# Favorite Bencher?



## PillarofBalance

Some of us full power guys make fun of the bench only lifters but you gotta give it to these men...  Who is your favorite? For me its a toss up between two... Scott Mendelson and Sebastian Burns


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## PillarofBalance

Sebastian Burns wasn't benching as much as Mendy but the guys technique was just flawless... I incorporate some Metal Militia training methods like holding my benches for a 3 count at the top before racking, but I just can't get into that arch like they do... At least not yet. It is something I will be working on over the next few months though.


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## Joliver

Eric Spoto....he is ridiculous.


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## SFGiants




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## ECKSRATED

Not a fan of bench shirts at all. Don't find it impressive at all in my opinion. Spoto is a god damn horse at bench. Shit is ridiculous. I've always loved the way the rhino benched.


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## ECKSRATED

SFGiants said:


>


Like that wasn't Impressive to me at all. Yea it's a lotof weight but the shirt and the ROM is just silly to me.


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## goodfella

PillarofBalance said:


> Some of us full power guys make fun of the bench only lifters but you gotta give it to these men...  Who is your favorite? For me its a toss up between two... Scott Mendelson and Sebastian Burns



DId that ****er just bench press a Harley @ 4:06? =/


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## PillarofBalance

ECKSRATED said:


> Like that wasn't Impressive to me at all. Yea it's a lotof weight but the shirt and the ROM is just silly to me.



We aren't comparing equipped and raw guys just to be clear.  They are apples and oranges.  Its simply who you ARE impressed by on the bench.  The guy I posted at the top was the raw bench record holder as well as equipped in the 275. He held a record 715 since 2007 until Spoto recently broke it. He went after it again but tore his pec doing it the poor bastard. Would have had it too.

Spoto is a freak. Watching him manhandle 600 for reps is almost comical.


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## yeti

joliver said:


> Eric Spoto....he is ridiculous.



Hands down Spoto. The man was built to bench. 
But also Vincent Dizenzo's a good one.


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## yeti




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## PillarofBalance

yeti said:


>



Representin' RPS!!!!


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## goodfella

SFGiants said:


>



REgardless, this is one hell of a intense FUC*ING lift! 

I see being as round as him in powerlifting has it's perks... lol


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## yeti

IDK about you, but I find geared lifting intimidating as ****kkkk. 
Can you imagine holding 900lbs over your head? Something goes wrong and that bar is going to break your neck in half. 
Geared squats too... although the depth there really is getting a bit too high (JUST my humble opinion, I know I couldn't even unrack 1300lbs), even for geared.


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## ECKSRATED

PillarofBalance said:


> We aren't comparing equipped and raw guys just to be clear.  They are apples and oranges.  Its simply who you ARE impressed by on the bench.  The guy I posted at the top was the raw bench record holder as well as equipped in the 275. He held a record 715 since 2007 until Spoto recently broke it. He went after it again but tore his pec doing it the poor bastard. Would have had it too.
> 
> Spoto is a freak. Watching him manhandle 600 for reps is almost comical.



No I hear ya. Was just talking. Any of u guys PL in here? I'm new here so trying to get a sense of what people like around here.


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## PillarofBalance

ECKSRATED said:


> No I hear ya. Was just talking. Any of u guys PL in here? I'm new here so trying to get a sense of what people like around here.



Yeah there are quite a few of us... The only ones that aren't PL are simply ones I haven't converted yet. Me SAD Big Worm  SFGIants, Joliver are the ones I know best.  We have a few guys coming up in the next few months like DieYoungStrong and Steelers4Life that will be breaking their cherry at some upcoming meets.  There are more competitors I am sure. Just can't pickem all off the top of my head at the moment.


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## PillarofBalance

yeti said:


> IDK about you, but I find geared lifting intimidating as ****kkkk.
> Can you imagine holding 900lbs over your head? Something goes wrong and that bar is going to break your neck in half.
> Geared squats too... although the depth there really is getting a bit too high (JUST my humble opinion, I know I couldn't even unrack 1300lbs), even for geared.



