Gentlemen, I have been reading thru a lot of the articles and information on your website for the past 2 months, and it’s great - thanks. I am a 43 y/o 6’2" 225 lb. ectomorph that has lifted for 5 years and I’m stuck in the intermediate level. I take fish oil, creatine & whey, desiccated liver, ZMA, and eat great. I bench 305, just switched from parallel (with 455 1RM) to rock bottom sguats (now doing 265 x 10 reps).
I have tried WSB with a little success and lots of sore shoulders and elbows. I am interested in your opinion on a Doug Newburn style workout vs. a more modern program. I am interested in gaining size and strength. I can go to the gym 3x per week.
A 32 y/o guy (5’ 10" mesomorph)that I just recently met has followed a Doug Hepburn style template for 2 years and his bench went from 275 to 455. He does 8 x 2 bench this Monday, next Monday he does 8 x 3 with the same weight. The following Monday he does 8 x 2 with 5 - 10 additional lbs. He has never “changed lifts” as Louie Simmons has said is needed for constant progress.
So what’s the real truth in having to switch lifts to make progress? Acording to Louie, Doug Hepburn’s methods shouldn’t work. What program would you presribe for me to follow, given my age, body type, and average or slightly less than average recovery ability?
I am not familiar with the Doug Hepburn template…but from what it sounds like it is another form of your basic periodization. The reason you dont have to switch lifts on this type of template is because you are very rarely lifting maximal weights. Westside calls for a maximal effort every week. Basically you are maxing out every week. You MUST change lifts because maxing out on the same lift would burn out your CNS and you would quickly stop progressing and start to loose strength. Hope this helps
He does 8 x 2 bench this Monday, next Monday he does 8 x 3 with the same weight. The following Monday he does 8 x 2 with 5 - 10 additional lbs.
fyi, This is pretty basic wave-loading. Sheiko’s programs have a ton of this kind of stuff. Sheiko is the awesome.
That’s all I’ve got.
Sheiko is a great way to train…that brings up a good example…you rarely go over 85% with sheiko so you are able to train the same lift without burning out.
Thanks for all the input. I will look up Sheiko, although I do like lifting the 90%+ heavy weights. It’s not as satisfying lifting the 75 - 85% weights, but if that’s what will push my bench up towards the 400 lb. mark, I will do it.
I have also been thinking about doing something like this:
Week 1 - 4 x 2 flat bench narrow grip with 3-4RM
Week 2 - 5 x 2 flat bench narrow grip with 3-4RM
Week 3 - 6 x 2 flat bench narrow grip with 3-4RM
Week 4 - 6: I would switch to flat bench regular grip with 2board and repeat.
Week 7 - 10: I would switch to wide grip bench and repeat.
Week 11: Start over with flat bench narrow grip and add 10 lbs.
All assistance work would be 3 x 10.
I’m not sure if this is the fastest way for me to progress, but I think it would work. I will look up Sheiko and see what that looks like. Thanks again.