Bencher8 Training log

[Marcus]

Cool, it's good to know I set the bands up right. Thanks. I'm hoping to get more speed on my decent.

[Bencher8]

ME Bench
warmed up to 365x1 from

2 Brd(straight weight, unequipped lol)

405x3
495x3
545x3
585x2
625x1

Arch Bar Presses(straight weight)
315x3x10

Punch Presses
purple bandx3x30

Kettlebell tri ext.(mini band)
35x3x10

Not enough partners for a shirt session this time, so some unequipped benching was called up.

I used the arch bar this time. It is a great bar! Would be good for teaching a new lifter proper form for equipped benching and is great for experienced lifters looking for some good tri work...really have to keep the elbows tucked for this exercise!

Jon got some new KettleBells, so we worked with some of those...mostly tri ext., but we also fooled around with some shoulder pressing and stuff too...pretty cool.

[Rob Luyando]

Nice work!

[Bencher8]

DE Bench(mm)

225x10x1

Incline DB's
60x3x10

Pullups
BWx3x10

Rear delts
50x3x10

band pullaparts
mmx3xfailure

hammers/abs

short and sweet..

[RevTodd]

DE Bench(mm)

225x10x1

Paul is that 10 singles or 1 set of 10? Either way, what is the reasoning? I thought DE benches were done usually for like 8 or 9 sets of triples?

I don't actually do a real DE bench day. I have shirt day and raw day, either full range or just board lockouts. The times I've experimented with a westside-style DE bench day I didn't really experience any perceivable benefit. Maybe I was going about it the wrong way?

Thanks!

[Bencher8]

I do singles for my speed work. When I went to WSB we did 8-9 sets of 3 for about 6 months and then during conversation with George and Clay we decided to switch to singles and just do a few more sets with it. Lou always contended that time under tension was the most important part of speed work and we thought that doing the perfect rep with the highest amount of speed was the most important.

We tried the singles and upped the sets. We originally did 15 sets of 1, but we usually get distracted and bored with doing that many sets and dropped it to 10-12...worked great! reason why was because with the triples you were saving some in the tank for that second and third rep, therefore not firing as hard as possible on any of the reps. When you drop to singles you fire very explosivelly for that 1 rep, and it has to be perfect.

For this type of speed work though I recommend having a good solid base of the original type of speed work(8-9 sets of 3) and then move to the singles.

The reason most don't see any perceivable difference in their stength levels is because most don't stick with speed work long enough to see the benefits. IN terms of raw strength building speed work cannot be replaced, I'm not talking about a bigger equipped bench, just strength building! Just simple physics.....forceXspeed=power. It might take ayear or more of speed training to see the benefits of it....it takes some time to get the ability to recruit those fast twitch muscle fibers as quickly as possible.

[Marcus]

What type of weight should be used for those? I've always heard/read 40-50% of your shirted max at the bottom (bar + bands). 225 seems light for someone that benches as much as you do. Should they be a lower percentage?

I agree with what you say about doing tripples. Also, I've found that I drift the bar further back for lockout than my starting position. That means my 2nd and 3rd reps start too far back which puts more strain on my delts and develops bad habits since I do 1 good rep and 2 bad ones.

[Rob Luyando]

I thought this was supose to be a training log you sure do a lot of talking. LOL!

[Bencher8]

I'm just long winded...plus I like to sound smarter than I actually am lol

I KNEW the percentage question would come up lol

I have NEVER seen anyone at WSB(while I was there) ever sit down and figure out what percentage of what lift they use for speed work. The focus should be on the speed of the lift and not so much the percentage. The weight should be heavy enough to ellicit a training response, but not so heavy to drain you for your ME work 3 days later.

I have never figured out what percentage I use, but let's see how it works out....I have no idea what my unequipped max is right now, but I just did 625 on a 2 brd, so I will assume a 50 pound drop off for each brd, so 525 is what i will use...

I have never heard of 40-50% of shirted max for speed work...that would be 425 or so for me and that would be too heavy for me to move with the appropriate speed....not to mention too heavy for me to recover from in 3 days...remember the weight has to be moved fast...not kinda fast.

525x60%=315....now break that down in the strict WSB way of 60% bar weight and 40% bands and you come up with 190 pounds of weight and 125 pounds of bands....

I use 230 pounds and a 50# band(comes up to about 280 total weight on the bar)....that works out to about 55% or so of my max. I use more bar weight and less band tension so I think it all works out pretty close in the end...I prolly should throw a 10 on each side, but I am lazy lol

[Rob Luyando]

WOW!

[Bencher8]

lol I told you I was long winded.....maybe my next post will be actual training lol

[RevTodd]

lol I told you I was long winded.....maybe my next post will be actual training lol

We'll just call you Professor Paul from here on out...

[Marcus]

The 40-50% is straight from one of Louie's articles. I think you're right though. They real key is how fast the weight moves. I used to go by strict percentages when I started. Over time, you learn to go by feel.

[Bencher8]

ME Bench
warmed up to 315x3

4 Brd(unequipped, bands)
315+(200)x3
315+(250)x3
325+(300)x3

2 Brd(equipped, bands)
585+(200)x2
675+(200)x1

1 Brd(equipped, bands)
705+(200)x0

Punch Press
purple bandx3x30

Everything felt good till that last set....I missed the fukker just before it got into my lockout. I shouldn't be missing this weight. I have done this off of 2 brd....I guess losing 10 pounds has affected the fit of my shirt some...not as tight as it used to be. try to pick it up next time....

[Bencher8]

DE Bench(mm band)
250x12x1

Lat Pulls(mm band)
320x3x10

Key Press(mm band)
60x3x10

Bentover rows
315x3x10

pullups
BWx3x10

hammers/abs

[TWeb]

paul i notice you miss heavy weights in your shirt, are you a puss or are you trying to press these attempts to lockout. LOL

[Bencher8]

prolly because I am a puss and I think I am stronger than I actually am...

I haven't figured out the DBB wedge system...

I am in process of finding a shirt that does the lockout for me...

how is the pec coming along?

[TWeb]

its coming along, nice and slow.

the wedge is a trademark of DBB, strength is overrated in a bench shirt, mass and tight polyester is the wave of the future. LOL

[Bencher8]

ME Bench
warmed up to 315x3

4 Brd(unequipped, bands)
315+(250)x3
315+(300)x1
315+(400)x1

2 Brd(equipped, bands)
635+(100)x1
725+(100)x1
725+(200)x1 PR

2 Brd(unequipped, SW)
315x2x20

Punch Press
Purplex3x15

Went with some 1RM on the 4 brd work. I think this will help some, as my 4 brd has been kinda stagnant. My right arm is still flaring too much on this and I need to work on keeping that elbow in more.,

Used an older X for the PR...just a stock X no special tricks...just tighter as BW is still down about 10 pounds, so it fit me better. Plus, I had some of the more knowledgeable shirt whores in the gym jack the shit out of it...it seems I have a tendancy to wear shirts that are not tight enough lol

Next week I am gonna try and vid some lifting(getting Jon to bring in the cam hopefully). Prolly won't be anything like this week though...kinda planning a lighter week....we'll see though lol

[Bencher8]

DE bench/back

225x12x1(mm band)

Lat pulls(mm band)
260x3x10

Tri pushdowns
50x3x10

Rear delt flys
45x3x10

band pullaparts
mm bandx3xfailure

straight arm pulldowns
80x3x10

pullups
BWx3x8

Incline DB's
60x3x10

Decline Rows
4 platesx3x10

hammers/abs