Some feds are way worse than others like the Squat Pass Federation. Others are much more strict. Having equipment on isn't an excuse not to hit depth.

As for the shirt. I have tooled around in a single ply bench shirt that SFG hooked me up with. It was brutal. It is its own sport. The technical ability far outweighs the requirement for strength, although you need both. I swore the shirt was trying to kill me. Only 365 on it and I couldn't get it to touch. Finally did and it was like my head was gonna pop off. I turned purple!  The scariest part though is you tend to miss a lift in one of two ways. You either dump it in your lab and break your spine like Gene Rychlak Jr. did (you can see Gene in the vid of Vinnie you posted. He is the judge in the back with the blonde crazy hair and ugly mug).  Or you press up, triceps give way and it turns into a 900lb skull crusher that literally crushes your skull.


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## ECKSRATED

PillarofBalance said:


> Yeah there are quite a few of us... The only ones that aren't PL are simply ones I haven't converted yet. Me SAD Big Worm  SFGIants, Joliver are the ones I know best.  We have a few guys coming up in the next few months like DieYoungStrong and Steelers4Life that will be breaking their cherry at some upcoming meets.  There are more competitors I am sure. Just can't pickem all off the top of my head at the moment.



Awesome. That's what I like to hear. I plan on trying my first comp sometime next year after my youngest kid gets a little older. I've always been a strong bencher just gotta get my deads and squat higher cus i hurt my knee and didn' do either up until about 3 years ago after taking 6 years off from ssquats and deads.


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## PillarofBalance

ECKSRATED said:


> Awesome. That's what I like to hear. I plan on trying my first comp sometime next year after my youngest kid gets a little older. I've always been a strong bencher just gotta get my deads and squat higher cus i hurt my knee and didn' do either up until about 3 years ago after taking 6 years off from ssquats and deads.



Hit us up for questions when you get started. Post up your program if you want I'd love to see it.  If you need to seriously get after it though and wanna just get it done and over with, take a look at smolov squat program. You'll put 100lbs on your squat in a month.


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## ECKSRATED

PillarofBalance said:


> Hit us up for questions when you get started. Post up your program if you want I'd love to see it.  If you need to seriously get after it though and wanna just get it done and over with, take a look at smolov squat program. You'll put 100lbs on your squat in a month.


Thanks man appreciate it. I've always done my own lifting programs and worked well but if I do a meet I'd probably start 531 or some version of Westside. 

My bench right now is at 475 for a double
squat is at only 500ish
and deads are around 575ish. 
Like I said my bench has always been a strong point for me and that's just with a BBing type training.


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## ECKSRATED

And sorry I didn't mean to hijack this thread.


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## yeti

PillarofBalance said:


> Some feds are way worse than others like the Squat Pass Federation. Others are much more strict. Having equipment on isn't an excuse not to hit depth.
> 
> As for the shirt. I have tooled around in a single ply bench shirt that SFG hooked me up with. It was brutal. It is its own sport. The technical ability far outweighs the requirement for strength, although you need both. I swore the shirt was trying to kill me. Only 365 on it and I couldn't get it to touch. Finally did and it was like my head was gonna pop off. I turned purple!  The scariest part though is you tend to miss a lift in one of two ways. You either dump it in your lab and break your spine like Gene Rychlak Jr. did (you can see Gene in the vid of Vinnie you posted. He is the judge in the back with the blonde crazy hair and ugly mug).  Or you press up, triceps give way and it turns into a 900lb skull crusher that literally crushes your skull.



WTF dude. I heard about a guy's spleen or something rupturing because he dumped a bench into his lap. UGH.... that shit is just terrifying to hear man. (then again... it's not like raw is any safer...  ie lilly. Poor guy). 
Yeah I'd imagine you couldn't even breathe that well... I hear all the lats for benching came into play with the bench shirts, as touching and locking out are the hardest parts of geared benching. 

