[CJPopovich]

Originally Posted by Hard Knox

Good info, I'll have to check this book out. Does it have good illustrations?

Decent on the illustrations but a little light on them. It's written well enough that once you go try them you'll figure it out.

[Hard Knox]

[quote=jcp2;1382658]I hung around 400 for years as i was lifting in a shirt that time. I started to lift for my raw for a few months and put about 20 or 30 lbs on it with a comp pause. I can tell you westside did not work at all. the best thing i did for it was a program i got from a Canadian national thrower. it was basically you start low and do 8 singles that either have to stay at the same weight or increase so my first workout was this 345, 345, 345, 345, 350, 350, 350, 350. Then next week you have to start where you left off, so it was 350. After your 8 singles you do 5x5 at 80% of your last rep. I did these touch and go and the singles paused. I am 6'3 with long arms. My problem is i keep tweaking my pec at the bottom. I was lifting flat footed, but am going back to arching with tucked feet to see if i can take some strain of my pec.


I did that workout for 8 weeks or so and it worked well, i think my last workout i hit 8 singles at 385, 390, 390, 395, 395, 400, 405, 410 and they were all pretty good. thery were all paused.


Well, today was my third day on this routine and I hit 335, 335, 335, 335, 340, 340, 340, 340, then 5x5 with 270, so I would say it's working so far, just bumped to 30mgs of Havoc three days ago so that makes a total of 10 days I've been on (first week was @ 20mgs). I plan on bumping at least 5lbs a week if not 10. I'll keep you guys posted.

[Hard Knox]

Originally Posted by jcp2

I hung around 400 for years as i was lifting in a shirt that time. I started to lift for my raw for a few months and put about 20 or 30 lbs on it with a comp pause. I can tell you westside did not work at all. the best thing i did for it was a program i got from a Canadian national thrower. it was basically you start low and do 8 singles that either have to stay at the same weight or increase so my first workout was this 345, 345, 345, 345, 350, 350, 350, 350. Then next week you have to start where you left off, so it was 350. After your 8 singles you do 5x5 at 80% of your last rep. I did these touch and go and the singles paused. I am 6'3 with long arms. My problem is i keep tweaking my pec at the bottom. I was lifting flat footed, but am going back to arching with tucked feet to see if i can take some strain of my pec.

I did that workout for 8 weeks or so and it worked well, i think my last workout i hit 8 singles at 385, 390, 390, 395, 395, 400, 405, 410 and they were all pretty good. thery were all paused.


Accessory work that always helped was pin presses of a few inches off my chest bottom up for sets of 5-8.

Same as above with correct Quote, not quite sure what happened but here it is. Well, today was my third day on this routine and I hit 335, 335, 335, 335, 340, 340, 340, 340, then 5x5 with 270, so I would say it's working so far, just bumped to 30mgs of Havoc three days ago so that makes a total of 10 days I've been on (first week was @ 20mgs). I plan on bumping at least 5lbs a week if not 10. I'll keep you guys posted.

[Hard Knox]

Well yesterdays workout went great! 340, 340, 340, 340, 345, 345, 345, 345 then 4x5 with 280 and they were going up so easy that I had to add weight so I bumped to 295 for the last set of five and they were all smooth and steady. Movin' on up!!

[bigpapa]

thats great man. just be careful and take care of yourself. im 21 and had a max bench of 430...and then i tore my labrum and did some structural damage while benching. just take care of yourself.

[Genetic79]

Over benching is one of the most destructive things you can do to your shoulders. have you thought about moving to incline for a while?

[bigpapa]

Originally Posted by Genetic79

Over benching is one of the most destructive things you can do to your shoulders. have you thought about moving to incline for a while?

yeah i usually do inclines anyways during my chest workout. i tried going with dumbbells for a while but still had pain with both. i recently got checked out and am scheduled for surgery august 20th...and then no more weights until after New Years.

[Hard Knox]

Originally Posted by bigpapa

thats great man. just be careful and take care of yourself. im 21 and had a max bench of 430...and then i tore my labrum and did some structural damage while benching. just take care of yourself.

Thanks man, I'm definitely concentrating on proper form. I noticed some joint pain in my left shoulder last week and threw in some Omega-3 and I'm almost 100% now, feeling good. I've always taken Glucosamine but it just wasn't cutting it for this routine.

[Hard Knox]

Originally Posted by Genetic79

Over benching is one of the most destructive things you can do to your shoulders. have you thought about moving to incline for a while?

Inclines seem to stress my shoulders alot more than flat bench. You think they're easier on the shoulders?

[Genetic79]

It depends on where you place the bar, I do inclines to my chin/neck area. the reason I switched bench totally fugged up my shoulders. Stop benching pain went away. Started incline pain never came back....simple choice for me. When I try bench now my right shoulder feel unstable. If I was you I would try different arcs or angles to your press. Or try different depths, you don't have to go all the way down....it's not a golden rule. Bottom is mostly front delts until about 2 - 3 inches off your chest. You gotta do what works for you.

[CJPopovich]

A lot of "pain" when benching is due to form. If you're benching elbows out, with little to no scapular retraction you can expect lots of shoulder problems. This is 99% of the guys in the gym. Most people I've worked with who can't bench b/c of pain can actually press just fine once they learn how to tuck the elbows the right amount, and work on the scapular retraction bit. There are exceptions, some guys just can't bench b/c they have serous shoulder problems, but I've never seen a guy who could incline with no pain but couldn't bench once the form was squared away.

You have to work the **** out of your upper back; rear delts, anything that retracts the scapulae, traps help too, and work your lats in the same pattern as you bench. Rebuild the foundation from which you press. Hope it helps.

[bigpapa]

form is definately the key. when i first started working out, for the first couple of months my dad had me just concentrate on form before any weight was put on. great form will yield greater results rather than bad form and alot of weight.

[Genetic79]

I retracted my scapula from day 1....my problem was I benched damn near everyday. I was under the impression that more was better, well it was for a while got 510 before I stopped. But I also payed the price also.

[Hard Knox]

Do you guys think that three days a week while on cycle is too much?

[CJPopovich]

Benching? Benching 3 days per week? Unless you're doing a weird Sheiko type program, it's waaaay too much.

[Hard Knox]

Originally Posted by CJPopovich

Benching? Benching 3 days per week? Unless you're doing a weird Sheiko type program, it's waaaay too much.

Yeah. I normally bench 2x weekly, but would like to get the most out of my current cycle of havoc. Everything is feeling pretty good thus far.

[CryingEmo]

I've noticed on cycle I can rest about 1 day less, assuming sleep is up to par.

Right now I'm resting 4 days. Off cycle, maybe closer to 5. Depends on volume.

My volume is about 5-6 very intense sets. Rep ranges 6-8, 10-12, 4-6.


I'm in a 1500 caloric deficet with T3, and I'm slowly gaining strength....


That being said, I'm not a 400 LB bencher or even close. I doubt I have the genetics to do it with my medium build and 82 inch reach.

[Hard Knox]

Originally Posted by CryingEmo

I've noticed on cycle I can rest about 1 day less, assuming sleep is up to par.

Right now I'm resting 4 days. Off cycle, maybe closer to 5. Depends on volume.

My volume is about 5-6 very intense sets. Rep ranges 6-8, 10-12, 4-6.


I'm in a 1500 caloric deficet with T3, and I'm slowly gaining strength....


That being said, I'm not a 400 LB bencher or e