Thread: anyone want to try and help my bench routine

Sometimes you just have to remember...

1) Back to the basics

2) Less is more

You can train long or hard. Not both

Do you do any chain work or floor pressing

should have expanded on that. tuesday I usually rotate dynamic movements. may be pin presses with bands, regular speed bench with bands, speed with chains, floor press, floor press with chains.
The Sundays that Im not in my shirt may rotate the same, just at higher weights.
So it would be max effort chains, bands etc. Also sometimes after my normal raw max bench I will floor press, floor press with fat bar etc. as assistance after max bench.

My plan for tomorrow as a speed bench day is to do normal full range bench with doubled monster minis for triples. light, probably like 185x3x3.

Most of my max effort bench days coming up will be in the shirt. this far out I throw in extra sets of raw work but as it gets closer to meet time my max bench day in the shirt will go more like;

barx10
135x8
225x5
275x1
315x1 3 board
365x1 4 board
put on shirt
455x1 ?board
500x1 ?board
545ish depending on board.
or
after shirt
455x1 board
475x1 chest
495x1 chest
505-515x1 chest

with a planned opener of 500

Lol.... Too much work.

If your strong out of your shirt you will be strong when you learn the shirt not the other way around.

Too much where? I typically only take 3 singles in the shirt.
According to many I should be doing more, but I like to get more raw work in before hand.
And you can't just be strong and get in the shirt, takes time to dial in.
I have been benching in a shirt for 3+ years, but I just got a new, tighter shirt.
I guess I'm most concerned with my other days.

check out westside-barbell.com training with a shirt is slightly different then when going raw

there's to much work before u get in the shirt. When your doin extra work of the boards all that is doin is makin your shoulders and tri work more witch they don't need cuz in a shirt the shirt really helps the lower 4-5" after that the shoulders and tri have to do ALOt of work to finish the rep. All the raw board stuff before the shirt is hurting, not helping.

What shirt u use? How many ply?

Boards are there to progress the weight up also don't forget. I do triples for extra work though and cut them out when I get closer to meet time.
I can't go 300 raw and then take 455 in my shirt, and anything under that is really a waste.
My current shirt is a double ply super phenom with triple sleeves.

I know about the boards.... I don't have a problem with them in the shirt. But the board use before being in the shirt is not needed. I'm a pl'r so I know all about this.

ok, just making sure. Not sure how you build yout progression without them?
I could see doing singles with boards to work my way up but they fill the gap from 300ish to 455 or whatever I take first.

My shirt day goes somethin like this.... Remember I don't work the shirt very often, i know I know if I did max shirted max would be much more.

135x10x2
225x8
275x4
315x1-2
365x1
put shirt on
405 off 4boards for 3
445 off 2boards for 2
480 first to touch... Then every thing else touches.

Single ply katana in the 220 class

im no guru,but i've always kept it pretty simple.after a few warm up sets i would add 30lbs for ten reps,when i get to weight that i struggle with,to get ten.i stay at that weight til i hit ten reps with ease,than add weight and stay at that til i get it for ten reps,then repeat.basicly...10sets for ten reps,i go up in weight quickly.but thats me..lol. plus i dont mess with shirts.imoa i dont see the reason. plus i eat like a machine,quality meats and protein,lots of it..good luck,whats your max goal?

my goal changed when I pinched my sciatica in my back this year. it WAS to set the APA state record THIS year. which is not going to happen. with a total of like 4 months of minimal training, its justnot even going to be close. So Id like to end this year on a good note.
I have not pressed 500 in competition yet, so that is the initial goal, although I think that should be easy, so Ill oppen with it anyway and go from there. I guess I would like to see 540ish.
By the way the state record is 630 in my class. Set by a friend of mine, 6-7 years back, and Id like to take it. Id also like to make powerlifting watch top 50, Im trying to check rankings but I cant get on the site, I think 50 was 565-585 last time i looked, so thats more my short term goal.

Originally Posted by ct67_72

my goal changed when I pinched my sciatica in my back this year. it WAS to set the APA state record THIS year. which is not going to happen. with a total of like 4 months of minimal training, its justnot even going to be close. So Id like to end this year on a good note.
I have not pressed 500 in competition yet, so that is the initial goal, although I think that should be easy, so Ill oppen with it anyway and go from there. I guess I would like to see 540ish.
By the way the state record is 630 in my class. Set by a friend of mine, 6-7 years back, and Id like to take it. Id also like to make powerlifting watch top 50, Im trying to check rankings but I cant get on the site, I think 50 was 565-585 last time i looked, so thats more my short term goal.

man that sucks(the back problem) i know what that feels like,i've been close to some of my goals and had an injury.you will bounce back and hit your goal.you sound dedicated and know what your doing.it took time for me to heal ,but i finished strong..keep us posted..good luck..