You know, I wish they'd change the rules of geared meets to be in power racks instead of monolifts and competition benches. There are powerracks with monolifts inside them and the safety bars would do wonders for the safety of the competitors.


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## PillarofBalance

ECKSRATED said:


> Thanks man appreciate it. I've always done my own lifting programs and worked well but if I do a meet I'd probably start 531 or some version of Westside.
> 
> My bench right now is at 475 for a double
> squat is at only 500ish
> and deads are around 575ish.
> Like I said my bench has always been a strong point for me and that's just with a BBing type training.



That's a damn good bench. Once that squat and pull come up you'll have a great total especially in your weight class. Just keep the weight below 242.



ECKSRATED said:


> And sorry I didn't mean to hijack this thread.



Meh, don't care. We aren't assholes about keeping every thread on topic. Its just a fun thread about benching... No reason to be serious. You can kinda relax around here. You'll get flamed if you're coming off like a douche but not really for anything else. We all respect each other here.


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## PillarofBalance

yeti said:


> WTF dude. I heard about a guy's spleen or something rupturing because he dumped a bench into his lap. UGH.... that shit is just terrifying to hear man. (then again... it's not like raw is any safer...  ie lilly. Poor guy).
> Yeah I'd imagine you couldn't even breathe that well... I hear all the lats for benching came into play with the bench shirts, as touching and locking out are the hardest parts of geared benching.
> 
> You know, I wish they'd change the rules of geared meets to be in power racks instead of monolifts and competition benches. There are powerracks with monolifts inside them and the safety bars would do wonders for the safety of the competitors.



You use your lats in a raw bench too.  Should be at least!

In my federation we use the spud inc straps to catch your squat. Saved me the first time I attempted 600 and missed.  A monolift adds some measure of safety as walking out a large squat is dangerous as well.  Lilly was squatting out of rack stands. That's just stupid IMO.  Competition benches now a days come with face shields built into the sides of them.  The reality though is that benching out of a rack would require so much adjusting for each lifter that a meet would take a week to get done. Big weight means risk. We minimize them the best we can. But if you are getting into PL you have to just face facts. You're going to get injured.


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## yeti

PillarofBalance said:


> You use your lats in a raw bench too.  Should be at least!
> 
> In my federation we use the spud inc straps to catch your squat. Saved me the first time I attempted 600 and missed.  A monolift adds some measure of safety as walking out a large squat is dangerous as well.  Lilly was squatting out of rack stands. That's just stupid IMO.  Competition benches now a days come with face shields built into the sides of them.  The reality though is that benching out of a rack would require so much adjusting for each lifter that a meet would take a week to get done. Big weight means risk. We minimize them the best we can. But if you are getting into PL you have to just face facts. You're going to get injured.



Yep. lats help me keep tight as hell and groove the... groove. LOL
Rack stands, IMO, should only be used for Oly stuff... honestly, with the poundages that PLers are using nowadays, it's just stupid to put up toothpicks and expect it to hold up a boulder. 
True... I never thought about that. 
At least there are spotters in a meet. 
I train alone, but once I get out of school and into med school, I'm hoping there'll be some good gyms nearby where I can team up. LOL

Random question POB, how long have you been PLing and are meets worth it?


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## SFGiants

ECKSRATED said:


> Like that wasn't Impressive to me at all. Yea it's a lotof weight but the shirt and the ROM is just silly to me.



Geared lifting is so much harder then raw and if you understood this 1st hand you would be impressed.

900lbs is 900lbs, you give it a shot!


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## Joliver

I am not going to turn this thread into Raw vs. Equipped, but I would like to say that you have to be capable of locking out whatever weight you bench.  1000lbs sounds a bit harder now, right?  

And lastly, for those of you that don't know, or haven't figured it out yet,  the force of the weight that you want to press isn't magically transferred into the ground like electricity, or into the bench.  It is sitting on the presser's body.  

Scot Mendelson says that when he's pressing 1,000, "I can feel my bones flexing." 

