Red Bearded Bastardized Periodization

Let's just get this out of the way.  I'm in my early 30's, I compete at 275 and 308, raw and I'm not a "good" bencher.  Yet.


 I've tried a lot of different bench programs.  I've followed some religiously, deviated from some and even tried to wing it but my bench stayed the same for a while.  Most recently, I used a well known PL E-book's method, then a custom written program, then a coaches program.  All of it was great and made sense on paper but it didn't necessarily translate to bigger numbers for me, and my pecs were getting pretty fucking tired of it.

While recovering from a back injury, my bench transitioned from a competition arch, to a feet up, flat backed press.  I had to start off light to keep the abdominal pressure down at first, so I decided to focus on bringing my grip in more narrow for a while.  Although the weights were lighter, the changes I made kept the weight challenging.  That was good for a while, until months later I was healthy enough and could put my heels back on the ground and use a little leg drive.

The guys I train with planned to lift at a meet a few months away down in SC at Donnie Thompson's gym The Compound.  I was excited and although I was still on the mend, I made it my goal to get well enough to bench there with my team.



One of my first nights back to benching after injuring 4 L-spine discs

The next thing I had to figure out was how I was going to utilize the next 10 weeks to prepare myself.  So I decided to see where I was at on bench and took some singles.  My max had dropped but I was able to grind out a double with 335 and a nasty 365 for 1.  Not great, even for me who has struggled on bench for years.

Well, I thought, lets see what I can get a 5x5 with.  And Red Bearded Bastardized Periodization was born.

Week 1: My "week 1" started in March 2014.  It was a simple 5x5 with 315, but I had never gotten all 5 reps on the last set the last time I had tried it prior to the injury, so it was a "pr."  From this day, the entire program was built upon.  Getting all the reps on each sets CLEANLY and with good form was important, since all weeks ahead build upon this weight.  If you fuck up or cheat a little on week 1, this is not going to go well moving forward.  It's better to start a little too light than too heavy.

Week 2: The next week would drop a rep, add a set and 10#'s.  This was basically a way to lift an additional 10#'s per rep with similar work load over last week. So I did 6x4 with 325 for week 2.

Week 3: I felt good going into week 3, so I decided to add weight and do sets of 3.  Five sets were enough to feel the work load, and 15#'s felt right, even though I could have added 5 more #'s on any set.  Kept it in check though, the heavier weight was coming later.

Week 4: The beginning of the second 3 week wave was just as simple as week 1, a 5x5 but with a little more weight.  I added 5#'s and used 320 for all sets.  This was another PR, although this week 4 felt like where the rubber met the road for me.

Week 5, finally a change.  As the weight increases week to week, something has to change before I hit a wall.  This week is still more weight, still sets of 4 but the volume has tapered down a bit.  Rather than 6 sets, I did 4.  That alone was great just for the mentality as the weight increased to 330.  2 sets in and I was 1/2 way through, that was motivating, but so was how fast the weight was moving.  I was getting stronger and I could notice it.

Week 6: Yet another volume taper was in order.  This week was still meant for triples, but with fewer sets again.  The weight was 345, and done for 2 fewer sets than week 3, only doing 3.

Week 7: The weight goes up to 325 for 3 sets of  5.  Prior to this, 325 may have been my 5 rep max at one point, but now I was doing it for 3 sets and the reps were smooth and fast.

Week 8: The volume is still down to 3 sets, the reps were 4 with 335.  On my first set, I was surprised on how easy the weight felt, and the command that I had over the bar.  This helped me blast through the other sets.

Week 9: This week was done on the road at a different gym out of state.  Although I had to travel for work, I always bring my lifting bag with me.  I had a variety of spotters that day, and although the bench was slippery vinyl and the hand offs were shakey, I managed to take my previous weight of 365 which I had barely locked out only 9 weeks prior for 4 sets of doubles, and they were commanding.  In addition, I overloaded this week with the original red slingshot and took 3 singles over 400.  I was ready!

Week 10: The Meet.  I was pumped.  It had been a real transitional 2 and a half months for me, from living with an involuntarily limp from the disc herniation onto the sciatic nerve, to being able to bench better than before I had injured my back.  I warmed up with about 15 other raw lifters, taking turns smashing triples a plate and a quarter at a time.  My last warm up was 335 and it was faster than ever before.

I opened with 365, and although the bar felt heavy in the hands, the rep flew up. Dave Hoff gave the rack command and I was on the board with three whites.  I knew I was good for more, so I asked for 385.

Now back in the day, 385 was my best ever touch and go bench, ass off the bench, uneven lock out gym lift.  But I hadn't even touched that weight in a while.

On my second attempt, I remember thinking on the decent, "man, this is heavy."  When I heard that press command, the bar just came off of my chest like a hydraulic jack was helping me.  Waited for the rack command and 3 whites.  25# meet PR and I had taken my bench up 20#'s over my touch n go from 10 weeks prior.

My third attempt was 400.  It didn't feel any heavier than 385 but it stalled at about a 3 board.  I still had work to do to get that one.

Second cycle:  I decided that the bulk of the program was great, but I tweaked a few thing during the cycle.  For one, I made the last set on the 5 rep days OR about 80% for an AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible.)  This was done for two reasons.  First, just to add extra work and volume and secondly, as a built in test that can be measured with a rep calculator to track progress.

Also, I moved the bulk of my accessory work to a second upper body day.  On those days, I work on speed bench, AMRAP's with 60% and lower, long count pauses, benching an inch off of the chest, OHP, dumbbells and other accessories.




As of this post, I just finished up week 9 of the second cycle and I'm confident about smashing the 400 barrier next week.  Below is the template that I've used, with the weights that I've used:

W1: 5x5 - 325
W2: 6x4 - 335
W3: 5x3 - 350

W4: 5x5 - 330 (last set 6)
W5: 4x4 - 340
W6: 3x3 - 355 + 315 x 9 (2 rep PR)

W7: 3x5 - 335 (last set 6)
W8: 3x4 - 345
W9: 4x2 - 370 + 3 singles at 415 with red slingshot

W10: Test
(Update: Set PR's 400 and 405)

Note: To make this program work with your numbers, use the following template. 

Make week 1's weight be a weight that you can confidently complete for 5 sets of 5 reps or about 80% of your best clean 1rm.  Less is more here, resist the urge to start too heavy. I cannot emphasize this enough, it only gets harder.

W1: 5x5 (80%) last set AMRAP
W2: 6x4 (80%+10-15#'s)
W3: 5x3 (80%+15-20#'s)

W4: 5x5 (80%+5-10#'s) last set AMRAP
W5: 4x4 (80%+15-20#'s)
W6: 3x3 (80%+20-25#'s)

W7: 3x5 (80%+15-20#'s) last set AMRAP
W8: 3x4 (80%+20-25#'s)
W9: 4x2 (80%+45-50#'s)

W10: Test

I feel great on this amount of volume and my strength has been climbing. Best of luck to you in your training.

The Red Bearded Bastard,
Josh Mac