Power Series: Heavy Bench Progression

Now, you have seen the previous articles on all three major lifts and have grown to some understanding of progressing your dead lift and how basic strength works. I want to dive in the bench press today and go further in helping you understand what it takes to bench heavier while staying functional and injury free.

Side note: As discussed in previous articles, you have no doubt seen the emphasis we place are bar speed while performing your main movements. Most likely you have never trained this way so it is of utmost importance that you take the time to do the "maintenance work". What I mean by this is your stretching, form rolling, and myofascial release. Incorporating this into your program is just as important as all the weight and reps you do during your workout!

Back to the bench press. It is important to train with great technique before bumping up the weight. If your technique is not spot on, it will be in your best interest to work on it with light, explosive sets before adding weight. This will save you from much pain in the future if you take care of it now before developing and keeping bad habits and neurological pathways.

Letsget into the strength progression, piggy backing off of your last pressing workout.

WARM UP:

Dynamic Stretch
Shoulder and elbow mobility
Foam Roll

Speed/Explosive Work:

Barbell Flat Bench Press
1. Pick a weight that you can "explode" while pressing
  1. Generally in the 50-70% of your max range
2. Speed presses should be performed under control
  1. Move the bar quickly down to the bottom of the movement
  2. Pause for 1 second, then press as quickly as possible
    1. This reduces the chances of the bar just bouncing out of the hole
3. Perform 5 sets of (3) Speed Reps - 15 Total Reps

Heavy Sets:

Barbell Flat Bench Press
1. Work your way up to 90% of your 1 Rep max
  1. Recommend hitting every 10% on your way workings up
    1. IE: 70%, 80%, then 90%
2. Once you reach 90% the working sets begin
3. Perform 5 Sets of (1) Rep - 5 Total Reps
  1. Keep excellent technique and perform just like your speed presses with the pause.
Barbell Flat Bench Press
1. Drop down to 80-85%
2. Perform 6 sets of (2) Reps - 12 Total Reps

Volume/Accessory Work:

Barbell Incline Bench Press
1. Work your way up to a weight that challenges you to accomplish no more than 5-6 reps
2. This will be your working weight for the next sets.
  1. Do not tire yourself by doing to many sets leading up
  2. Do at most 2 prior sets until you reach your working weight
3. Perform 5 sets of (5) Reps - 25 Total Reps
Body Weight Dips
1. 4 Sets of as many reps as possible
Barbell or Easy Bar Skull Crush
1. 4 Sets (10/12) reps

Plyo/Power Burnout:

Body Weight Clapping Push Up (or Pushup Jacks) + Wall Ball Explosive Press
1. *Note: Wall Ball Press*
  1. Grab a rubber medicine ball with weight anywhere from 4lbs to 18lbs
  2. Stand 3-6 feet from a wall while holding the medicine ball at chest level
  3. Press the ball from your chest (like a bench press) explosively at the wall no higher than eye level
  4. As soon as the ball bounces back, catch it in your beginning position and fire it back at the wall
  5. THE GOAL IS TO GET AS MANY REPS IN AS FAST AS POSSIBLE
2. Perform 4 Rounds of 40 Seconds on and 20 seconds rest in between exercises
  1. (40 second Clapping push up, 20 sec rest, 40 sec Wall Ball, 20 sec rest) x4

Power Series Notes

This is the second part to your heavy bench that we went over in "Power Series: Developing a Strong Bench Press"
- Look for "Program Progression" on 7/14 to better understand how to continue these workouts while making gains for the next 12-14 weeks.
There will be an article for each major movement in this series.
- Pulling Progression, Pressing Progression, Squat Progression, and two articles on Program Progression

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