The first time Kennelly held a half-ton he heard a humming noise and had blurred vision. "Now my central nervous system has adapted to it. I'm used to it," he says.


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## ECKSRATED

U have something helping you press the weight. Simple as that.


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## PillarofBalance

yeti said:


> Yep. lats help me keep tight as hell and groove the... groove. LOL
> Rack stands, IMO, should only be used for Oly stuff... honestly, with the poundages that PLers are using nowadays, it's just stupid to put up toothpicks and expect it to hold up a boulder.
> True... I never thought about that.
> At least there are spotters in a meet.
> I train alone, but once I get out of school and into med school, I'm hoping there'll be some good gyms nearby where I can team up. LOL
> 
> Random question POB, how long have you been PLing and are meets worth it?



I only started training for powerlifting in Jan 2012 when a friend of mine convinced me to run a sheiko program. I was hooked. 

The meets are totally worth it. I can't tell you how many times I hear the oh I will compete when my lifts are a little better bullshit. Just fill out the form and do it. Your first meet just sets your benchmark for the rest. I don't see the point of all this work if you aren't going to compete.


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## JOMO

Nobody mentioned Kennelly???


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## Joliver

ECKSRATED said:


> U have something helping you press the weight. Simple as that.



Ok.  Thanks for clearing that up.


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## Joliver

JOMO said:


> Nobody mentioned Kennelly???



I did mention Kennelly in my prior post, but its just too soon....too soon.  He was sentenced to 3 years in prison a few months back.


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## PillarofBalance

I lost a lot of respect for Ryan when he got busted for a 3rd time... Dumbass. Ryan Kenelly = Dan Cote?


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## Big Worm

This thread irritates me.......


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## JOMO

I just watched a vid on Kennelly last night from an interview of him in prison. He looked like total caca!


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## Big Worm

JOMO said:


> I just watched a vid on Kennelly last night from an interview of him in prison. He looked like total caca!



Sounds weird but that is one of my biggest fears. Getting locked up with no pct.


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## PillarofBalance

Big Worm said:


> This thread irritates me.......



Cause nobody said big worm is my favorite bencher?


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## ECKSRATED

What's kennelly in jail for?


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## Dtownry

Big Worm said:


> Sounds weird but that is one of my biggest fears. Getting locked up with no pct.



I had that nightmare recently....
Glad to know I am not the only one.


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## Big Worm

PillarofBalance said:


> Cause nobody said big worm is my favorite bencher?



Heck no. I'm my own favorite bencher. That's all that counts. 

The shirted vs raw ignorance is what irritates me.


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## PillarofBalance

ECKSRATED said:


> What's kennelly in jail for?



Importing raw jewce. Third offense.


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## Joliver

Jay Fry....181.


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## Joliver

Jay Fry at IPA Iron House.  Shitty video, but a 181lb guy handling 750lbs makes this page all day.


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## ECKSRATED

Big Worm said:


> Heck no. I'm my own favorite bencher. That's all that counts.
> 
> 0The shirted vs raw ignorance is what irritates me.



I take it your talking about what I said. I don't understand why people get so offended by someone else not agreeing with everything they think is "right or wrong"

when u put a shirt on to bench it allows us to bench more right? Meaning it's easier in a sense. Yea I get it, it's still a lot of weight but u are wearing a mechanism that helps u push more weight. It's just like using the sling shot or using reverse bands on a squat. 

These dudes are strong for sure but I just never saw the point in benching with a shirt? I'm being serious can one of u guys who do it give me a reason why? And why u don't just lift raw?


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## SFGiants




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## Iron1

ECKSRATED said:


> These dudes are strong for sure but I just never saw the point in benching with a shirt?



Then post your favorite non-shirted bencher.....
This thread isn't about equipped vs "raw" however you choose to define it, it's about your favorite human fork-lifts.
Heck, you don't even have to justify WHY you like a certain bencher, it's just personal preference.

Nobody has to convince anyone else that their method of doing things is correct.
It's all about what people like to do.


