Has anyone ever done a ‘bench only’ meet?
What kind of prep did you do say 10-12 weeks out or so (if you actually changed your training to focus on bench for a meet) as opposed to prepping for a full PL or Push/Pull meet?
What did training look like the week of the meet?
Thx
D
Steely, you thinking of doing a meet?
[quote]PeteS wrote:
Steely, you thinking of doing a meet? [/quote]
Yes, in about 10 weeks 
This is a busy travel time for me, so I don’t think I’m going to prep for a full PL meet (May). Plus, my deadlift is still, uh, not where I want it, so push/pull is out, and there is no such thing as Bench/Squat meet (which would ROCK).
I think given the coming weeks, it would be fun to do a ‘bench specialization’ and end with a (raw) meet. A friend of mine is doing his first meet (full PL), so I think this is a good one to break my cherry.
It’s about time you came to your senses…
I PM’d you some thoughts.
If you do bench only you can handle a bit more intensity since you don’t have to worry about recovering from tough squats and deads. You probably want to bench 2+ x week, although 1-3x week is pretty standard. You don’t have to modify prep for a bench only meet as opposed to how you would prep for the bench part of a full meet. Everybody is different but the last week continue your usual bench frequency. Some like to work up to their opener, others do 80-90% of their opener. Super easy assistance stuff, 2 sets of 5 or so, all warm-up weights on the other exercises. You look like a big guy so big dudes need more recovery. I wouldn’t take more than 2 weeks of easy training before the meet. If a meet is on Sat definitely take thurs and Fri completely off at a minimum.
If you have a specific plan you want some feedback on I am happy to give it. I have been doing this a long time although alas I can’t claim to be an elite bencher.
I’m the ultimate BOF. i gave you some suggestions in my Feedback thread but i need some info from you as well.
Dave Tate wrote an article a few years ago for tnat that was called “Big Bad Bench”…its a bench specialization program that’s 10 or 12 weeks long I believe. You could check that out too.
Ty – thanks for the info!
Pete- I got your PM. Wow, good stuff. I’ll follow up soon.
Meat - I responded in that thread. Thanks!!
Thanks for your time, much appreciated!
Meet is May 7. I have a family commitment that evening, like 5pm or so, so I’ll do the meet if it’s in the AM or if I can get out by late afternoon. Either way I want to train for it and be prepared to do it and have a max that day.
Ty - Good article. I hadn’t seen this:
Tim - Trying to work out frequency now. I’ve been hitting chest 2x per week, one heavier (3-5 rep top sets) and one higher (6-8 top) but not hitting the 1-3’s too much like training for a meet. Trying to figure out what that’s going to look like.
Pete gave me some good info that I’m going to incorporate, so it looks like I have some heavy work ahead of me. I like the idea of an ME and DE day during the week, so that’s 2, plus another day for shoulder support (and health) and the rest of the week for the other stuff.
OK… most important question of all.
What’s a good “singlet”?
I’m down to APT vs Metal.
How do you size the damn things? Are the ‘size by weight’ pretty close?
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
OK… most important question of all.
What’s a good “singlet”?
I’m down to APT vs Metal.
How do you size the damn things? Are the ‘size by weight’ pretty close?[/quote]
I like my House of Pain one, pretty basic, any work. I would go up a size from the by weight, unless you want to flaunt the moose knucles.
What number are you shooting for?
I would think you should be pressing at least twice a week. Rotate intensity, volume, and exercises to avoid stagnation, 3 weeks of building volume with weights between 70-80%, then 3 weeks of moderately high volume with 80-89%, then a one week deload, followed by two weeks of 90%+ weights, then deload the week of the meet.
So like:
Weeks 1-3:
Days 1 and 3:
Pressing exercise
Shoulder/chest/arm assistance work (not too heavy, build volume across the three week block, keep rest intervals fairly low)
Days 2 and 4: Upper back and legs- nothing under 6-8 reps, nothing to failure, build volume across the three week block, relatively short rest intervals
Lifts: floor press, incline, close grip bench, illegal-wide bench, bands, chains, whatever you feel attacks weaknesses. Try to use lifts that are similar to competition lift, but not the actual competition lift (general to general specific means). Rotate these as needed, but try to avoid doing the same lift in back to back pressing workouts. Since you will be pressing 6 times during this block, 3-4 main lifts will be sufficient variety.
