915 Sticking Point

First off I’d like to say thank you for a program that has given me probably the best training I’ve felt in about 3 months.

I’m into week 3 of 915 (I’ve had to stop and re-start dues to illness, injury and vacation…but I’m on week 3 straight now)

I just got done with the Bench Day, but struggled after my first two sets of six.
I went, 6,6,4,4,4,4,2

I did extra sets of 4 and 2 so I would at least get the total 30 reps called for, but my question would be is is better to get the total number of reps, or just stick to 5 all out sets?

Hello,

i am not CT and what i write is maybe incorrect.
As far as i remembered CT said to me after i didn’t get my reps in week 6 that i should lower my 1 RM so that i can peak better. My suggestion is now that you lower your 1 RM and work with the ‘‘new’’ RM

[quote]Akidara wrote:
Hello,

i am not CT and what i write is maybe incorrect.
As far as i remembered CT said to me after i didn’t get my reps in week 6 that i should lower my 1 RM so that i can peak better. My suggestion is now that you lower your 1 RM and work with the ‘‘new’’ RM[/quote]

Yes… most problems with following the program comes when someone overestimate their max. They either;

  1. Went with a personal record that they hit once and never replicated… sometimes a record is hit on amagical day where everything went perfect. To me you should go with a “best” lift, not a “record” lift, meaning the heaviest you can lift with perfect form 9 times out of 10.

  2. Went with an estimated 1RM. Always go from a weight you lifted successfully in real life and RIGHT BEFORE STARTING THE PROGRAM, not with something you “think you can hit”.

  3. Went with a “loose form” max. For example lifting your butt off of the bench, having the bar go up unevenly, hitching it up, etc. The max you use for a program like this has to be a technically solid max.

  4. Went with a weight that equate with the final lift they are shooting for. For example let’s say that your max bench is 265lbs which should give you about a 290 at the end of the program, but you really want to hit 300… so you enter 270 or 275 as a max to get to 300+ at the end of the program. Some people reason that it’s okay to do this, that 5-10lbs more wont make a big difference and that they can always try a bit harder when the weights get heavy. Doesn’t work that way.

It’s always better to use a slightly lower 1RM to calculate your training weights than one that’s slightly too high, also to compensate for whatever might go wrong with the program.

Also if you were ill and injured, your max is likely not the same as it was before. If you get ill and/or injured in such a way to you miss more than 1 week of training you should re-test yourself and start the program over if your “re-tested” max is lower than the one you used to calculate the weights at the beginning of the program.