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## ECKSRATED

Iron1 said:


> Then post your favorite non-shirted bencher.....
> This thread isn't about equipped vs "raw" however you choose to define it, it's about your favorite human fork-lifts.
> Heck, you don't even have to justify WHY you like a certain bencher, it's just personal preference.
> 
> Nobody has to convince anyone else that their method of doing things is correct.
> It's all about what people like to do.



I know just don't know why people go so upset about stuff like that.


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## jennerrator

POB...........................just sayin


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## Iron1

ECKSRATED said:


> I know just don't know why people go so upset about stuff like that.



People are opinionated.


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## AlphaD

My two cents here.  All these you guys posted are impressive to me.  The thing I like about this board is the difference of styles everyone comes here with.  I have been lifting for over 20 years now.  And have never even seen a hint of the PL'er lifestyle until here. It is quite amazing to hear your comments, suggestion and critiques (POB, SFG, Big worm, and ect...) you all give, and the glimpse of that world that I have gotten to get familiar with.  Big MF'ers!


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## yeti

joliver said:


> Jay Fry....181.



He's 181lbs? benching 700? Ho.Ly.Sheeeeeeeeet.


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## PillarofBalance

ECKSRATED said:


> I take it your talking about what I said. I don't understand why people get so offended by someone else not agreeing with everything they think is "right or wrong"
> 
> when u put a shirt on to bench it allows us to bench more right? Meaning it's easier in a sense. Yea I get it, it's still a lot of weight but u are wearing a mechanism that helps u push more weight. It's just like using the sling shot or using reverse bands on a squat.
> 
> These dudes are strong for sure but I just never saw the point in benching with a shirt? I'm being serious can one of u guys who do it give me a reason why? And why u don't just lift raw?



You can't understand until you put a shirt on. Best I can explain is that raw and equipped are two different sports altogether.  Can you lift more? Not always. Say you have a 400Lb bench raw. Then I put you in a shirt. For starters you wouldn't even put it on right. And you probably would not even come close to benching 400 until you learn how to bench in a shirt. They simply are not the same thing. In my opinion it is harder in a shirt. Way more technical and much more dangerous. 

As for why people get upset... a few reasons. For starters it gets really ****ing old listening to someone who has never done it say "it's easier." If it was easier every captain upper body would be benching in one every week.  It's like saying dbol makes it easier. It doesnt. It still requires training.

Equipment isn't for everyone. That is obvious. But you don't hear equipped guys complaining about raw lifters do you?


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## Seeker

Jenner said:


> POB...........................just sayin



This is a thread about BENCHING, not SEXTING!  Read the thread title again.


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## yeti

I can't believe we forgot about Jeremy Hoornstra (no idea how to pronounce that last name. Ho-ornstra? Hoo-rnstra? horn-stra?)


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## Big Worm

PillarofBalance said:


> You can't understand until you put a shirt on. Best I can explain is that raw and equipped are two different sports altogether.  Can you lift more? Not always. Say you have a 400Lb bench raw. Then I put you in a shirt. For starters you wouldn't even put it on right. And you probably would not even come close to benching 400 until you learn how to bench in a shirt. They simply are not the same thing. In my opinion it is harder in a shirt. Way more technical and much more dangerous.
> 
> As for why people get upset... a few reasons. For starters it gets really ****ing old listening to someone who has never done it say "it's easier." If it was easier every captain upper body would be benching in one every week.  It's like saying dbol makes it easier. It doesnt. It still requires training.
> 
> Equipment isn't for everyone. That is obvious. But you don't hear equipped guys complaining about raw lifters do you?



Thank you. Saves me from having to be an ass hole.


