I’ll give this post a more interesting start than the last one: IT’S TIME TO TALK ABOUT MAXING OUT YOUR BENCH PRESS!!!!!!!

There, did that get your attention?

Just like my other post I’m starting with the disclaimer that I’m not a competitive powerlifter, I have competed in strongman, and I lift raw. I MAY do a powerlifting competition in the future, but it won’t be in the next few months.

Now, on to the actual program. Lets start by looking at an example day I put together. You’ll noticed that below is obviously structured a lot like my lower body day:

As all of these days do, it begins with a max effort movement. Again, have fun with this but don’t turn it into a meme level lift. Bands, chains, different bars and even different angles (flat, incline, overhead) can all be on the table for this. The good news is, you don’t need all of these implements to have a max effort rotation. If you have a bar, rack and 3 position adjustable bench you can just cycle the positions on the bench and grips on the bar (close, regular, wide) to give yourself a 9 exercise rotation. Add in variables like feet up and long pauses and you can have half a year worth of ME exercises before you even get into bands and chains. If you’re a raw lifter, you’re probably better off with straight weight anyhow.

Just like with the ME Lower day, after I hit my top single I do back off sets. I write in 9 week cycles, weeks 1-3 I subtract 25% of bar weight, 4-6 20% and 7-9 15%. This provides me with a pseudo “block” structure within a conjugate program, so in essence I have periodization. If you’re a more advanced lifter and know your body better, I’d invite you to adjust these blocks to what works best for you. Some respond better to higher volume, some higher weight etc… Don’t hesitate to tailor this to your needs.

The volume on the back off work is the same as the ME Lower day. I do an AMRAP on my first back off set, double the reps I got and then hit that total over the next 3 sets.

Example would look like this: Max Effort Bench, Feet Up Close Grip work to top single at 300lbs. Take 25% off the bar and you’re now at 225lbs. Do an AMRAP, lets say you get 10. You would then have to total 20 reps in the next 3 sets, do this any way you want. My suggestion in this situation would be 7, 7, 6. Move on to assistance.

As I had written in the visual, your assistance exercise should be something that resembles a bench or OHP. Dumbbells are a great option here, as are strongman implements if you’re using this for strongman. Its also notable, I’d use variations in which you’re not as strong as a your standard bench press or overhead press. Something like a 3 board press would be a better ME exercise than assistance. If you’re looking to improve lockout, close grip inclines would be a better option. The reason being is you’re looking to mix priming your central nervous system with building your weak muscle groups during assistance work. Longer motions tend to move less weight, but also tend to build more muscle.

For rep scheme I use the do an AMRAP then multiply set up you’ll see a lot in my programming. I would target weights that you’ll get 6-10 reps with on your AMRAP, starting with the 10 rep target and increasing every week for 3 weeks. In an optimal world you’d get 10 reps week 1, 8 week 2 and 6 week 3 before moving on to a new exercise. After the AMRAP, triple the number or reps you hit and target hitting that number in 4 sets.

Example: Incline Close Grip 185lbs. AMRAP set got 9 reps. Multiply by 3 and you have 27 more reps to go. I’d suggest 7, 7, 7, 6.

On to accessories, as usual, these are rather boring. 5 sets of each targeting the 8-12 rep range and usually single joint exercises only. I like to do a back exercise and triceps exercise on every upper body day within my programming. While I write these as simply 5×12, this is another area you can customize to what works best for you. If you respond better to deep into failure training, you can do these “DoggCrapp” style, i.e. take the first set to failure, take a series of 5 or so good breaths (15-20 seconds rest) grab the weight, go to failure again, then repeat one more time.

An example of that would look like this: Tricep Extensions with 75lbs, get 12, take your breaths, get 6, take your breaths, get 3. While you may look at this and say “you’re doing way less volume than you did in the other exercises” I’d remind you you’re getting a lot of reps in that close to failure range which stimulates growth. I don’t do this on compound exercises because there’s high oxidative demands that can make it less impactful. I find it works better on single joint exercises.

I finish with a burn out, I try and rotate this as well. To do this I pick something that targets a weak points, give myself a 100 rep target and do it in as few sets as possible. For upper body my rule of thumb is if it takes more than 5 sets its too heavy, if it takes 3 or less its too light. Banded tricep extensions, weighted push ups, dips, bradford presses and even pull ups are a good option here. Again, have fun with it and view it as a challenge.

That’s an example of my ME Upper day, the next post will be a DE Lower!