3x5 squat @ 270
10x10 bench @ 125
So my buddy has been on this bench program for a few weeks and talked me into giving it a go. Got it from a co worker's brother who's a fitness instructor for the marines or some such shit. It's a 10 week program, bench once a week, 10 sets (ends up being a LOT of spotted reps), ~90 seconds between sets, goes like this:
First 6 weeks: 10x10 @ 60%
week 7: 10x8 @ 70%
week 8: 10x6 @ 80%
week 9: 10x4 @ 90%
week 10: 10x2 @ 95%
When you hit a wall and the rep is mostly spotting, take a 7 count break and then get right back to it, even if you can only get 1 sloppy spotted rep out before another break. I made it through 3 sets before shit got ugly.
I'm trying to be open minded with this, my 3x5 LP has only added ~50 lbs to my 3x5 over the course of probably 2 years, whereas my other lifts have shot up a little better. I'm going to stick with this for awhile and see what happens, it just sketches me out that no one I've been reading (rip, Justin, starr, etc.) has suggested any similar program. But like, what have I got to lose? I'm not making strides anyway.
Thoughts?
I can barely lift my arms, they will be swoll as shit bodybuilder stylee if I keep this up...but I'd rather move big weight obviously...
shitload of reps. maybe do more pushups too?
ReplyDeleteNaw dudes, I don't think more volume is really the answer here. If you're serious about trying to figure out what the problem is, we should do the following:
ReplyDelete1) tape yourself benching. You could have a lot of form issues.
2) make sure recovery is up to par. I mean, your 2 years on linear progression wasn't exactly what any strength coach would recommend aka you were doing intense conditioning along with it. How can you expect to recover?
3) Looking at ratios here, I stopped linear progression on bench at about 235, or about 1.2 times bodyweight. Didn't you stop somewhere at like 185 or something? Isn't that close to 1.2 times bodyweight as well? Plus, as I said in #2, you're not really following a LP since you are doing so much more volume which makes it hard for your body to recover. If you really wanna get strong at bench, stop doing other shit.
4) Adding volume is the last thing you need if my hypothesis is true, which is that you aren't recovering properly. Even if you think you're eating/sleeping enough, there's still a limit to what the body can handle.
good points yang. that 5rm range seems to be pretty money for getting huge.
ReplyDeleteyang's right, ricci. when i saw you at the 70s big seminar, you were eating like a little puta.
ReplyDeletePsh...I don't have an appetite when I travel. I've hit 2 lbs meat, 4 eggs, and 2 sweet potatoes almost every day since the seminar.
ReplyDeleteIll get a tape on the youtubes, but I think my form is pretty solidus. Maybe just time for TM. 185 is like 1.1x BW.
I'm leaning toward doing this one more time and gauge improvement.
so i guess this volume training has a little more roots in actual strength training than I thought:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.seriouspowerlifting.com/3159/articles/german-volume-training
It is geared toward hypertrophy for sure. Does anyone have any knowledge on this logic: will it be effective to add muscle via swollertrophy then increase the strength capacity of that new mass through more traditional strength training methods, e.g. LP or TM?
like, my legs have gotten huge as my squat increased, relative to the change in size i've observed in my upper body.
ReplyDeleteAt the seminar justin talked about using RDLs in a hypertrophy rep range to stimulate hamstring growth in trainees lacking hamstring mass. This allowed them to progress their squat more effectively because they then had the musculature to bear the posterior chain strength gains.