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## ECKSRATED

PillarofBalance said:


> You can't understand until you put a shirt on. Best I can explain is that raw and equipped are two different sports altogether.  Can you lift more? Not always. Say you have a 400Lb bench raw. Then I put you in a shirt. For starters you wouldn't even put it on right. And you probably would not even come close to benching 400 until you learn how to bench in a shirt. They simply are not the same thing. In my opinion it is harder in a shirt. Way more technical and much more dangerous.
> 
> As for why people get upset... a few reasons. For starters it gets really ****ing old listening to someone who has never done it say "it's easier." If it was easier every captain upper body would be benching in one every week.  It's like saying dbol makes it easier. It doesnt. It still requires training.
> 
> Equipment isn't for everyone. That is obvious. But you don't hear equipped guys complaining about raw lifters do you?


Fair enough. So u choose geared lifting over raw because it's harder? Or have u done raw in the past and decided to change it up. I'm seriously curious as to how u guys train and shit. Do you guys even know your max raws on bench or do u not train raw at all? I'd like to know what your raw numbers are compared to geared. Any videos of you guys on here competing?


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## PillarofBalance

ECKSRATED said:


> Fair enough. So u choose geared lifting over raw because it's harder? Or have u done raw in the past and decided to change it up. I'm seriously curious as to how u guys train and shit. Do you guys even know your max raws on bench or do u not train raw at all? I'd like to know what your raw numbers are compared to geared. Any videos of you guys on here competing?



I compete raw... I'm no gear whore lol

I have vids yeah but I prefer to keep anonymous. I blew out my adductor at my last meet but I was super confident in my 3rd attempts which would have been a 640 squat 400 bench and a 630 to 650 dead depending on how much gas I had in the tank.

I have played around training in single ply. I will eventually wind up competing in multi ply for the sake of doing it.

We train using similar methods which is we tend to work our percentages. Your "max" can be several different numbers. In Westside you max is the max on the day you train. Maybe you didn't sleep or eat well that day. So use a scale of ten. If it feels like an 8 when you lift it that's an 80%. If you barely grind it out that is a max effort. Max effort can also be for a double or triple or max reps. There are many different training methods so it's tough to say.

I have my own program where I run 3 week waves at 60 to 80% and never exceed 85% for triples. A one rep max is only done on a platform. A few guys here are using my program. DYS, steelers4life and grizzldsealpoacher. Another at a different board I staff as well as my two training partners and myself.


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## ECKSRATED

Nice pillar. Yea I'm very familiar with the training programs for strength just never actually followed one myself. I've been focusing on strength as of late but no program. Been doing my own thing andseems to be working .


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## ECKSRATED

Actually been thinking about using the cube cus a few buddies of mine have been loving it. What u guys think of it?


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## yeti

PillarofBalance said:


> I have my own program where I run 3 week waves at 60 to 80% and never exceed 85% for triples. A one rep max is only done on a platform. A few guys here are using my program. DYS, steelers4life and grizzldsealpoacher. Another at a different board I staff as well as my two training partners and myself.



Hey POB, do you mind starting a thread with your style of training, or is this more of a paid service/client thing? Just curious. I love learning about all the different training styles for both PL and BB.


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## SFGiants

yeti said:


> Hey POB, do you mind starting a thread with your style of training, or is this more of a paid service/client thing? Just curious. I love learning about all the different training styles for both PL and BB.



Going to cost you a lot of Pop-Tarts!


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## PillarofBalance

ECKSRATED said:


> Nice pillar. Yea I'm very familiar with the training programs for strength just never actually followed one myself. I've been focusing on strength as of late but no program. Been doing my own thing andseems to be working .





ECKSRATED said:


> Actually been thinking about using the cube cus a few buddies of mine have been loving it. What u guys think of it?



Everyone including Lilly will tell you don't get hung up on a program. Its hard work that will get you to your goals. I haven't used Cube, but one thing I have noticed was a high injury rate. That's a completely unscientific observation on my part so take it with a grain of salt.  There are two distinct highly effective methods to training.  Block programs and wave programs.  I happen to like both. I started out with a block program (Sheiko) and I like to see guys that want to get started in PL start with a block program. Its a sink or swim kind of situation. Make it thru a month of Sheiko and you are forged in the fire.  An example of a wave program would be a Westside Template.


