# Be a 400lb bencher in 6 months



## Joliver (Aug 22, 2016)

I don't really post interesting shit anymore--not that this will be intereting. I spend most of my time in Internet wars.  But I thought it would be worth a mention as to how I built a 400lb bencher in 6 months--at a commercial gym--with no specialty equipment.

Now, my project was a 340-360lb bencher to start with, but he was inconsistent as hell. He got pasted on the bench with 325 when I ask him to max the first time. He reset and 15 minutes later ground out 340. I ask him to rep out 315 two minutes afterwards, and he got 1. To make everything more convoluted, he had a video from the week prior benching 360--so I knew he had at least that much absolute strength.

Now I am not a coach, but I can see what is wrong with most lifters.  

Here is what is wrong with this guy:

Shit technique. He was inconsistent. Getting stapled with 90% is bad news. You should, with few exceptions, be able to demonstrate a training max effort almost on demand.

Piss poor neural recruitment. Everything was a slow grinder. His second rep was always faster.

No GPP. He could sling 15 reps of 275 and wait 3 minutes and do 6 reps. In a fight, this guy could throw one punch and then be panting through a rape whistle.

His musculature was pathetic.

His biggest failure: he was lying to himself with slingshots, and bouncing the bar--all to cover his inability to move the bar off of his chest.  

He was a train wreck of every training cliche ever.

*The Fix*

First, I taught him how to bench.  If you don't know how to bench, there  are plenty of people here that do, and they can help you.  I am too busy fighting.

I am not going to go into the programming a great deal.  Basically, I made him do PHUL.  It is a power and hypertrophy day for both upper and lower.  Programming has been beaten to death on this site.  Yet somehow, few people do it.  For that reason, I am only going to include the special techniques that stood out to me to be effective for this lad, simply because it is fresh. If you don't do Westside, Cube, 531, Reactive, Texas, or something...you need to pick something and dance.

He needed a new focus on hypertrophy.  Bigger muscles move more weight.  So after I figured he needed to do that, I had an idea of how I could fix his man-boobs and lack of bench endurance at the same time: verkhoshansky extended sets (VES).  It is almost like lactic acid training and it can be terrible.  Take 85% and do 15 reps.  Stop when you have to...no more than 30 seconds when you do.  It's basically cluster training.

1 VES would look like: 1 (set) x 5,3,2,2,1,1,1 (reps). 

On power days, I also included cluster training every few weeks. Something like two clusters of 5 total reps (as singles) at 90%+ with 30 seconds rest. You all know I love singles.  Triples possibly can make you as strong as singles, but they can never make you proficient at doing a single.  If you are the guy who has a faster second rep than your first, there is no excuse for you not to be practicing singles. 

As a side note to some people that fear singles, cluster singles are safer because it isn't a true max. 

This man also had no reliable strength.  So a steady diet of pause pressing was in order.  He never did a touch and go on a power day in 6 months.  I lowered his volume to accommodate for the increased intensity.  He varied the pause times 1-4 seconds.  I cannot overstate how important it is to be honest with yourself and pause, or at least competition press during training.

Overreach weeks were every 2 months.  Overreach is basically 1.5-2x volume of a regular week.  This one was kind of iffy. This guy had never had any meaningful volume in his life, so doubling it for a week every 8 weeks wasn't something that I planned, but it was something that he adapted to successfully. 

For all the things that this guy did wrong, he did two things right: Didn't miss training days and listened to instructions.  

Will this solution work for everyone?  Doubt it.  He had a very specific set of failures that we focused on fixing.  But I thought you guys and gals might like to know anyway.

In summary:

Learn to bench
Upper/lower
Volume for hypertrophy
Training intensely above 90%--don't be a bitch.
Training honest 
Consistency


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## Beedeezy (Aug 22, 2016)

Cornelius Bigsby Coanbread J. Oliver said:


> I don't really post interesting shit anymore--not that this will be intereting. I spend most of my time in Internet wars.  But I thought it would be worth a mention as to how I built a 400lb bencher in 6 months--at a commercial gym--with no specialty equipment.




I enjoyed reading this.
Now make sure to eat and rest your hands, plenty of people on the internet for you to fight with. Hate to think you might have gotten fatigued writing this up.


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## SuperBane (Aug 22, 2016)

Can one add in VES after normal training per that day?

I follow the cube %'s and rotation but I do hypertrophy work following for that body part also added a shoulder day instead of the "bodybuilder day" 

Or am I going to end up doing something to the equivalent of "over training"


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## snake (Aug 22, 2016)

Nice read Jol. That's a big jump of 40 lbs in 6 months. It's not like he was at 200 and you got him to 240.


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## Milo (Aug 22, 2016)

Interesting read Jol.


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## MrRippedZilla (Aug 22, 2016)

I like interesting Jol


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## stonetag (Aug 22, 2016)

When someone asks you " how much ya bench bro?", I don't care who you are makes you feel like a stallion to tell them "oh like 400!"....good read jol.