Volume/Intensity:
Week 1- ~15 total reps on working weights between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 2- ~18-20 total reps on working weights between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 3- ~24 total reps on working weights between 70-80% per pressing workout
Weeks 4-6:
Days 1 and 3:
A. Competition style bench
B. Pick 1-2 of the general specific pressing exercises from the last block and perform one after your competition style pressing in each workout.
C. moderate volume assistance for shoulders/chest/arms. Nothing real heavy or to failure on assistance work
Days 2 and 4: same as days 2 and 4 in the last block
Volume/Intensity:
Week 4:
Competition style pressing: 3-4 sets of 3 @80% per pressing workout
General specific pressing: 12-15 total working reps between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 5:
Competition style pressing: 4 sets of 2 @85% per pressing workout
General specific pressing: 12-15 total working reps between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 6:
Competition style pressing: 3-4 sets of 2 @88%
General specific pressing: 12-15 total working reps between 70-80%
Deload week 7, just do a moderate volume of assistance work, once again, nothing too heavy or to failure
Week 8:
Day 1:
Competition style bench: 4- 2-3 sets of 2 @90%, 1-2 sets of 1 @94%
chest/shoulders/arms assistance: bloodflow work only, moderate volume
Day 2:
Upper back work: moderate volume, nothing too heavy or to failure
Day 3:
Lower body work: low-moderate volume, nothing too heavy or to failure
Week 9:
Day 1: competition style bench: 1-2 sets of 2 @92%, 1-2 sets of 1 @96%
chest/shoulders/arms assistance: bloodflow work only, moderate volume
Day 2:
Upper back work- low-moderate volume, nothing heavy or to failure
Day 3: competition style bench: work to opener, nothing else
chest/shoulders/arms assistance: bloodflow work only
[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
What number are you shooting for?[/quote]
[quote]PeteS wrote:
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
OK… most important question of all.
What’s a good “singlet”?
I’m down to APT vs Metal.
How do you size the damn things? Are the ‘size by weight’ pretty close?[/quote]
I like my House of Pain one, pretty basic, any work. I would go up a size from the by weight, unless you want to flaunt the moose knucles. [/quote]
LOL. Need enough room to stuff my wrist wrap wad down there.
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
[quote]PeteS wrote:
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
OK… most important question of all.
What’s a good “singlet”?
I’m down to APT vs Metal.
How do you size the damn things? Are the ‘size by weight’ pretty close?[/quote]
I like my House of Pain one, pretty basic, any work. I would go up a size from the by weight, unless you want to flaunt the moose knucles. [/quote]
LOL. Need enough room to stuff my wrist wrap wad down there.[/quote]
i have a Metal singlet. if you go with them the sizes are off. i originally ordered a XXXL based off of elitefts’ size chart. i wore it for my very first meet and it was too big. for my next meet i ordered a XXL, fits much better. one of my training partners ran into the same problem with his. if you go with METAL, i would go with a size lower than what the chart says.
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:
What number are you shooting for?[/quote]
9000.[/quote]
Unacceptable. You need to go for at least OVER 9000!
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
I would think you should be pressing at least twice a week. Rotate intensity, volume, and exercises to avoid stagnation, 3 weeks of building volume with weights between 70-80%, then 3 weeks of moderately high volume with 80-89%, then a one week deload, followed by two weeks of 90%+ weights, then deload the week of the meet.
So like:
Weeks 1-3:
Days 1 and 3:
Pressing exercise
Shoulder/chest/arm assistance work (not too heavy, build volume across the three week block, keep rest intervals fairly low)
Days 2 and 4: Upper back and legs- nothing under 6-8 reps, nothing to failure, build volume across the three week block, relatively short rest intervals
Lifts: floor press, incline, close grip bench, illegal-wide bench, bands, chains, whatever you feel attacks weaknesses. Try to use lifts that are similar to competition lift, but not the actual competition lift (general to general specific means). Rotate these as needed, but try to avoid doing the same lift in back to back pressing workouts. Since you will be pressing 6 times during this block, 3-4 main lifts will be sufficient variety.
Volume/Intensity:
Week 1- ~15 total reps on working weights between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 2- ~18-20 total reps on working weights between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 3- ~24 total reps on working weights between 70-80% per pressing workout
Weeks 4-6:
Days 1 and 3:
A. Competition style bench
B. Pick 1-2 of the general specific pressing exercises from the last block and perform one after your competition style pressing in each workout.