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## PillarofBalance

yeti said:


> Hey POB, do you mind starting a thread with your style of training, or is this more of a paid service/client thing? Just curious. I love learning about all the different training styles for both PL and BB.



I have given a brief overview of it in a few threads.  Its a 3 day per week program where on each day you lift a different percentage of the 3 event lifts followed by accessory work. 



SFGiants said:


> Going to cost you a lot of Pop-Tarts!



you're god damn right! Peanut butter poptarts bitch!


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## yeti

SFGiants said:


> Going to cost you a lot of Pop-Tarts!






Can we get a pop-tarts fund for POB started? LOLL


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## PillarofBalance

PillarofBalance said:


> I have given a brief overview of it in a few threads.  Its a 3 day per week program where on each day you lift a different percentage of the 3 event lifts followed by accessory work.
> 
> 
> 
> you're god damn right! Peanut butter poptarts bitch!



I would add one major point just so we are clear. I am not Elite.  Guys like worm and joliver would embarrass me on the platform. I'm just kinda dorky and think critically about my training and slowly developed something that worked FOR ME. 

 But I could probably take SFG in a raw meet


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## PillarofBalance

yeti said:


> View attachment 813
> 
> 
> Can we get a pop-tarts fund for POB started? LOLL



Holy hell where did you find that!!! Yeti you're new here but I gotta say I love you!


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## yeti

PillarofBalance said:


> Holy hell where did you find that!!! Yeti you're new here but I gotta say I love you!



LOL I made it

http://memegenerator.net/Ermahgerd


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## heavydeads83

PillarofBalance said:


> Yeah there are quite a few of us... The only ones that aren't PL are simply ones I haven't converted yet. Me SAD Big Worm  SFGIants, Joliver and HEAVYDEADS are the ones I know best.  We have a few guys coming up in the next few months like DieYoungStrong and Steelers4Life that will be breaking their cherry at some upcoming meets.  There are more competitors I am sure. Just can't pickem all off the top of my head at the moment.



thanks ass wipe lol


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## PillarofBalance

heavydeads83 said:


> thanks ass wipe lol



Look again


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## Tren4Life

PillarofBalance said:


> Look again



Your pretty slick.


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## heavydeads83

PillarofBalance said:


> Look again



that's more like it bud


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## heavydeads83

Truthfully i'm just a beer eating,  pizza drinking,  cross fitter that likes to hit PR reps with 135 on bench,  squat, and pull lol.


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## jennerrator

Seeker said:


> This is a thread about BENCHING, not SEXTING!  Read the thread title again.



lol, I have never text him, only PM


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## SFGiants

PillarofBalance said:


> I would add one major point just so we are clear. I am not Elite.  Guys like worm and joliver would embarrass me on the platform. I'm just kinda dorky and think critically about my training and slowly developed something that worked FOR ME.
> 
> But I could probably take SFG in a raw meet



Yeah I'm piss weak these days with about 6 months down time last year and dealing with this damn injury but I must say you have come a long way in a short period of time.

What is great about Powerlifting is the stronger guys like Worm and Jolliver do the opposite of embarrassing the lifters like myself that have not been at is as long and have a much weaker base they will embrace you and teach you they will go out of their way to help make you stronger. Just don't be that super lean dude talking fat boy shit you do that and your not going to be making friends lol.

I don't truly know where my squat and bench numbers are but since bench has been the worst to deal with it must be low and my pull is about 550 right now I think. It's the squat and bench I had to really watch myself with these past 2 years.

With that said I have decided to focus on training for a meet (date unknown) even if I just pull, I have to play around with the bench more to see about full power.

I will say this, I got real depressed watching my squat and deadlift drop 100lb each but I have worked my pull back some now it's time to do so with the squat. Thank God for muscle memory!


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## ECKSRATED

SF what kind of injury u been dealing with??


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## SFGiants

ECKSRATED said:


> SF what kind of injury u been dealing with??



