Focusing On Max Once A Week Beneficial For Overall Strength Increases?(flat or incl.)

[WalkingBeast]

Hey everyone! Just something I noticed. My training partner couldnt bench 315 unassisted a few years ago. He just hit 440 a few days ago at 185lbs. His entire routine for flat bench, has been focused on one rep maxing. He'll do the following:

135x20
225x12
275x5
315x1
335x1
440x1
445 Attempt (up to three attempts)

Then hell go back down and hit rep PR's:

365x9
365x9
365x9
225 for reps

Something like that. But his main focus is the one rep max. Hes been doing this for 2 years it seems. His rep strength has also increased greatly. Makes me wonder if it might be a good idea to focus on the one rep max every week and go for the rep PR's last. I do that occasionally, but most of the time my main focus is reps. Ill do something like this for example:

135x20
225x12
275x8 (warm ups)
315x10
335x5
380x1
385 Attempt (up to three attempts)

Then it varies after that point. Ill go for reps with lighter weights. All sets to failure as well. But as you can see, those 2 sets to failure interfere with my max attempt, so its not the focus. Im thinking of trying the one rep max as a focus for a while. Just a thought. I realize most of you are against maxing once a week or more. It has worked though. My main concern is that itll cut into my rep work too much. Might be something Ill try for a while. Right now my strength isnt where it was, so Im still working on getting it back first. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!

 

[bignate73]

do a hybrid 5x5 or 5x3 after hitting your max or alternate weekly, lower rep work, with a 1RM week. just a thought.

keep in mind you plateau quickly with 1RM so you might want to hit different exercises and rotate it through a 4-6 week run.

 

[WalkingBeast]

do a hybrid 5x5 or 5x3 after hitting your max or alternate weekly, lower rep work, with a 1RM week. just a thought.

keep in mind you plateau quickly with 1RM so you might want to hit different exercises and rotate it through a 4-6 week run.

ThanX brother!! I like those ideas ALOT! Much appreciated! I never thought of hitting 5X5 after a one rep max. Great idea. I like the cycling idea too. Ive cycled my focus on one rep max to reps from time to time, but never low rep (5X5) with one rep maxing. Some things to consider! ThanX again!!

 

[cwick0]

for the love of GOD, WHY?

We need to just tweak your training a little and you will be whipping his ass. I especially dont think it is a good idea with you hitting chest twice a week, arent your shoulders getting tired/worn?

 

[Illuminati]

Re: Focusing On Max Once A Week Beneficial For Overall Strength Increases?(flat or in

Hey everyone! Just something I noticed. My training partner couldnt bench 315 unassisted a few years ago. He just hit 440 a few days ago at 185lbs. His entire routine for flat bench, has been focused on one rep maxing. He'll do the following:

135x20
225x12
275x5
315x1
335x1
440x1
445 Attempt (up to three attempts)

Then hell go back down and hit rep PR's:

365x9
365x9
365x9
225 for reps

Something like that. But his main focus is the one rep max. Hes been doing this for 2 years it seems. His rep strength has also increased greatly. Makes me wonder if it might be a good idea to focus on the one rep max every week and go for the rep PR's last. I do that occasionally, but most of the time my main focus is reps. Ill do something like this for example:

135x20
225x12
275x8 (warm ups)
315x10
335x5
380x1
385 Attempt (up to three attempts)

Then it varies after that point. Ill go for reps with lighter weights. All sets to failure as well. But as you can see, those 2 sets to failure interfere with my max attempt, so its not the focus. Im thinking of trying the one rep max as a focus for a while. Just a thought. I realize most of you are against maxing once a week or more. It has worked though. My main concern is that itll cut into my rep work too much. Might be something Ill try for a while. Right now my strength isnt where it was, so Im still working on getting it back first. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!

hey bro. i think maxing out once a week would be very beneficial to your strength. look at WSB. they max out every week, and have tremendous results. they advocate switching the core lift every so often (i.e. every other week or every 3 weeks.) core lifts for bench to include, flat, incline, floor press, boards presses....
if you want to go for a 1RM, cut your reps down. i mean, way down. i guarantee you can push 405. try this your next bench day...
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
350x1
385x1
405x New PR

then if you want, throw your rep work in. when you are maxing out, where are you getting stuck? this will tell you where you need to do you work.

 

[WalkingBeast]

for the love of GOD, WHY?

We need to just tweak your training a little and you will be whipping his ass. I especially dont think it is a good idea with you hitting chest twice a week, arent your shoulders getting tired/worn?

