Bench press - last workout did a max of 60kg
Dumbbell Incline -8-12 reps 3 sets
Peck deck 8-15 3 sets
One exercise per workout for chest
I did a mx one rep of 60kg then did two sets of 5 at 55kg and one set of 5 and 50kg
I have no idea what I’m doing on bench press cuz I bench alone and I’m kinda worried I might get crushed as there is no safety bars
Also I don’t no how to program my bench to get it up.
What weight and progression do I use knowing I can do 60kg for one rep well maybe I can do more but the gym was empty didn’t want to get crushed by the bar
If you don’t know how to do any sort of programming but DO know your 1rm, you’re in an ideal spot to go do 5/3/1 or any other kind of program that uses your 1rm to create percentages to train off of.
You’re doing 3 sets of 8, and building up to 3 sets of 12, then adding some weight on your other chest exercises?
You could do something like that for your bench. Starting with about 42 kilos. Maybe a little heavier if that feels too light. Just be careful not to start off so heavy you can;t make any progress.
And mostly stay under 50 kilos!
Spend some time getting good work in and avoid BS, sloppy, heavy, low rep sets until you feel more solid and comfortable benching.
You need to do more than 1 chest exercise per WO. Your not even getting your chest primed to push weight.
Can you switch to a push/pull/legs type split?
How many days per week are your training?
Plenty of good advice here. Just be careful lifting alone. If you can stand it, hunt down someone who will partner up with you. Good luck on your journey.
I would also consider throwing pushups into the mix. I found doing more pushups in addition to bench helped with my bench form and strengthen my shoulders.
Often times when a newbie shows up here, the default is to spam the 531 button.
But what newbie needs a whole month to add 5lbs to a lift?
I like to recommend Phraks Greyskull LP for newbies as it prescribes big lifts with linear periodization, and it doesn’t leave any weak spots. Any LP powerlifting template would work fine, but I have to stand by the lifts prescribed in Phraks.
No but it will greatly slow strength gains compared to more standard linear progressions. He’s only starting with a TM of 120 lb. I see a scenario where in a few months he’s hitting 20 or even 30 reps during his AMRAP on 5s week.
I ran into this issue when I ran 531 too early in my lifting years and my ohp was pretty low. I was hitting like 20-25 reps during my 5s week eventually. I got really efficient at doing a ton of reps submax but my true 1RM was not moving much whenever I’d retest. I only ever saw my numbers sky rocket one I started pushing myself in the 3-6 rep range.
I am about as far from a 5-3-1 expert as one could be, but it seems to me to be an option for someone who has made the easy gains and has hit a plateau. The question is what caused the plateau. In many cases it is over training. That seems to me that is the greatest benefit of the 5-3-1 training philosophy.
OP needs to earn those easy gains (assuming he has the genetics to make typical beginner gains). Increased protein, clean living, and good effort and form in the weight room should be the focus of the beginner.
