Will's Bench Record

One of the guys that trains in the gym I supervise was looking to increase his bench. His basic plan was to go in 2-3 times a week and hit it as heavy as possible, but progress was slow at best. He'd gone from 85k to around 95 in about 6 months but was looking to break the 100 barrier, trying a few times but being stapled every time. I'd given him some basic form tips which had helped a bit and since he was responsive to this I decided to knock up something to help the bench press.

Bear in mind that I didn't control much, just gave general recommendations for the bench press. I knew he wouldn't do super light sessions, so there was nothing under 70% in the routine. The recommendations I gave were:

- Cut back to twice a week
- Cut out some of the assistance work (he was doing incline dumbells, pec flyes, cable flyes etc)

Beyond this I gave a very simple plan for the next 3 and a bit weeks, outlining total reps, rep ranges and weights. The specifics I left to him and how he was feeling on the day. Here is the plan (remember a 95 max at the start)

Day/Weight/Total Reps/Suggested Reps per set

Fri/ 80 / 30 / 6-8

Mon/ 85 / 25 / 5
Fri/ 75 / 30 / 6-8

Mon/ 90 / 12 / 1-3
Fri/ 70 / 24 / 6

Mon/ 100 / 1!

Here is how it turned out:



Here was the warm-up etc on the day:

bar/10
40/8
60/5
75/2
90/1
97.5/1
105/1
107.5/F - JUST!

Hopefully I can get him on here posting a journal - we're aiming at 110 in 4 weeks, probably a cycle of 5/3/1 to get there.

Good stuff!!

A journal would be good.

That vid is awesome......... (makes me realise I should show a little more enthusiasm when I hit a PB!)