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## stonetag (Aug 22, 2016)

Screw you Eks!!!


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## Milo (Aug 22, 2016)

stonetag said:


> When someone asks you " how much ya bench bro?", I don't care who you are makes you feel like a stallion to tell them "oh like 400!"....good read jol.


You could say 600 and there's always some dumb **** that's gonna say "oh my brother benches 700". I ****ing hate people.


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## Joliver (Aug 22, 2016)

SuperBane said:


> Can one add in VES after normal training per that day?
> 
> I follow the cube %'s and rotation but I do hypertrophy work following for that body part also added a shoulder day instead of the "bodybuilder day"
> 
> Or am I going to end up doing something to the equivalent of "over training"



Yes you can add VES!!!!! In fact, I'm inclined to say VES is hypertrophic in nature. It gets a strength nod from me because of the 85% the lifter is working with during the set.

Some guys use reactive training's TRAC computer, but I follow Prilepin, on aggregate. The purpose of VES in addition to what you currently do is for overreach. Replacing something with this technique can easily fit within the cube's volume parameters. You can use it both ways.


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## PillarofBalance (Aug 22, 2016)

Awesome write up jol and great work with this guy.


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## Joliver (Aug 22, 2016)

MrRippedZilla said:


> I like interesting Jol



He just said I was interesting! GET HIM!!!!


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## DocDePanda187123 (Aug 22, 2016)

I'm not sure if I like Professor Jol or Internet fighter Jol more....


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## Joliver (Aug 22, 2016)

PillarofBalance said:


> Awesome write up jol and great work with this guy.



Thanks buddy! 

You and I both know the difference it makes to have a coach. Powerlifting with no coaching is like dieting with no scale. Educated, experienced, objectivity changes everything.

That said...he is yours next time. I can't take this shit no more.


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## ECKSRATED (Aug 22, 2016)

You're so sexy jol. We all know you're really not a fighter, but a lover. Well I know that at least. You have some of the best pillow talk ever. 

But seriously good work. Its amazing what some simple cues and adjustments can do to the big three. Especially for an already strong guy who's been lifting wrong for a while.


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## Joliver (Aug 22, 2016)

ECKSRATED said:


> You're so sexy jol. We all know you're really not a fighter, but a lover. Well I know that at least. You have some of the best pillow talk ever.
> 
> But seriously good work. Its amazing what some simple cues and adjustments can do to the big three. Especially for an already strong guy who's been lifting wrong for a while.



Absolutely. Everyone has seen the guy that benches 135xwarmup, 225,275,315, fail. He's big, and stronger than most, but down deep, he's frustrated with a see-saw bench. So his shit tactics and pride become self-fulfilling. People will tick off YEARS moving the same weights. 

Sure this guy had to knock some weight off and get choked out with weights he "used to play with like a toy." But he damn sure looked like Wile E. Coyote with a handful of roadrunner feathers when he moved "4 plates"--legitimately.

Thanks for the post. Always nice to have the Bench King in here.....GET HIM!!!!


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## ECKSRATED (Aug 22, 2016)

That's the thing I see the most and it frustrates me. Its guys who walk into the gym and will throw 225 on the bar immediately and bang out two reps and then almost kill themselves with a third. Then drop down to 185 do a set to failure and that's it for flat bench. Like seriously? Most of u guys know what I bench and it takes me almost an hour to stretch warm up and work up to around 90 percent of my 1rm. 

Sure maybe they don't care about strength as much as I do but god damn at least worry about not getting hurt and maybe warm up a little. Lol


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## ECKSRATED (Aug 23, 2016)

I've never heard of those ves sets. I really like the idea behind them. Hmmmm


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## ToolSteel (Aug 23, 2016)

I'm pretty sure this story was about ecks and his first day ever benching.


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## Joliver (Aug 23, 2016)

ToolSteel said:


> I'm pretty sure this story was about ecks and his first day ever benching.



Back off man....everybody remembers how tough it is to start middle school.


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## Milo (Aug 23, 2016)

Cornelius Bigsby Coanbread J. Oliver said:


> Back off man....everybody remembers how tough it is to start middle school.




Let's kick his ass boys!!!


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## Joliver (Aug 23, 2016)

Milo said:


> Let's kick his ass boys!!!



Yeah!!! Let's kick his ass!!!! Get him!!!!


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## DieYoungStrong (Aug 23, 2016)

Nice write up Jol. The eHelp you've given me over the years here has been priceless.


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## Joliver (Aug 23, 2016)

DieYoungStrong said:


> Nice write up Jol. The eHelp you've given me over the years here has been priceless.



Thanks buddy! eHelp is what i do! Or, all I do....well that and fight.


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## ECKSRATED (Aug 23, 2016)

U guys are always ganging up on me. Geez


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## ToolSteel (Aug 23, 2016)

ECKSRATED said:


> U guys are always ganging up on me. Geez


Oh yeah. Saying you benched 360 your first try is such a downer


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