915 Phase 2, Bench Accessory?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Christian Thibaudeau Coaching
1

Hey CT

I just Started the 915 program and I am pretty excited to see my results.

I was curious about some of the programming. For phase 2 benching, 2nd assistance exercise, you stated on your t-nation 915 article “The second movement will be an overload exercise where you’ll use a weight greater than what you could do in the full lift”. Do you mean a weight greater than your 1RM? For instance, if my 1RM for bench was 335lbs, I would do 3 sets of 3 reps at a weight greater than 335lbs for the assistance exercise (such as decline bench)?

Thanks!

2

You would do partial top half reps or bench from pins set just above the sticking point

3

Decline bench press is listed in the recommendations for the 2nd assistant exercise for bench press. But that’s not really what I am questioning. What I am wondering about is if you are supposed to complete 3 sets of 3 reps with a weight greater than your one rep max.

4

For instance f you can 3x3 with 300 pounds on regular bench, you (normally) will use more weight doing 3x3 with a partial lift. When I was doing this program my max bench was 120kg and I was doing board presses with 120-130kgs

5

Short answer is yes. 3x3 with more than 1RM. BUT there is no way in hell you are ever going to do that on a decline bench using your flat bench weights. If you try for the love of God have a smart spotter. What you misread from the article is that these movements are top half partials. Not full ROM…

“The second movement will be an overload exercise where you’ll use a weight greater than what you could do in the full lift. You’ll do this either by using partial movements or chains/bands to overload the top end of the exercise. This second movement is done for 3 sets of 3 repetitions. Here are your choices:”

6

Thanks for the replies!

Isn’t a decline bench a top half partial though? It definitely is not full ROM correct?

I was just using declines per example for the sake of using an example. I will likely do 90 degree partials or board presses.

7

If you tap the chest then I don’t think so. At least the way I do them it’s not. At least from my perspective if that were the case the decline bench would be stronger.

Does seem a bit tricky