Opinion on Doing Bench like This?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
21

I am about the same weight, little less.
Using lighter loads trains the nervous system, it is not about the load, it is about how hard you contract your muscles (the load helps and should be used with some frequency). By contracting your muscles as hard as you can with a lighter load you will begin to produce more force and when things get heavy you will lift them anyway,

When using a heavy load you will indeed get tired but does not translate to muscle failure all the time. Do as many push ups as you can, you will get tired and hit failure but it will do nothing for your strength

22

[quote]Salpinx wrote:
I am about the same weight, little less.
Using lighter loads trains the nervous system, it is not about the load, it is about how hard you contract your muscles (the load helps and should be used with some frequency). By contracting your muscles as hard as you can with a lighter load you will begin to produce more force and when things get heavy you will lift them anyway,

When using a heavy load you will indeed get tired but does not translate to muscle failure all the time. Do as many push ups as you can, you will get tired and hit failure but it will do nothing for your strength[/quote]
You are sadly mistaken, and given your 220 dead lift, it isn’t working for you. That’s fine if you want to continue to use misinformation, just don’t try to convince others of your inefficient ways. Come back when your light load low rep muscle contraction gets your dead lift up to 3 times body weight and your bench to twice body weight.

23

I am no authority, anybody could say I am mistaken. But it is the way a lot of elithe PLers train and I do not see you fitting there

24

[quote]Salpinx wrote:
I am no authority, anybody could say I am mistaken. But it is the way a lot of elithe PLers train and I do not see you fitting there[/quote]

Lol. May want to rethink what you just said.

25

[quote]Salpinx wrote:
I am no authority, anybody could say I am mistaken. But it is the way a lot of elithe PLers train and I do not see you fitting there[/quote]
Hmmm…current USAPL Colorado state record raw bench of 137.5 kg in the 67.5 kg category is elite status. Once again you are mistaken.

26

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Salpinx wrote:
I am no authority, anybody could say I am mistaken. But it is the way a lot of elithe PLers train and I do not see you fitting there[/quote]

Lol. May want to rethink what you just said.[/quote]
That’s funny. You beat me to it.

27

Quite a bit has happened here in the last 24hrs or so.

Ecchastang, question: as someone that has a record in the bench press, do you specialize in it, or do you have a knack for benching?

28

[quote]nkklllll wrote:
Quite a bit has happened here in the last 24hrs or so.

Ecchastang, question: as someone that has a record in the bench press, do you specialize in it, or do you have a knack for benching? [/quote]
I bench once per week, and OHP once per week, following 531 currently. On my OHP week, I also do incline press as assistance work. On my bench day, I mix up my assistance work.

29

[quote]Salpinx wrote:
I am just against instructors sending people to do 3x10 when the client says they want to get stronger for a given sport or activity.[/quote]
And a lot of us are against people giving advice about what they think might-maybe-possibly work, while their own progress is still beginner-level.

There are a few different ways to build strength, yep. “Greasing the groove” like Pavel often talks about (higher frequency, avoiding failure) is one method that works. Lifting very fricking heavy weights for low rep sets is another way that works. Some lifters will spend a fair amount of time building strength in a moderate rep range (see: 5/3/1 PR sets).

Again, lots of stuff works. But if you’re going to talk about what worked “best” for you personally, especially when debating against another lifter, you really need to make sure that what you’ve done is worth noting.

[quote]Ecchastang wrote:

[quote]Salpinx wrote:
I am not saying that is not true but keeping reps at 5 or under has worked more than anything else over the years for me.[/quote]
How well has it worked for you? What is your weight, and what were you benching 3 yrs ago, last yr, and now?[/quote]
Sal pretty much sidestepped this, but I think it’s fair to note that he benches almost 30% of what Ecchastang does. Sorry to burst the bubble.

30

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
This isn’t 1953. Being “muscle-bound” isn’t a thing anymore, as long as you train smart. But if you’re really “15-20% bodyfat” as your profile says, maybe consider shaving off some fat, especially if you’re on the higher end. At your height, some more muscle would definitely be a good thing.

What does your weekly plan look like? The days, exercises, sets, and reps. I’m betting it could be tweaked and improved.[/quote]

I’m at the higher end yes, there’s a bit of slab on my middle section, mainly on the sides. I’m on it, i have a bad habit of eating out with my gf few times a week. Been cutting it away pretty good this year. Before her, i just ate healthy at home, trying to get back to that. I still eat healthy at home, but pizzas etc added to that.

About my training, i am complete beginner, i just do the basic moves and try to learn more stuff about training as i go along, and of course tweak my exercises when i know how to. Doing 10x3, last monday i limited them to 5 as advised here:

Mondays:

Chest by bench/pushups (I have martial arts on mondays too, i go to the gym at our dojo).

