Thread: Trick Yourself Into a PR

another tip when going for a PR is to not load the bar yourself. have your spotter, partner etc. do it. loading the bar for yourself can have a negative effect on your psyche...

Isn't that called wave loading?

I read a pretty good article on this recently. I'll see if I can find it.

Edit: I can never find anything twice! I believe Poliquin developed Wave Loading.

I never load my own weight when I lift

Hey Saturday Fever I just wanna get this thing rite b4 i try it. my PR bench press at the moment is a single 45 pound plate on each side of the bench. I have been stuck on that for like 2 weeks now. So today when I go to my gym I should first start of with say 25 pounds on each side and do 2 sets of 10 reps. Then immediatly after that load it upto 45 and do like 6-7 of that then immediatly drop to 5 pounds and do 6 of that. After this how long of a rest should I take before reloading the bar with 50 pounds on each side? Plus when I am benching the 5 pounders should I do it at a fast speed or a slow speed?

No.

Warmup, then do a set of 1 with 135. Then drop to 95 and do a set of 6. Then load up 140 and do a set of 1. Then do a set of 6 with 100. Then do a set of 1 with 145.

sounds like a plan to me ... but just one confusion .. i know this will sound dumb but when you said:

Warmup, then do a set of 1 with 135. Then drop to 95 and do a set of 6. Then load up 140 and do a set of 1. Then do a set of 6 with 100. Then do a set of 1 with 145.

did you mean that I do 1 set with 135 pounds consisting of just 1 rep? Plus is this routine to be followed every time i am benching or after 2 or 3 times I can drop this and go back to my original rountine with watever PR i had after "Tricking my body" i.e. if after following your routine say for 3 times i establish a new pr of 155. So after the 3rd time can i go back to my normal routine where i should be lifting 155 for 3 set consisting of atleast 5-6 reps? plus the above quoted routine, does it have any rest time or the whole thing is done in one go?

Originally Posted by Lord_of_the_GYM

sounds like a plan to me ... but just one confusion .. i know this will sound dumb but when you said:



did you mean that I do 1 set with 135 pounds consisting of just 1 rep? Plus is this routine to be followed every time i am benching or after 2 or 3 times I can drop this and go back to my original rountine with watever PR i had after "Tricking my body" i.e. if after following your routine say for 3 times i establish a new pr of 155. So after the 3rd time can i go back to my normal routine where i should be lifting 155 for 3 set consisting of atleast 5-6 reps? plus the above quoted routine, does it have any rest time or the whole thing is done in one go?

Yes he means 1 rep

Do you have a break bteween sets SF??

He should NOT warm up with 135 if that's his max, 135 should be his first set after a warm up set or two according to Saturday's routine listed above.

Your right about having your partner load the bar, but for me I love slidding those plates on, the sound and feel of it psyches me up and gets me ready to blow out my 1 rep max. But if I thought too much about the actual number it would F' up my concentration. If I start thinking "damn I've never got 305 before" then I wouldn't get it. That's why get psyched, load it and jump right on the bench and do it before I think about it.

I am kinda new at this so can someone please explain it to me how doing just 1 rep of my PR is any good for me? PLus can someone please answer the other two questions from my last post.

Originally Posted by Lord_of_the_GYM

Plus is this routine to be followed every time i am benching or after 2 or 3 times I can drop this and go back to my original rountine with watever PR i had after "Tricking my body" i.e. if after following your routine say for 3 times i establish a new pr of 155. So after the 3rd time can i go back to my normal routine where i should be lifting 155 for 3 set consisting of atleast 5-6 reps? plus the above quoted routine, does it have any rest time or the whole thing is done in one go?

When I employed this idea, I would rest just long enough for my brother to do his set, then I'd jump back in.

I would only do this "every so often." When you hit a plateau, do this. Like anything, your CNS will have no problem getting adjusted to what you're doing if you keep doing it.

As far as how it will benefit you, weightlifting is about progress. Why go to the gym if you never get bigger or never get stronger?

no i know lifting heavier makes you big and stronger .. iwas just wondering that for some weight to be effective shouldn't one be doing 5-6 reps .. so how is 1 rep of a heavy weight gonna help me out?

You're buying the myth. 5-6 reps is no more effective than doing 1 rep.

just one last question ... in your stats you have bench 360 pounds .. is that ur 1 rep max thingy?

Yes, though I recently benched over 370 in the gym. My squat in the gym has also recently hit 555. I do not use this method, however. I did as a beginner, but the principle is still very sound if you lift using a "bodybuilding" type split.

man that's some massive stats .. hats off to you ...
just one thing to confirm ... as you said that i shuld do 1 rep of 135 then go down to 95 and do 6 reps of that .. after that should i take a break or rite away move to 140 and so on?

A break wouldn't hurt. I used to break long enough for my brother to get his set done when I used this idea.

so its like a dropset in a way?

my max is around 215.. so i would...

bench 215
drop 40 pounds (takes about 20 seconds my guess)
bench 175 up to 6 times
...
put on 45 pounds (takes around 25 seconds my guess)
bench 220
drop 40 pounds
bench 180 up to 6 times... and then once more... or should their be a 2 minute break between each of the three sets?

For you it would go like this:

215x1
175x6
220x1
180x6
225x1

And you have a new PR.

i work at 85-95 at the moment noramlly hittin 8-4 reps depending on the weight, struggling to get my reps up on 95 so i can move on to the elusive 100kg (which is 2x20kg on each side equivilent to your 2x45lbs i think), so that would be a nice weight to work at, for me shuld i do something like this...?

1x100
6x80
rest
1x102.5
6x82.5
rest
1x105
6x85
done

then the next week i can try n' push out 3-4 on the 100? then i've progressed on to a heavier weight, that sound good to you SNF?

holla bacc bro

That sounds right but drop the last set of 6. The reps should go like this:

1
6
1
6
1 (done)

thanks i'll try that

but this has gone off track!

You stated above about a mental block
You said exe: You do 225x6, but you dont think you can do 235 for 1...
obviously you can, but its just a mental block

what yall have gotten into is actually going past your strength limits....
its different...go back and read the original post...



On a side note:
this routine will be great for me SF
cuz i always do enough to hit say 200lbs on the charts, like 165x6
but then when i try 200 i only get half way....

I incorporated this into my training today, and it really worked. I couldn't believe it. Normally my last set on bench press I can barely squeeze out 5 reps, the same weight that last set on every bench workout, if I try to go just 5 pounds heavier I fail at 3 reps. With this formular I actually increased my bench 15 pounds and hit 4 reps for 2 sets with the 15 pound increase.I can't wait for my next chest workout. Saturday Fever you are the man..