For me, benching has always been in the game..that's y relatively it has bigger ratio compared to my other lifts..

300lb is still long way for me.. Despite that, I still hope that my deadlift numbers which is going up is gonna help me boost up some of bench numbers..

Not pushing to limit? I thought for max strength, you need to give it all? Covered by longer rest periods?


Strength is what matters, size is what that follows..

when you test for your 1RM yes but if you're going through your training cycle, you should not be going balls to the wall every week in order to keep making progress week to week. don't forget to deload too.

longer rest periods when going at 90-95% of your 1RM is the way to go.

Yeap, actually i kinda like get the feeling of deload where you gather and rest your strength nerves during heavy singles to triples. It helps me just that i kinda feel like dunno when to start deload..

My deload training style consist of doing fitness style reps (12-15 reps) at 60-70% for 4 sets..at the end of set of last rep is up to failure..

Is it good to be training this way or just follow the 5x5 but just deloading the weights?

No. Then why do some people who bench less than you are bigger? It's not how much you lift but how much you look like you can lift.

personally, if i'm on a deload week i keep my main lifts at around my warm up weights which is around 60% and halve my accessory work. i would not recommend increasing the reps or going to failure at all because the point of having a deload week is to give you an easy week to keep the blood flowing to the muscles and to rest.

however, i have seen guys/gals go on a 3 week cycle which goes something like 75%/85%/95%-1RM and skipping the usual 4th week deload like what i do. their logic is that the 75% is considered an easy week for them after going through a week at 95% or higher.

Ok. Some people think of that way. Its personal preference.

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Added on November 5, 2012, 12:23 pmI see.. so the trends follows like increasing intensity for few weeks and deload for 1 week, and next cycle is same pattern except that the intensity is bigger compared to previous cycle? eg 75/85/95% - 1rm, deload, let's say the max is increased by 5%, so 75/85/95% - 1.05rm, deload and so on..

Is this right? Is it good to always stay at 75/85/95% or change frequently?

This post has been edited by Seasick85: Nov 5 2012, 12:23 PM

You still benching 2 inches above chest?

No, I'm saying you need to improve your bench form, not your poundage.

I was going to explain further but this post hit it.

Yeah, as I mentioned, touching chest frequently FOR ME is gonna do rotator injuries for me, despite knowing the fact that there are many rotator cuff exercises..

However, I've tested also several times that for one rep max between touching chest and 2 inches off is no difference for me..hence i'm gonna use 2 inches since it is better for my rotator cuff, so i can just concentrated on duin it 2 inches off..

Is this something bothering you? Just wondering..

From your pics, if you can actually bench a 100 kilograms, your chest development is pretty suboptimal. Just sayin. If you really are a purist in benching philosophy you would know that if you lifted that way in official PL comps, you would be disqualified. If you post something in a forum, your lifting vids, pics, etc, be prepared for some feedback, and not necessarily the ones you would want to hear.

Is my bench form poor? I mean all of the setup and everything?

Is that what you wanna comment? For justifying everything you believe about TOUCHING your chest is a must?? For everybody? Despite advising them that they should do whatever that works?

Look, if you're the person that have big chest or 90 degree elbow angles and rarely had rotator cuff, you WOULD only understand that..but think of also the people which really had been doing some experiments and what works for them as well.. to me, benching 2 inches off is NOTHING wrong as long as the one rep max between touching n not is the same.. Ok I take note that duin rotator exercises will MAYBE eventually avoid all this things..but not everyone does it, including me..

So, I take note on whatever comments that is necessary, but do note on my standings as well on this matter..

You bench for strength, not for size so you are more towards the Powerlifter kind of bench pressing style yet you didn't touch your chest (because of your rotator cuff injury). So, right now, there is no visible goal for you to try to aim more bench poundage. Just like what DL said, even if you managed to hit 200kg bench poundage, you are still disqualified because you are not hitting you chest.

I saw a video once on Youtube, a teenage guy benching 500lbs for 1RM yet didn't touch his chest (1 inch from his chest) and people said that it is not legit bench, Heck, even it will be disqualified in PL comp. So, why bother bench?

You might wanna take a vid on your one rep max touching chest form.

U train without touching chest, and yet when u do the hardest set you still can pull it off? Chest development tbh isn't there, maybe its the bf% so I won't comment on it till u cut down. But then again it shouldn't matter since you're strength oriented.

I'm skeptical, tbh.

And the irony of u calling me out when I deadlift with straps and belt, lol.

your understanding is correct on the training cycle.

there is no issue with staying at the 75/85/95% as long as you are loading up more plates so that you know you are making progress. you don't always have to test your max but if you do find the weights you're using now become less challenging, you might consider testing your max and tweaking the weights you use for your lifts accordingly.

regarding your bench technique and your rotator cuff problem, i would suggest a few things to look out for next time you bench:
- is the bar sitting on your wrist? not behind it.
- are your elbows below your wrist throughout the movement? not in front of it.
- are you lowering the bar to the point on your chest between your pecs and sternum? this would very likely be the shortest bar path.
- are you flaring or keeping your elbows towards your side? the former tends to cause shoulder problems when heavier weights are being moved.
- shoulder blades should be digging into the bench and remain there from the moment you remove the bar from the hooks.

the above are just some of the things that make up the checklist in my head before performing the press so, hopefully this helps you too.

I have WORSE rotator cuff problems that you. I say this without a doubt. People here mean well but you're the one being stubborn. If you were to post your bench video on sites like T-nation forums you would get dissed to hell bro.

hehe, i would rather do 6-8 good reps than trying very hard for 1MR tbh

For what? Building muscles? Sure. But now, in this very thread, they are discussing about how much is your 1RM lift for bench, squats and deads. They are not discussing about what is the best reps for building muscles.

hehe, no one cares tbh. youre missing the point of the thread

thanks for steering the thread back to the original point guys.

back to the topic.

sigh..
here's mine
Squats 185lbs
Bench 140lbs
Deadlift 225lbs

total 550lbs
hopefully can reach 800lbs by Feb'13