Originally Posted by Usealittle

My shirt day goes somethin like this.... Remember I don't work the shirt very often, i know I know if I did max shirted max would be much more.

135x10x2
225x8
275x4
315x1-2
365x1
put shirt on
405 off 4boards for 3
445 off 2boards for 2
480 first to touch... Then every thing else touches.

Single ply katana in the 220 class

yeah that looks like my 4-6 week before meet progression. The problem I run into is my max bench raw is around 330, so even if I take 315 off my chest them get in the shirt, Im taking a big jump. If doing singles i like to jump right to 455, then go from there depending. Even if Im doing triples I would start no less than 425, and that would still be a 100lb+ jump.
I could go 365x1 off a bard, then get in the shirt, but I dont feel like I get enough work in. Maybe I am.
I could also switch and do less raw and take smaller shirt jumps and do more shirt work. But I dont really need the shirt work, Im good in the shirt, I need to be used to the weight and have the confidence in the shirt.
So what about my other days? That is really where I have been strugling.

Originally Posted by Disturbed

man that sucks(the back problem) i know what that feels like,i've been close to some of my goals and had an injury.you will bounce back and hit your goal.you sound dedicated and know what your doing.it took time for me to heal ,but i finished strong..keep us posted..good luck..

Thanks man. I appreciate it.

Sucks about your problem... If you reach your max sooner then the numbers I set then do more singles on the boards after the shirt is on. In the shirt to save energy bring the weight to the board and press off then have a spotter take it from you(do not press it all the way up on your own) only do this on weights that are not at the top range of your weight. Do this at like a 405 then at 445 then u press out everything after that.

You understand what I'm gettin at?

Btw... I'm on the top 50

nice. yeah I got ya. I dont do a ton of work in the shirt so I consider it more raw work.
still, I have to do something to fill the jump.
this week my plan is
warmup to 275
probably 295-315x1
365 x1 4 board
425x1 2 board in shirt
455x1 1 board shirt.
500x1 chest
if thats good than Ill go maybe 515

I think we have 7? guys at our gym that are top 50, I think 3 are top 10, 2 definitely, and I dont think any of the rest are under 20.

So really my biggest problem has been the other days besides bench day.

Well what to you do for the other days?

its all in my original post.
tuesday and thursday. Let me know what you think about that.

If you haven't already, check out some of the westside barbell programs. I agree that you're doing far too much work before you max effort set. At your strength there's no reason to make pit stops at 185, 275, 295, etc...
Take larger jumps in the beggining and if you must hit a couple extra LOW REP sets with 135 early on.

Also, your speed day looks more like a 2nd max effort day to me(probably taxing your CNS too much especially if your squatting or deadlifting too) Working up to a heavy single with no gear isn't the best method to work on speed regardless of the reverse band set up and having 2 max effort bench days won't last long.

Your speed day should be something like 8x3 @55-70% of your true max. Stretch bands to the floor or add chain for accomidating resistance. Work through the sets with about 60 sec rest and a focus on accelerating the bar FAST(pretend like your pressing you're max even though your not).

AND, don't forget to take some straight working sets to your chest in your shirt, as well as some 1 and 2 board sets without your shirt in(NOT in the same workout)... If you're only training board presses with you shirt you'll be in for a nasty surprise when you try a max set in your shirt without that board.

DISCLAIMER::: You are hellastronger than me and you may know a lot of this already so if you do then nevermind, lol... But I am a S & C coach and I've been around enough powerlifters to know a decent amount about this. Good Luck!

Haha thanks man, ill take any advise into consideration. I rarely do heavy second bench days. But I like them once in a while and if I do, its lockout only. Like the reverse band pin presses.
This Tuesday I did speed work with doubled monster minis, and did a triple with 135, took 185 and just did a single because I felt it was too heavy for a triple on speed day.

My plan this Sunday is
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x1
315x1
365x1 4 boar
Put on shirt
455x1 2 board
475x1 1 board
500 chest
515 chest
This should give me a good baseline of the shirt, and if I get 515, ill go up one more appropriately.
This morning I was 236, so I still have over 5 lbs to gain which will only get me more in the shirt.
My goal is to open 500, so this should be my confidence builder too.

Oh and you guys should see metal mulisha routine if you think I have a lot of bench volume, its crazy.

Ok, so Sunday I took a fast warm up, did pretty well. Went like this
Bar x10
135x8
185x5
225x2
275x1
315x1
365x1 4 board
Put on shirt
455x1 2 board
500x1 touch
500x1 2 board to work on speed

Shirt feels good. It's a bitch to touch if you come down slow. Gotta make sure I'm confident in it and take it down fast

For me forced reps and negatives help me get through a plateau.

Negatives aways just make my shoulders hurt the next day for days.... No good for me, but everyone is different