ThanX brother!! What kind of "tweaks" did you have in mind? Your advice has always suited me best on here for the benches. I think we have alot of similiarites when it comes to muscle endurance and benching. Aside from the rest pauses and ROM. My style of benching is just banging that shit out, whatever it takes to get it mentality. Yours seems much more controlled. Although I dont go to the extremes of a FULL BODY bench as my training partner does, and I keep my ass on the bench. Though with inclines that can change. When I max on the inclines I often use a bench that has pegs for the feet, and I do sort of a standing incline press. haha Guess Ive made up my own techniques over the years! This could be the reason my inclines are so close to my flat bench strength. My incline positioning may be similiar to a flat bench press. Hard to guage. Ive done real strict inclines with 315x5 reps, but could likely get close to 10 reps at my peak, doing them as I described. I got a long way to go to catch his ass! haha He gets 365x9 and 315x10 was my best. He manages to put his whole body into it too, so that seems to make a difference as well. I also dont use the belt, where as he puts it as tight as humanly possible. So our benching styles are extremely different. 440 will likely take me some time benching in this style. My shoulders were giving me pain and feeling worn like you said. Its started to subside though and Ive been taking that glucosamine/chrondoitin to try and help the situation. I still get some pain and have to change exercises sometimes because of it. This is why I wanted to try machines and dumbell work one day instead of heavy inclines. Seems those exercises wouldnt stress my shoulders as much. The dumbells might though. They seem dangerous in that bottom position. Ill have to adjust things accordingly as the weeks go on, and feel out the situation. ThanX again brother!!

 

[WalkingBeast]

Re: Focusing On Max Once A Week Beneficial For Overall Strength Increases?(flat or in

hey bro. i think maxing out once a week would be very beneficial to your strength. look at WSB. they max out every week, and have tremendous results. they advocate switching the core lift every so often (i.e. every other week or every 3 weeks.) core lifts for bench to include, flat, incline, floor press, boards presses....
if you want to go for a 1RM, cut your reps down. i mean, way down. i guarantee you can push 405. try this your next bench day...
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
350x1
385x1
405x New PR

then if you want, throw your rep work in. when you are maxing out, where are you getting stuck? this will tell you where you need to do you work.

ThanX for the feedback brother!! Much appreciated!! The only problem is, that warm-up wouldnt be near sufficient for me. Especially the joints, and just to warm-up the muscle. Alot of people can warm-up like that and hit the heavy weights. With me it take a few sets of moderate to high reps (as shown at the top of this thread). I think it might have something to do with my muscle endurance. Cwick seems to be similiar in that regard, so his suggestions usually fit into my routine real well. Id like to do that routine though, I just know it would be brutal on my joints and muscle. Might even tear something! haha ThanX for the encouraging words also! Id love to hit 405 soon. Right now Im not at my peak due to the hurricane, so Im trying to get back up to 315x10 on the flat bench. The last 2 weeks Ive only managed 315x5. Big strength loss. Bodyweight is just about back though, strength is another issue all together!! Hope it comes back soon, but it could be a while. I lose it SO fast, and it takes LONG to recover. I really have to stay ontop of my training and eating enough, if I fucking blink the results are gone! haha I like the idea of that warm-up though. Less reps to conserve energy for the max. Everytime Ive tried something like that its always been a bad experience though. Usually I get stuck at the half way point. Sometimes the bottom. But it varies. Ive missed plenty of lockouts also. Ive done lockout in the power rack and my best was 455 after a full bench workout. Pretty weak. More then enough to lockout 405 though it would seem. The hardest part will probabally be from the bottom to 1/2 way up Im guessing. Havent tried floor or board presses yet. Seems interesting. ThanX again brother!!

 

[WalkingBeast]

Heres a sample from my journal of one of my flat bench days (a few incline sets at the end):

Flat Bench:

135x20
225x12
275x8 (first three sets are warm-ups)
315x9.5 (2 rep PR)
335x5 (1.25 rep PR)
385 (1/2 way up only)
385 (fail)
385 (1/2 way up only)
350x2.5 (Small PR of some type)
300x6
225x25 (1 rep PR)
225x24.75 (Just short of lockout)

Incline Bench:

135x20
225x15
275x2

Gives you an idea of the muscle endurance. Though Id trade it for more strength!

 

[crew9]

Though it's already been stated, if you're going to max out weekly you'll need to switch up the exercise every 1-3 weeks.