Shredded left rotor, bicep tendon completely torn off the shoulder and Bicep/Pec minor tear off the chest.


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## ECKSRATED

Cot damn. How'd u do that?


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## SFGiants

ECKSRATED said:


> Cot damn. How'd u do that?



When I was a teen I got thrown to the ground by a man in his 26 and landed wrong then Powerlifting help tear it more lol, most damage was done as a teen never being fixed and forgotten about.


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## PillarofBalance

pretty sure admin would fire me if I didn't post this one... Bill Crawford


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## ECKSRATED

Jesus that sucks man. What do the docs say? Any surgeries? ?


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## PillarofBalance

Gene Rychlak Jr with 1010lbs...


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## RJ

definitely Doug Young for me. True 70s bencher/powerlifter. mlp

Guy was built like a tank. And worked the railyard or some shit like that.


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## ECKSRATED

Damn rj look at the chest lettuce. Ted would be proud.


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## widehips71

joliver said:


> Jay Fry....181.



So this is the level of competition I get to face in May??  Well I'm only about 500 pounds away...awesome


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## Joliver

widehips71 said:


> So this is the level of competition I get to face in May??  Well I'm only about 500 pounds away...awesome



HA HA HA!  Lets see if I can't dig up a cliché to make you feel better.....Oh got it:  You are only competing with yourself.  

Jay Fry is bad ass.


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## Pinkbear

Ecksrated 
Straight beast


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## theBIGFISH

For me , it has to be Ed Coan.
 585 bench at 220 bw raw.
 I had the pleasure of working out with him many years ago with a gold medalist powerlifter that trained me back in the 80's


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## McDuffy

Ecks is my favorite bencher, i'm his biggest groupy


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## mugzy

Glen Chabot had brutally unique raw bench power with a close grip and his elbows out.


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## BrotherIron

If we're talking bench then you can't have the conversation without mentioning.... Bill Kazmaier.  He was a helluva PLer even though so many only think SM when they hear his name.


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## Jin

BrotherIron said:


> If we're talking bench then you can't have the conversation without mentioning.... Bill Kazmaier.  He was a helluva PLer even though so many only think SM when they hear his name.



Smith Machine?


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## BrotherIron

Jin said:


> Smith Machine?



StrongMan.  He won WSM 3x and would have won more.


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## Sicwun88

Ted arcidi,back in the day,
When we were kids he was a big inspiration,the weight he was pushing then was unheard of!


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## BrotherIron

Anthony Clark was unconventional in his benching but you gotta give him credit for putting up big numbers with a reverse grip bench.


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## tinymk

The old school lifters are awesome but the ones I get something out of watching are more from the now.  2 personal friends of mine are Carlos Rojas 600+ raw at 45 and Jared Burton 550 raw at 46. This are guys I have watched, talked to and trained with.  Both world class badass old men.


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## THEGREATMALENKO

James Henderson. I believe the first raw 700 bench. He was 6'4" and close to 4 bills. Also Big Jim  Williams. 675 back in the 60's and 70's.


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## John Ziegler




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## Rot-Iron66

Sicwun88 said:


> Ted arcidi,back in the day,
> When we were kids he was a big inspiration,the weight he was pushing then was unheard of!



Ill go w/ Ted as well.. I know, Im partial since we're good friends for 25+ years, but he was a pioneer, for sure...


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## John Ziegler

John Ziegler said:


>



Imagine getting ko by a man with a 600 pound benchpress


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## Koolio

Dave Waterman...rip...


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## Sickman

Julius Maddox is a freaking tank


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## BrotherIron

Don't forget Jeremy Hoornstra.  Best 242'er bencher of all time imho.


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## PZT

Always loved that Road to Arnold video Ryan Kennelly had


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## Trendkill

PZT said:


> Always loved that Road to Arnold video Ryan Kennelly had


Kennelly and Halbert are my two favs all time.

Not sure how this thread got brought back to life but I like it.


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## Yano

Nothing beats Ted Arcidi's victory lap


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