[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
I got 325 x 10 last week. I’ll probably be going for in again week after next.[/quote]
You should have it easy… with that, I would venture a guess you could double 405. I hit 425 paused after hitting 315x12 a few weeks earlier.
I got 365 for a pretty easy triple today. I think I’m going to take a run at 405 after my next meet in June. I’ll probably have to load the bar with hundreds though to trick myself into not realizing it is four plates.
Well I haven’t posted in this thread in so long…I was so close (390 bench) at 202lbs when I was 19. Fucked up my shoulder from too much activity (between doing muay thai and boxing, lifting weights 4x a week) I was just training too much and it caught up to me. After over 4 months my shoulder is finally feelin better and I have been VERY SLOWLY began to press again…with A LOT of care and attention to my shoulders. Got the dumbbells the other day…90x6, 105x6, 120x8…that was after some floor presses. I’m excited to get my bench back up to 390, and then finally hit that 405 shortly after!!
Jerkwad - did you get 315x12 and that was a max set of reps?
burt128 - if you got a triple pretty easy with 365 you are probably pretty damn close man! I always think if you can do 3 reps at a given weight. You can add 30lbs to the bar and it will most of the time equal your max if you warm up a bit different. If you hit it prettty easy…I’d say 405 would be a good fight and you would definately pull through.
[quote]rasturai wrote:
burt128 - if you got a triple pretty easy with 365 you are probably pretty damn close man! I always think if you can do 3 reps at a given weight. You can add 30lbs to the bar and it will most of the time equal your max if you warm up a bit different. If you hit it prettty easy…I’d say 405 would be a good fight and you would definately pull through.
[/quote]
It’s totally psychological for me. My best bench is 395, which wasn’t easy, but when I put 405 on the bar it just crushes me (and I’ve tried a couple of times now). I wasn’t really kidding when I said I’m planning to use the 100s when I take a run at it next time so that I “trick” myself into not knowing how much is on the bar. 
When I do finally get it, I’m going to be pretty excited.
[quote]rasturai wrote:
Jerkwad - did you get 315x12 and that was a max set of reps?
[/quote]
yup, as part of my last wave of 5/3/1 before my meet (week 1 - 315x12, week 2 - 335x9, week 3 - 355x6). Next two weeks practiced pausing heavier weights, took a deload and then the meet.
burt128 - haha oh I see then. Yeah I can see that…when I first squatted 430 at 16 years old I had just finished smolov right. I really wanted to break that 405 barrier. And I never touched 405 before that. I was 183lbs, so what I did was I said if I blow completely past that 405 and shoot for 430 it seemed a lot better mentally for me to do 430 then 405 ( I don’t have a clue as to why back then, but it just seemed “right” lol)
And I smoked that 430 lol.
jerkwad55 - how long have you been doing cycles of 5/3/1 - damn man I’d love to bench 315x12…even more so bench 425! haha
[quote]rasturai wrote:
burt128 - haha oh I see then. Yeah I can see that…when I first squatted 430 at 16 years old I had just finished smolov right. I really wanted to break that 405 barrier. And I never touched 405 before that. I was 183lbs, so what I did was I said if I blow completely past that 405 and shoot for 430 it seemed a lot better mentally for me to do 430 then 405 ( I don’t have a clue as to why back then, but it just seemed “right” lol)
And I smoked that 430 lol.
jerkwad55 - how long have you been doing cycles of 5/3/1 - damn man I’d love to bench 315x12…even more so bench 425! haha[/quote]
I have been doing 5/3/1 for probably 18 months, however have messed around with speed bench and reverse band work a couple times, here and there, just to break up the monotony. My bench has gone from 375(ish) to 425 in that time (clean). I would say that my best gains came from sticking with a program and gaining weight (sorry, very obvious/basic advice)
One other thing I would mention that I found helpful to get to 405 (in addition to using 5/3/1) was in the Westside Bench Manual, the raw bench web, as lays out lbs/reps for different exercises to see where your weaknesses are and where you need to focus on to hit 400lbs (they also have lbs/reps for 500 and 600 as well). I’m sure a bunch of people have seen this and might be obvious, but I found it very helpful.
Really? Wow that’s pretty sweet I gotta find that part about hitting certain weight/reps for exercises to bring up the bench press. Is that Dave Tate’s “Elite FTS Bench Press Manual E-book” - Is that the one your talking about?