Abs: leg raises, mainly by hanging from pullup bar, rarely by lying down. Sometimes crunches, or situps. We do them also at arts everytime, but not much, usually 20x1 (pushups and abs).

Wednesdays (again after training), is usually:

Legs: squatting as low as i can, i don’t have much weight on the bar yet, since i’m used doing them only with BW. 50 kg. i want to do the whole rom, it seems to have helped my kneepain/removed the crack sound that i had when i started arts/and squatted younger to the 90 degree angle.

Shoulders: Mainly handstand etc balance work, been training to Handstand pushups, can get only 3 to halfway down. i’ll try overhead presses tomorrow.

Fridays:

Deadlift 110kg 8x3. I also do bridging/balance work, crow stands, tuck hold etc.

Our training isn’t really taxing on the muscles anymore after 3 years that i’ve been there. It’s mainly just technical training these days, so it don’t interfere much with the gym.

2-1-2 was the tempo yes! I have heard it as a “rule” :smiley:

31

[quote]Black_star wrote:
i have a bad habit of eating out with my gf few times a week.[/quote]
That’s not a bad habit at all. Only macho tough guys say they don’t do it.

Wait, I think I misread what you wrote.

If you mean 10 reps and 3 sets, it’s actually pretty much always written SETSxREPS. So, 10x3 would mean 10 sets of 3 reps (which, coincidentally, is actually another pretty good set/rep scheme).

Yep, definitely squat through the full ROM. You’ll get more muscle recruitment and less knee stress, so, win-win.

But that’s not really much of a program, just token work on the basic lifts. Check out 5/3/1.

A lot of guys in the Combat forum seem to like the 2 or 3 day a week plan, as it allows plenty of time to recover from lifting and focus on martial arts.

32

[quote]Ecchastang wrote:

[quote]Salpinx wrote:
I am no authority, anybody could say I am mistaken. But it is the way a lot of elithe PLers train and I do not see you fitting there[/quote]
Hmmm…current USAPL Colorado state record raw bench of 137.5 kg in the 67.5 kg category is elite status. Once again you are mistaken. [/quote]
Where in Colorado are you?

33

[quote]kpsnap wrote:

[quote]Ecchastang wrote:

[quote]Salpinx wrote:
I am no authority, anybody could say I am mistaken. But it is the way a lot of elithe PLers train and I do not see you fitting there[/quote]
Hmmm…current USAPL Colorado state record raw bench of 137.5 kg in the 67.5 kg category is elite status. Once again you are mistaken. [/quote]
Where in Colorado are you?[/quote]
Boulder. You?

34

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

But that’s not really much of a program, just token work on the basic lifts. Check out 5/3/1.

A lot of guys in the Combat forum seem to like the 2 or 3 day a week plan, as it allows plenty of time to recover from lifting and focus on martial arts.[/quote]

What does Deload mean at week 4? Taking a pause from training?

Edit: Forget that! Googled into it. Next question, we don’t have a leg press, or leg curl at our gym, there’s a lot of free weights, rubber bands. boxes to jump on to, but not machines. 5/3/1 system uses them at squat days, how should i replace them?

35

hold on… this just reminded me to bump an old thread

36

Pause is fine.

Put your feet on the ground.

37

Replace leg presses with more squats

38

[quote]Black_star wrote:
I do bench with feet up, when the bar touches my chest, i keep a little pause to stop the momentum, and then push back up, pause at the top as well. Basically the 2-1-2 “rule”.

I’m looking for the best gains of course in everything that i do, that’s why i lift with feet up, or have i gotten this wrong? Is there any chance of injury in this position etc?[/quote]
I wouldn’t do all your training with your feet up. If you like, do some feet up bench for your back down sets every so often.

Pausing all your reps is fine.

If you start experiencing shoulder discomfort, I would maybe switch to all feet down touch and go. Pausing reps tends to bother my shoulders a bit more than normal benching, and feet up also creates more internal shoulder rotation since the range of motion is increased, which can bother some people.

Just some things to keep in mind!

39

[quote]Ecchastang wrote:

[quote]kpsnap wrote:

[quote]Ecchastang wrote:

[quote]Salpinx wrote:
I am no authority, anybody could say I am mistaken. But it is the way a lot of elithe PLers train and I do not see you fitting there[/quote]
Hmmm…current USAPL Colorado state record raw bench of 137.5 kg in the 67.5 kg category is elite status. Once again you are mistaken. [/quote]
Where in Colorado are you?[/quote]
Boulder. You? [/quote]
I live up by Evergreen. Train mostly in Littleton.