Second Meet, We're Getting There

msim198 · October 25, 2015, 3:04am

So I just finished my second meet at USPA intense barbell classic Bar Fight. Ended up totaling 1,146, roughly a 55lb total pr and ended up with meet pr’s in every lift. Squatted 429, benched 270, and deadlifted 446. Still have a poverty bench but squat is looking up, and I can at least deadlift sometimes ha.

Definitely going to take several months to accumulate some volume on bench and on front squats and other lower accessory to big up lots of weak areas and maybe actually fill out the 198lb class for once.

cparker · October 27, 2015, 8:21pm

Nice job, you aren’t too far away from that 500lb pull

msim198 · October 27, 2015, 10:04pm

[quote]cparker wrote:
Nice job, you aren’t too far away from that 500lb pull[/quote]

Thanks feels like I’m forever and a day away though. First time ever using a bar with a little whip and it’s amazing! Need to figure out something for my bench though, that needs the most work. For your bench training do you do more higher rep or lower rep training in the offseason?

cparker · October 28, 2015, 12:57am

I have kind of moved away from doing high rep for bench but I still believe it is a good idea to incorporate, you could do a couple weeks of sets of 8-12 then slowly cut down the reps. For me I do more board pressing, slingshot, and close grip benching and occasionally will use bands and chains. Not always going to my chest or using accommodating resistance has helped with a pec/shoulder problem I have. How are you currently training bench?

MarkKO · October 28, 2015, 5:39am

[quote]msim198 wrote:

[quote]cparker wrote:
Nice job, you aren’t too far away from that 500lb pull[/quote]

Thanks feels like I’m forever and a day away though. First time ever using a bar with a little whip and it’s amazing! Need to figure out something for my bench though, that needs the most work. For your bench training do you do more higher rep or lower rep training in the offseason?[/quote]

I’m a similarly poor bencher and I’ve found the following works really well (went from 253 to 275 max from March 2015 to October 2015).

The first thing to do, if you haven’t, is to get your setup and technique checked by a PL coach. Once you’ve figured out what your optimal setup, grip width, arch etc is you’ll be in a position to ingrain that technique.

The progression is as follows and assumes over a fortnight you bench six times, with two to three of those times being actually bench days.

Bench day 1 8x2 @ 50% against bands or chains adding around 22 lbs at the top. Add 5% every time it comes around until 60%. Then change to 3x6-8 @ 70% straight weight adding 5% each time it comes around.

Bench day 2 4x3, 1x3+ @ 85%. Add 5% and drop a rep per set each time it comes around until you reach 95%. The last set is aimed to be one rep shy of failure. Once you’ve reached 95% go back to sets of 3 but add 5-10 lbs to 85% and work back up to 95% with an extra 5-10 lbs.

Calculate your max as 10 lbs below your meet max because you don’t always get lift outs in training.

Every other training day after the main movement do 3x5 @ 75%. After six times add 10 lbs.

In practice if you train like I do in three blocks of two days per fortnight it looks like:

Bench day 1 against chains
Day 2 3x5

Bench day 2 4x3…
Day 2 3x5

Bench day 1 add 5%
Day 2 3x5

Bench day 2 4x2…
Day 2 3x5

Bench day 1 add 5%
Day 2 3x5

Bench day 2 4x1…
Day 2 3x5

Bench day 2 4x3… add 5-10 lbs
Day 2 3x5 add 10 lbs

Bench day 1 3x6-8 @ 70%
Day 2 3x5 added 10 lbs

Bench day 2 4x2… added 5-10 lbs
Day 2 3x5 added 10 lbs

Bench day 1 3x6-8 add 5%
Day 2 3x5 added 10 lbs

Bench day 2 4x1… added 5-10 lbs
Day 2 3x5 added 10 lbs

Bench day 1 3x6-8 add 5%
Day 2 3x5 added 10 lbs

By that time your sixth bench day 2 (singles at 95% plus 5-10 lbs) should be very close to or an equal PR for the singles and the last set of 1+ lets you set a rep PR at that weight too.

Add in tons of rows and some pressing assistance but more rows than presses. I like db incline presses.

Hope that helps.

msim198 · October 30, 2015, 1:08am

[quote]cparker wrote:
I have kind of moved away from doing high rep for bench but I still believe it is a good idea to incorporate, you could do a couple weeks of sets of 8-12 then slowly cut down the reps. For me I do more board pressing, slingshot, and close grip benching and occasionally will use bands and chains. Not always going to my chest or using accommodating resistance has helped with a pec/shoulder problem I have. How are you currently training bench?[/quote]

Interesting you said that because my left pec has always given me problems for the last year and a half. I think I tweaked it two years ago and it’s never felt quite right since. Currently I ran my bench programming up to the meet the same way I did for squat.
Twice a week, with three different days.
4x1 @ 90%
3x3 @ 80%
5x5 @ 70%
Then after going through one cycle Id add 5 lbs for bench and 10lbs for squats. Worked wonderfully for lower body.

msim198 · October 30, 2015, 1:11am

[quote]MarkKO wrote: