Bend the Bench Press Bar

[3rdLargest]

I'll PM you the Militia template in the next few days BtB.

[HIThopper]

Is this the one

The Metal Militia Bench Press Training Style
by Sebastian Burns


There has been many questions and some misinformation about our style of training.I will set the record straight about the way we train and why.This method has led many lifters to new PRs never thought possible.There has been many times where lifters will set 30 to 50lb PRs in their first workout with us and almost always these lifters will take some info home with them and continue to set PRs week after week.We have invited and traveled to train with hundreds of lifters over the years and 99% of them will hit a PR in their first workout with us.Obviously I will not be able to provide hands on attention with this article but I will lay out our workout plan.

We train the bench 2 days per week one day is for low end raw strength and the other is for top end and shirt practice.Our workouts fall on Tuesday and Saturday.

Tuesday is for Raw and saturday is assistance and shirt day.

Tuesday

Raw bench: Grip (Index Finger On Ring)

We work our way up to a 3 Rep Max (3RM). If we get all 3 reps we will go up 10lbs and try another 3 reps.If we dont get 3 we may stop there or go down for a 5 RM Next week we will attempt the 3RM again and go up 10 lbs etc.Total sets = 5 to 8.

Decline: Grip (Pinky Finger On Ring)

For decline we work up to a 5RM with all sets done for 5 reps.Total sets = 5

The more you arch on the bench press the more valuable the decline will be.

4,3,2,1 Boards: Grip (Pinky Finger On Ring)

We usually work up to a 3RM on the 4 board then we may go for 1RM on the next boards depending on energy levels and soreness from the previous workout.Total sets range from 8 to as many as 15.

Total sets on this day range from 15 to 30.

Other exercises that can be done on this day:

Incline: 4 Sets 5 to 1 Reps.

Rope Extentions: 2 Sets 20 to 40 Reps.

Pulldowns: 4 Sets 10 Reps.

Shrugs: 4 Sets 10 Reps.

Saturday

Close Grip Bench: Grip (Pinky Finger On Ring)

This exercise is used as a warm up and we use the same progression as raw bench for the sets except we don't go back down for a 5RM.

Shirt Bench: Grip (Index Finger On Ring)

We will put our shirt on here if the meet is within 4 weeks or so.If the meet is farther away we will do our shirt work at the end before Rack work.Everyone usually starts off with their shirt where they left off with the close grip bench.Starting with 3 to 5 reps in the first few sets to get into a grove of the shirt.Then onto a few doubles then some singles.If the singles don't go well or if there is problems touching or with your groove then we will go right back to the beginning and work all the way back up again trying harder to get everything right.Sets here could range from 5 to 10 to even 20 or more depending on how everything goes.If you don't get it right you must work back through until you get it right.

6,5,4, Boards: Grip (Pinky Finger On Ring)

We will usually try to max on all of these boards and sometimes work through the same board twice if the groove does not feel right or we miss our goal weight on a certain board.Again sets could be very high if things don't go right or if more work is needed in a certain area.The 4 board is optional on this day depending if you did it on tuesday or not.

Rack Lockouts: Grip (Pinky Finger On Ring)

We work our way up to a 3RM using 3 reps for all sets.These are done at the end of the workout when you are tired and want to go home but if you stay and do them you will have great finishing power needed to lockout heavy weight.Total sets range from 6 to 10.

Other exercises that can be done on this day.

Tricep Pushdowns: 3 Sets 10 Reps.

Rope Extentions: 2 Sets 20 to 40 reps.

Pulldowns: 4 Sets 10 Reps.

Shrugs: 4 Sets 10 Reps.

As you can see there is much more volume done on sat then on tuesday and nothing is set in stone.The workouts are dictated by the way we feel and where we feel we need the most work to produce improvement.

[Ryano]

Originally Posted by tank

That's insane.

What's insane about it? You go over %100 off of boards to overload your lockout.

[miked96]

Not insane at all. The first time I hit 405 was when I did alot of lockout work in a similar MM template. I tried the high frequency stuff and it can work but I dont think its optimal. I was just giving my thoughts if thats what someone was set on doing.

I have talked with Scot Mendelson, JM Blakely, Shawn Lattimer, Sebastian Burns, and Andy Bolton and they all train in a similar fashion to what Ryano is describing. Which makes sense since hes one of the premiere benchers in the world. It just reinforces it in my mind. Those guys all train in a similar fashion because its the best way to train.

I have always thought that the best way to be good as your genetics will allow at a sport or lift or whatever, is to find a group of competitors that excel in that thing. If you can find a trend then its probably the best way to go. Its harder to find the trends with squats and deadlifts but there is one with benching.

[Fazc]

Originally Posted by miked96

Not insane at all. The first time I hit 405 was when I did alot of lockout work in a similar MM template. I tried the high frequency stuff and it can work but I dont think its optimal. I was just giving my thoughts if thats what someone was set on doing.

I have talked with Scot Mendelson, JM Blakely, Shawn Lattimer, Sebastian Burns, and Andy Bolton and they all train in a similar fashion to what Ryano is describing. Which makes sense since hes one of the premiere benchers in the world. It just reinforces it in my mind. Those guys all train in a similar fashion because its the best way to train.

Yeah, I think I'll be devoting one day to mostly lockout/board work as well post-Meet.

It works great for my Squats/Deads, like you said these guys only reinforce that'll it'll work for Benches too.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by Ryano

BTB, in my opinion, working with 70%-80% 1rm will get you nowhere. If you want strength gains, you need to go >%100. I overload over %100 almost every heavy bench day. I don't think your shoulders could handle this more than once a week. Mine won't.

Hi Roger,

I'm not focusing on 70-80% work, and haven't for quite some time. I've been working over 100% for the last 6 months, 3x a week. Right now what I am doing isn't working well so I'm merely trying to add some rep work at 85% to this mix, as well as some tricep and bicep assistance work.

I have no plans on setting supra-100% work aside. I'm simply trying to drop the frequency to 1.5 times per week while adding in some 85% benching reps as a semi-moderate day, and some tricep assistance reps. The 85% bench reps are all paused reps.

My gym bench max last August was 365. Since that time I've performed probably 150-200 singles at or about 365. Most of them at 405+.

I just wanted to make sure I addressed the point of 100% because that's been the cornerstone of my training since August of last year. My only goal now is to continue to use it while tweaking a few things, such as doing more tricep-centric work and adding some bicep work.

I can't board press at home very well with my current setup. It isn't an option, so I use the Slingshot which allows me to work up to 450-ish, which is up to 60 pounds over my 1RM.

I appreciate all the feedback in this thread by everyone. I don't pretend to have all the answers. Just hoping to make some minor adjustments and dial a few things in.

[BendtheBar]

Just as a recap of the bench plan I was considering changing to:

--Dropping Supra-100% work to 1.5 times per week.
--Adding in 85% volume paused reps - 20 every other workout (1.5x) per week.
--Adding in tricep and bicep assistance work.

Prior to this it as supra-max 3x per week with no assistance.

[Ryano]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Just as a recap of the bench plan I was considering changing to:

--Dropping Supra-100% work to 1.5 times per week.
--Adding in 85% volume paused reps - 20 every other workout (1.5x) per week.
--Adding in tricep and bicep assistance work.

Prior to this it as supra-max 3x per week with no assistance.

Wow. Hitting ME bench more than 1x week is alot. I try to just have one speed bench day and one ME bench day. Sometimes I can't take that much volume and need to deload, but I'm an old fart. I would suggest that you take this entire week off before your meet. Let everything heal up for the platform.

[J_Byrd]

Originally Posted by Ryano

Wow. Hitting ME bench more than 1x week is alot. I try to just have one speed bench day and one ME bench day. Sometimes I can't take that much volume and need to deload, but I'm an old fart. I would suggest that you take this entire week off before your meet. Let everything heal up for the platform.

I cant even speed bench same week as a hard ME day!

We have talked a little before. I think 3x3 of 85%+ would be helpful. I think you would do well with the way we use to do our old raw cycles.
3 weeks of 3x3
3 weeks of 3x2
2 weeks of 3x1
start over!

I think you need to hammer the tris, bis, and some slight incline dumbbell work. I know you dont have anyone to hold boards, but even if you get get someone to hold a 2/3 board every other week or so just to work in the 100%+ range! Just the rambling thoughts of a wanna be powerlifter haha.