Bench test day for you westsiders everyone please read

[solidj55]

I am in my fourth week of westside training. My minicycle is going to run another four weeks. I had planned to test my bench press on week 9(the following week after my minicycle is done). I was wanting to test it with my bench press shirt, but I doubt that it will be shipped by then because I wont be ordering it for another 2 weeks(when I get paid at work again lol). I was just wondering two things, number one-how often do you westsiders test your bench even if you dont have a meet anytime soon, and number two-do you test it with your shirt on or raw?

 

[The mann]

hey brother,

if you are going to compete in a shirt ,you max in a shirt.we max about every 10 weeks ,but sometimes on ME when you have that day when you feel good we throw the shirt on and mess around.everyone does it different ,good to get all opinions.

 

[solidj55]

Thanks bro, I am curious as to what everyone does. Hey The mann, what should I do if my shirt is not here when I finish my minicycle? Should I start a new minicycle or what should I do up until it gets here?

 

[Scotsman]

I don't exactly follow the westside method but still I wait between 8-10 weeks in between maxing. Also it probably wouldn't hurt you to go ahead an peak if you shirt doesn't arrive in time. Just make sure you get used to it before trying to compete with it.

 

[1-dawg]

Here's what I like to do with my shirts. I never take a max in the gym with it -- I suck at taking max lifts in the gym so I don't even bother anymore. What I will do to get used to the shirt is put it on for about 5 weeks after my sp sets and only go up to my opener, no more, no less. This just lets me get used to the shirt so I don't have any shocking groove problems with the shirt. I wouldn;t even bother testing, it's awaste of time in myopinion. If your max effort lifts are going up then your meet max is going up. Save it for meet day. Plus, you can never duplicate a meet environment -- crowd, chalkdust, the screaming, adrenaline, etc. Most of the time you will end up disappointed if you take your max in the gym. TRust your training.

 

[solidj55]

Well I dont have a meet anytime soon so I will be able to have plenty of time to get used to it. I just really was wondering about whether or not to even have a test day or if I should just go ahead and finish this minicycle and start another one. I was uncertain about whether or not to just keep doing minicycles or test my bench then start another minicycle or what. But if everyone thinks it will be acceptable then I will finish this minicycle and start my next one directly after it.

 

[Exodus]

go ahead and test it........ at least you will know your raw max.... i would take 1-dawgs advice....... just go and max at what you would open with......... then when the shirt gets in...... go all out ...imo

 

[solidj55]

Thanks for all the replies fellas. Hell all my max effort lifts are going up so im not going to even worry about testing. Ive been able to break records each week so far by at least 5 pounds so I guess my meet max will be up too. Instead of maxing when my shirt comes in Ill just go ahead and start a new mini cycle. Do most of you guys take a week or two doing things like dumbells for sets of 20 and or illegal wides at sets of 5 to let things heal after a mini cycle? I mean maxing out all the time and all just wondering. Right now(after week 4) I really dont feel the need, Im healing good and getting stronger so I dont know. Any ideas?

 

[1-dawg]

In the past year I have done one max effort day where I used reps -- I hated it and will never do it again. I keep the rep stuff for the assistance work. Some guys like to do rep stuff every 6 weeks or so. I do suggest if you are new to this then you stick with the basic heavy stuff and leave the reps for assistance.

 

[dbol_master]

I personally max out every week. I only lift weights 2 times a week. I do bench press monday and thursday. I Squat on Thursday. I only deadlift about once every 3 weeks. My back takes forever to heal up. I guess its about time to his a big anadrol cycle or something. Maybe that would help. Anyways, my bench goes up about 5 pounds every week or two at the most. My squat goes up 10 pounds a week. I can only keep this up for about a 10 week stretch then I have to take off for 2 weeks. I lose about 15 pounds on my max bench but by the 4th week in I have gained it back and I gain 5 pounds a week for about 4 weeks then about another 5 for the last two weeks in the cycle. So basically...every 10 week stretch I go up 25 pounds on my bench. During the summer I do not go up at all due to the fact my body doesn't respond well to heat. I start gaining around the beg. of November and stop gaining aroung the end of May or the beg. of June. So I gain about 65 pounds- 90 pounds on my bench every year. My bench is only 405 right now. I am 19 years old and I weigh 240. My squat is = to my bench cause I used to be a lazy ass and never due them till this past year. You guys please wish me the best of luck. I am hoping to be up there with the big boys by the time I am 25 years old. Seeya and God bless.