Haha that is pretty basic advice but it is true…time and patience is huge and usually quick fixes don’t help. I’m not sure where my bench is now but I am definately not afraid to gain some weight to get that goal. I am currently sticking with floor presses and db flat bench presses (inclines and overhead work bug my shoulder at the moment). I als wanted to say you have made pretty damn good gains, and it seemed pretty consistent. I think my bench will come pretty fast to 390 and then it will be a matter of gaining weight and really not messin around and lay somethin out for a good 8 months and get a goal of 405+.
Oh I found the difference between them…there is a difference between the louie simmons one and the dave tate manual. Mmmm.
I did 9x315 today after a couple of max singles on a 3 board. Should be getting close…
[quote]jerkwad55 wrote:
[quote]rasturai wrote:
burt128 - haha oh I see then. Yeah I can see that…when I first squatted 430 at 16 years old I had just finished smolov right. I really wanted to break that 405 barrier. And I never touched 405 before that. I was 183lbs, so what I did was I said if I blow completely past that 405 and shoot for 430 it seemed a lot better mentally for me to do 430 then 405 ( I don’t have a clue as to why back then, but it just seemed “right” lol)
And I smoked that 430 lol.
jerkwad55 - how long have you been doing cycles of 5/3/1 - damn man I’d love to bench 315x12…even more so bench 425! haha[/quote]
I have been doing 5/3/1 for probably 18 months, however have messed around with speed bench and reverse band work a couple times, here and there, just to break up the monotony. My bench has gone from 375(ish) to 425 in that time (clean). I would say that my best gains came from sticking with a program and gaining weight (sorry, very obvious/basic advice)
One other thing I would mention that I found helpful to get to 405 (in addition to using 5/3/1) was in the Westside Bench Manual, the raw bench web, as lays out lbs/reps for different exercises to see where your weaknesses are and where you need to focus on to hit 400lbs (they also have lbs/reps for 500 and 600 as well). I’m sure a bunch of people have seen this and might be obvious, but I found it very helpful. [/quote]
How did you go about adding westside stuff while sticking to 5/3/1? I am currently doing 5/3/1 and looking to at least add some speed bench work as assistance (possibly on OH Press day). Also want to add some bench variations but don’t want to get in that area of trying 2 programs at once and sucking at both.
[quote]sufiandy wrote:
[quote]jerkwad55 wrote:
[quote]rasturai wrote:
burt128 - haha oh I see then. Yeah I can see that…when I first squatted 430 at 16 years old I had just finished smolov right. I really wanted to break that 405 barrier. And I never touched 405 before that. I was 183lbs, so what I did was I said if I blow completely past that 405 and shoot for 430 it seemed a lot better mentally for me to do 430 then 405 ( I don’t have a clue as to why back then, but it just seemed “right” lol)
And I smoked that 430 lol.
jerkwad55 - how long have you been doing cycles of 5/3/1 - damn man I’d love to bench 315x12…even more so bench 425! haha[/quote]
I have been doing 5/3/1 for probably 18 months, however have messed around with speed bench and reverse band work a couple times, here and there, just to break up the monotony. My bench has gone from 375(ish) to 425 in that time (clean). I would say that my best gains came from sticking with a program and gaining weight (sorry, very obvious/basic advice)
One other thing I would mention that I found helpful to get to 405 (in addition to using 5/3/1) was in the Westside Bench Manual, the raw bench web, as lays out lbs/reps for different exercises to see where your weaknesses are and where you need to focus on to hit 400lbs (they also have lbs/reps for 500 and 600 as well). I’m sure a bunch of people have seen this and might be obvious, but I found it very helpful. [/quote]
How did you go about adding westside stuff while sticking to 5/3/1? I am currently doing 5/3/1 and looking to at least add some speed bench work as assistance (possibly on OH Press day). Also want to add some bench variations but don’t want to get in that area of trying 2 programs at once and sucking at both.[/quote]
For the most part, I don’t mix them. I try to stay true to 5/3/1 as written, and what I meant was that when I get a case or training ADD, I will do a month of conjugate just to mix things up after I have completed a cycle of 5/3/1.
With that said, what I have done is about a month out from a meet I do speed bench on OH press day. I follow de bench with a lightened BBB 5x10 OH press and then other ass. work. I have found speed bench to work for me in the short term just before a meet, but I am not recommending programming around it in 5/3/1 and have not found it beneficial to do it all the time.
As far as bench variations, I believe I have read that it is okay to switch bench and OH press with variations, and would probably be smarter for me to do than messing around with conjugate training.
Finally hit it tonight. Sadly no video – I was lucky even to have someone around to do the hand off. Now on to the next step, hitting it in a meet with a pause!
haha good job man! that’s okay no video you can show us one when you get 425 lol
I wanted to chime in here, my goal is a 405 bench by the time im 23, i’m 21 now and i’ve been training seriously for a little over a year.
