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2005/04/05, 01:12 PM
Well Time to try some new territory for me. I am going to be using this cycle outlined by Ryan Kennelly. Whish me luck to send my weakest lift through the roof.
To recap: Start with 45% of your 1RM (one rep max bench) and perform 8 sets of triples on week one. Week 2 perform 8 sets of triples with 50%. Week three – 8 sets of triples with 55%. Week four is 8 sets of triples with 60%. Week five is 8 sets of triples with 65% and week six is 8 sets of triples with 70%.
Then, when you reach week seven (in the twelve week cycle), your work load will be at such an intensity as to warrant lowering the volume of your training. So, by week seven, you’ll be working with 75% of your 1RM and you’ll drop down to only performing 4 sets of triples. On week eight, you’ll press 4 sets of triples with 80% of your 1RM.
By week nine, you’ll be very close to training with your previous max rep, so you’ll lower the work volume again and press 2 sets of triples with 85% of your 1RM. On week ten, you’ll work 2 sets of triples with 90% and then 2 sets of triples with 95% on week eleven. Finally, on week number 12 you’ll harvest the fruits of your labor. You’ll work up to a triple with 100% of your previous one rep max. What was your most powerful push will now be a weight that you can rep with for a triple!
Now, there’s more to the program than just working these sets of triples on the flat bench. Before you get to your working weight (what you’re going to be tripling) you’ll need to properly warm up. So, for example, if you were going to be working with 200 pounds, you’d warm up with the bar for 20 reps, 85 for 6 reps, 135 for 6 reps, 185 for 3 reps and then you’d start your working sets with 200 pounds. As a general rule, don’t ever increase the weight on the bar more than 50 pounds between sets as, regardless of how strong you are, your muscles and joints need to adapt to the work load that you’re placing on them. Months from now, when you’re working with heavier weights, just do less reps per warm up set as you work your way up the poundage ladder (so you don’t fatigue during the warm ups.)
With this basic training program, your assistance work will be rack lockouts, skull crushers, and close grip incline presses. With all of your assistance work sets, perform sets of five reps, increasing the weight each set up to a heavy set of 5 reps (where you can barely get the fifth rep) and then quit. Always finish your benchpress workout with high rep triceps pushdowns for added muscle fatigue. Some optional shoulder work can also be done on this day, such as front plate raises (or front dumbbell raises) for the front deltoids and side dumbbell laterals for your side deltoids. High reps should be employed when performing these shoulder exercises.
A lifter’s max bench is usually 110% of what they can triple. So, with you now tripling 225, your new 1RM is 250! Now, in your quest to bench with three wheels on each side of the bar (315 pounds) you’ll start the 12 week training cycle all over again with 8 sets of triples at 45% of 250, ect. This is how your program will map out over time. Cycle One = 225 max bench. Cycle Two (week 12) = 250 max bench. Cycle Three (week 24) = 275 max bench. Cycle Four (week 36) = 305 max bench. Cycle Five (week 48) = 335 max bench! In just 12 months you will be benching over three plates on each side of the bar! If a year sounds like an eternity, just look around you at the gym. How many guys in your club can’t press 315? Two man lifting (one guy pressing while the spotter pulls on the bar helping him) doesn’t count! Many of those guys have been logging in hours at the gym for years and have never broken that barrier! (I know, they all pressed 400 back in college or high school. Yeah, right.)
In the second installment of this training series, we took you from a 315 pound bench to a 405. Save for competitive powerlifters, heavyweight bodybuilders and football linemen, hardly anyone in the gym can bench 405 pounds (don’t go off what you hear or read, look around and take note when you go in to train) and by following this detailed blue print you’ll be joining their prestigious ranks! (Again, you can read about this training program in detail by logging on to www.eclipsecec.com, clicking on “Articles” and then going to “Ryan’s Articles.”)
To summarize; for the second phase of this 225-405 training program, you’ll incorporate a speed day into your training cycle. Your calendar will run in the order of speed bench day, three days off, heavy bench day, three days off, repeat. On your speed day, you will use 60% of your one rep max (without a benchpress shirt). So, if 315 pounds is your one rep max, you will perform 8 sets of 3 reps with 190 pounds. Give yourself a one minute rest period between sets (on your heavy training day, you can rest up to ten minutes between sets depending on your level of fatigue). For these sets, you will use a close grip for the first 3 sets, then move your grip out to a medium close grip for the next 3 sets and then finish up the last two sets with your competition grip. You must perform these reps fast, but with control. Have someone time you with a stop watch and make sure that you get your three reps in or under 3 seconds. If you can’t bench the weight 3 times in 3 seconds, then the weight is too heavy and should be lowered.
This style of training will develop your fast twitch muscle fibers and explosive power in the benchpress. Which exercises you choose for your assistance work, after your speed benching, is up to you. Just limit yourself to two triceps exercises and keep the reps in the 10-15 per set range. After 12 weeks of this training, you will need to see what your new unassisted (no bench shirt) max is and then adjust your percentages for your speed work. For example, after 12 weeks you will probably have a new raw max of around 345, so your speed benching weight would then be 210 pounds.
For your heavy benchpress day, you’ll rotate the following four different training days (training each heavy day version two weeks in a row). Day 1: Close Grip Benchpress 4x8, Dumbbell Floor Extensions 10x6, Front Barbell Shoulder Raises 3x10, Dumbbell Hammer Curls 5x5 Day 2: Board Presses with 2, 3, or 4 Boards 8x3, Decline EZ Curl Skull Crushers 6x10, Front Dumbbell Raises 3x10, Side Dumbbell Raises 3x10, Dumbbell Hammer Curls 5x5 Day 3: Decline Benchpress 4x8, Behind-The-Neck Dumbbell Triceps Extensions 5x5, Front Shoulder Raises w/a 24, 35, or 45 Pound Plate (keep the movement slow and controlled) 3x10, Dumbbell Hammer Curls 5x5 Day 4: Incline Benchpress 3x10, Floor Presses 5x5, Upright Rows 3x10, Dumbbell Hammer Curls 5x5 Again, in regards to the bench sets that you put in on your heavy days, you shouldn’t miss any reps, but the weight should be heavy enough that the last rep of each set is tough to get. If the last rep of a set is still somewhat easy, then increase the weight for the next set. Also, don’t forget to warm-up before you start your working sets.
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I am that
which must be feared, worshipped and adored. The world is mine
now and forever.No one holds command over me. No man. No god. I am ANIMAL! and that is enough.
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