add 5 lbs to max bench e/o week

[RockSolid]

This is my goal, to add 5 lbs to my one rep max everyother week and 5lbs to my 5 rep squat e/o week. I was thinking about it and it wont be that high by new years, but I would be over 300 in a year. Is this a good goal to have (reasonable) my one rep max is currently 205.

I think hitting a plateau could be a problem, but should this be avoidable by not doing the same thing every week?
I do reg. bench every thurs, and I do dumbell bench on mondays, just so I can press 2X a week, I also squat monday and thursday, usually a 5X5

has anybody else had success doing something similar?

 

[CowPimp]

There's no way to tell really. However, for maximal strength gains on the squat and bench press you should look into a powerlifting routine like Westside or perhaps Metal Militia for bench pressing.

 

[Dale Mabry]

Bump to what the pimp said, but also keep in mind you are going to have to throw in a couple of unloading weeks in there, once every 4-6 weeks to prevent overtraining/general staleness.

 

[P-funk]

When I used to bench press I tried a similiar thing. It worked for a few weeks but after awhile I hit the wall. It never seemed to work as much for bench as it did for legs. I could do 5lbs extra to my 5RM squat every 2 weeks and usually push myself to make the weight. With the legs I could go a lot longer (more weeks) without hitting a plateau. Then, like Dale said, you would have to do something to back off volume and/or intensity (I prefer to back of volume and maintain intensity) for a week or two before contiunuing on in your quest for more strength. The way I back off volume is that I then continue on performing my squats 3 reps for 5 sets (15 total reps as opposed to 25). The week I drop it to 3 reps I use the weight that I used for my last 5RM day. I continue on in that fasion for a few weeks and then go to 3 reps x 3 sets. Again, starting with my last 3RM instead of pushing the weight up and then continuing on. After that for a few weeks I would take a break and squat light for a week or two. What are you going to do on in between weeks also? I reccomend something low volume/lower intensity like speed work. I like box squats or stop squats since the are less taxing. Just make sure your intensity is low enough that you are able to accelerate quickly through out the movement. I like stop squats better than box squats because I can get really deep and stretch out at the bottom. good luck.

 

[Tough Old Man]

I'm personally using a training program where you have to beat your previous best everytime on all exercises or you lose that exercise. You have to beat it by 5 lbs or by an additional 2 reps. I'm not talking about a 1 rep max either. I'm talking about if today you bench 200 for 8 reps and 200 for 4 reps and 200 for 1 rep, the next time out it has to be 205 for 8, 205 for 4 and 205 for one ...or 200 for 10, 200 for 4 and 200 for 1. No exceptions. If you don't beat it two times in a row you lose that exercise and move to a different chest exercise. So far during the 6 weeks I've been doing this I haven't failed once.

PT