20.

What does everyone else do?

138

Sick thread boys! Glad to see so many people chasing them 8 big girls like me. Personal best at the moment is 375 with 10-15 in the tank but with an extreme case of the ass jumps. Currently working on tucking better and getting my butt in a position where it can’t go anywhere. Any weight over 350, or any time I get fatigued my instinct is to shoot my ass up and get the weight. Here’s a video of my pyramid workout I did when I got the 375. 21 years old 205-210 lbs body weight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzSUHNBENh8

139

I’m right around the corner at 390x1 and 370x2

140

I realize this thread was started almost 9 years ago now and hasn’t been active in a long time, but I’ve found my way back to this thread and reread it a few times, and it’s been highly motivating, hence I want to post on it. So I want to say thanks to everyone who posted. If anyone has since made 405 and has training logs showing what you did to get there that’d be cool to see.

I just did a 315 lb bench press yesterday for the first time, and now I feel like I can somewhat legitimately say I’m setting my sights on 405 sometime within the next year. My estimated one rep max based on other training records (mainly 5x5@285) is currently somewhere in the 340s, so 315 was pretty easy yesterday, and I’ve got about 60ish lbs to go to 405.

Currently I’m using my own higher volume variation on a two days a week Texas method split for upper body that looks like this:

Wednesday
Bench Press 5x5
Incline Bench Press 4x6
Wide Grip Bench Presa 4x6
Dumbbell Fly working on 4 sets of 10
Lat Work

Sunday
Barbell Overhead Press 5x5
Bench Press Heavy for about 3-6 reps total eg 5RM, 2x3, 3x2, 1x3, 5x1, 3x1 etc
Close Grip Bench Press 5x5
Close Grip Incline Bench Press 4x6
Biceps Work

I’ve been increasing the weight by 5 lbs a week on all the barbell bench press variations and 2 lbs a week on the overhead barbell presses. I’ve needed to deload occasionally. I do simple deloads where I cut the weight 10% and cut the reps 50%. I expect this current style of training may continue to yield results for another month or two max. Then I plan to do block style Periodization similar to what’s described in the Reactive Training Manual where I alternate between hypertrophy and strength blocks. I plan to structure my hypertrophy training blocks similar to what Mike Israetel describes in the Rennaisance Periodization Hypertrophy Training Tips Hub and the Scientific Principles of Strenfth Training eBook. I plan to use my current Texas Method variation for strength blocks.

I’ll report back on this thread every couple months and hopefully hear that a few other people on this thread hit 405 sometime in the last few years!