Past 3 chest sessions went like this:
#1 - flat bench: 265x3, 245x4, 225x9 / smith incline: 245x5 (i think) /
#2 - flat bench: 265x3, 245x3, 225x5 / smith incline: 225x6 (this was one of those weeks where I had to go light on everything)
#3 - flat bench: 225x8, 245x4 / smith incline: 265x8, 225x8 (!!)
note: 3rd exercise is a machine chest press, usually do 4-5 sets of 10-12 reps ramping up.
So previous session i chilled out on flat bench and got a big pr on the smith machine, for flat bench I plan to do the same again but just add 2.5 - 5lb a side each session and stay around 8 reps.
I might switch out the smith for dumbbells next week.
So thats where I’m at now, I could probably hit 280+ something for 1 rep.
125lbs more to go and 2 years to do it!
Good to see this thread going again. I’ve been living in Japan for the last month and a half and have lost almost 15lbs of bodyweight (235 → 220). As you may imagine, my bench has taken a hit. I haven’t gone past 365 (which I got for 4 at my strongest). It is such a goddamned mindfuck to lose strength and muscle, let me tell you!
Some strong-ass numbers in this thread!
[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
I wanted to chime in here, my goal is a 405 bench by the time im 23, i’m 21 now and i’ve been training seriously for a little over a year.
Past 3 chest sessions went like this:
#1 - flat bench: 265x3, 245x4, 225x9 / smith incline: 245x5 (i think) /
#2 - flat bench: 265x3, 245x3, 225x5 / smith incline: 225x6 (this was one of those weeks where I had to go light on everything)
#3 - flat bench: 225x8, 245x4 / smith incline: 265x8, 225x8 (!!)
note: 3rd exercise is a machine chest press, usually do 4-5 sets of 10-12 reps ramping up.
So previous session i chilled out on flat bench and got a big pr on the smith machine, for flat bench I plan to do the same again but just add 2.5 - 5lb a side each session and stay around 8 reps.
I might switch out the smith for dumbbells next week.
So thats where I’m at now, I could probably hit 280+ something for 1 rep.
125lbs more to go and 2 years to do it!
[/quote]
I got 225x8 on flat when I was fresh and a 1RM of 275. I’m sure you’d be good at 295. Maybe even 300. Good shit man!
Many strong dudes here. Tought I’d chime in.
Today I wanted a 150kg bench press, but I ended up with a 148.5kg bench press. It was a PR with 1kg for me, and I’m still on the hunt for the 150kg bench press! That’s 330lbs in pounds. Quite some distance from 405lbs, but just have to be patient and put in some more training over a few years, and I will get there.
I never understood these people who increase their bench with like 20kg in one month. Never happened to me.
– Stallion
Oh yeaah
Today I got 265lb for 8 reps today, fucking +5 rep PR. I was feeling like a little girl in the warm up too, 225lb felt heavy as shit.
But I just took 5 minutes to myself, called myself a bitch and to bring out what I knew what I had in me, and got 8 damn reps.
So hopefully next session I can get 315 for at least 1-2 reps. =D
3 plates, 2 more years to go and 1 more plate a side!
for all you guys chasing 405, i’m going to let you in on a secret that i have used to get my raw bench into the 500’s.
most can agree that hitting a max attempt can be very initmidating because it’s uncharted territory and it just feels so damn heavy on that liftoff. i find that when lifting the weight off and it feels heavy, psychologically, it can contribute to missing before you really even start.
so… how do you make that max attempt feel light(er) thus building your confidence and hopefully leading to a new weight PR?? here’s the secret- i like to do my warmup sets leading up to the max attempt off a 4 board or higher. doing this allows me to train with supramaximal weight and primes my body to handle the heavy weight but it doesn’t fatigue me leading up to the max attempt. the 4 board press is done touch and go. that means allowing the bar to sink in and then explode to lockout. below is an example of a warmup to a max attempt.
4 board press
135x4
225x2
315x1
405x1
495x1
565x1
-after that last set go straight to a max full ROM attempt at 520.
you will be amazed at how light your max attempt will feel after going above it on the board press. also, not doing a full ROM warmup won’t fatigue you leading to the max attempt.
having said all this, obviously one would need to spend some time getting familiar with board pressing before trying this.
i also use a similiar warmup on deadlifts and squats. I’ll do elevated deads (above the knee) before attempting a max and i’ll do heavy reverse band squats as a lead up to a max attempt.
this style of supramaximal training is also the cornerstone to how i increase my strength overall, not just for max attempts.