C. moderate volume assistance for shoulders/chest/arms. Nothing real heavy or to failure on assistance work
Days 2 and 4: same as days 2 and 4 in the last block
Volume/Intensity:
Week 4:
Competition style pressing: 3-4 sets of 3 @80% per pressing workout
General specific pressing: 12-15 total working reps between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 5:
Competition style pressing: 4 sets of 2 @85% per pressing workout
General specific pressing: 12-15 total working reps between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 6:
Competition style pressing: 3-4 sets of 2 @88%
General specific pressing: 12-15 total working reps between 70-80%
Deload week 7, just do a moderate volume of assistance work, once again, nothing too heavy or to failure
Week 8:
Day 1:
Competition style bench: 4- 2-3 sets of 2 @90%, 1-2 sets of 1 @94%
chest/shoulders/arms assistance: bloodflow work only, moderate volume
Day 2:
Upper back work: moderate volume, nothing too heavy or to failure
Day 3:
Lower body work: low-moderate volume, nothing too heavy or to failure
Week 9:
Day 1: competition style bench: 1-2 sets of 2 @92%, 1-2 sets of 1 @96%
chest/shoulders/arms assistance: bloodflow work only, moderate volume
Day 2:
Upper back work- low-moderate volume, nothing heavy or to failure
Day 3: competition style bench: work to opener, nothing else
chest/shoulders/arms assistance: bloodflow work only[/quote]
x2
[quote]detazathoth wrote:
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
I would think you should be pressing at least twice a week. Rotate intensity, volume, and exercises to avoid stagnation, 3 weeks of building volume with weights between 70-80%, then 3 weeks of moderately high volume with 80-89%, then a one week deload, followed by two weeks of 90%+ weights, then deload the week of the meet.
So like:
Weeks 1-3:
Days 1 and 3:
Pressing exercise
Shoulder/chest/arm assistance work (not too heavy, build volume across the three week block, keep rest intervals fairly low)
Days 2 and 4: Upper back and legs- nothing under 6-8 reps, nothing to failure, build volume across the three week block, relatively short rest intervals
Lifts: floor press, incline, close grip bench, illegal-wide bench, bands, chains, whatever you feel attacks weaknesses. Try to use lifts that are similar to competition lift, but not the actual competition lift (general to general specific means). Rotate these as needed, but try to avoid doing the same lift in back to back pressing workouts. Since you will be pressing 6 times during this block, 3-4 main lifts will be sufficient variety.
Volume/Intensity:
Week 1- ~15 total reps on working weights between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 2- ~18-20 total reps on working weights between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 3- ~24 total reps on working weights between 70-80% per pressing workout
Weeks 4-6:
Days 1 and 3:
A. Competition style bench
B. Pick 1-2 of the general specific pressing exercises from the last block and perform one after your competition style pressing in each workout.
C. moderate volume assistance for shoulders/chest/arms. Nothing real heavy or to failure on assistance work
Days 2 and 4: same as days 2 and 4 in the last block
Volume/Intensity:
Week 4:
Competition style pressing: 3-4 sets of 3 @80% per pressing workout
General specific pressing: 12-15 total working reps between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 5:
Competition style pressing: 4 sets of 2 @85% per pressing workout
General specific pressing: 12-15 total working reps between 70-80% per pressing workout
Week 6:
Competition style pressing: 3-4 sets of 2 @88%
General specific pressing: 12-15 total working reps between 70-80%
Deload week 7, just do a moderate volume of assistance work, once again, nothing too heavy or to failure
Week 8:
Day 1:
Competition style bench: 4- 2-3 sets of 2 @90%, 1-2 sets of 1 @94%
chest/shoulders/arms assistance: bloodflow work only, moderate volume
Day 2:
Upper back work: moderate volume, nothing too heavy or to failure
Day 3:
Lower body work: low-moderate volume, nothing too heavy or to failure
Week 9:
Day 1: competition style bench: 1-2 sets of 2 @92%, 1-2 sets of 1 @96%
chest/shoulders/arms assistance: bloodflow work only, moderate volume
Day 2:
Upper back work- low-moderate volume, nothing heavy or to failure
Day 3: competition style bench: work to opener, nothing else
chest/shoulders/arms assistance: bloodflow work only[/quote]
x2
[/quote]
Powerlifting routine is complicated… and I work with electrical engineers and software developers all day…
Thanks for the input, brothers.