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.

 

[1-dawg]

I'm sorry but there is absolutely no way you are gaining 5lbs per week on your bench and 10 on your squat. It just doesn't work that way. I'd be willing to bet that the day you benched 405 you could have benched 410, 415 or even 420. Your weights may goup each week but you are not getting a true gauge of yoru max. Many people go months w/o gaining anything then they put 30 lbs on a lift in 6 weeks. If it takes you 3 weeks to recover from dl'ing then you are really not in good shape. You shoudl be able to pull almosy weekly since you are 19. If you were a masters lifter then I might say ok -- maybe, but only if you were pulling huge weights -- 750-800+. You should also be able to train year round without taking anytime off. I haven't taken any time off for almost 3 years. I do take a max lift every week but not in the conventional bench or squat -- for bench it may be board presses this week and floor press next week, for the sq/dl good am's this week and maybe good am's off the pins the next week. By rotating max exercises everyweek I can get a true max of that lift.

 

[solidj55]

I hate to be a dick and all but I am going to have to call bullshit on the whole adding 60 to 95lbs per year onto your bench press. Thats just not possible. Well let me rephrase. It is possible to do that in a year but its not possible to do it consistantly every year. I have increased my bench almost from 285 to 350 this year. And I would actually say that right now my bench is over 350 and I have done this without steriods. I just converted from a bodybuilding workout to a powerlifting workout. Im my opinion that is why my max shot up so much. But at the same time I know that I will not be able to do this continually. This was just a one shot deal.

 

[Sebass67]

Hmm...what if u cycled between theBBing workout and powerlifting workout...
Would u get the same gains on the second cycle...?
Would you lose much strength doing bbing training?

Just kinda curious about how these things work...

two shot deal possible?

 

[solidj55]

I know several powerlifters who do bodybuilding workouts in their off season, or when they have no meets coming up anytime soon. Some do it to let their joints heal and some do it saying that it promotes more muscle mass which can help with strength. I also know some powerlifters who supplement some bodybuilding type workouts throught the whole year. As far as their gain or loss in strength, I have noticed that most of them are able to maintain most of their strength while bbing and when they start powerlifting again they do get surges of strength rather fast but no where near what you get initially when you convert from bbing to powerlifting.

 

[Sebass67]

Hmmm...just was wondering..

Playing OG in football and need to get my weight up.

Of course if i do BB workouts than i will prob have enough mass.

If i do powerlifting will i be able to gain the same amount of weight"?

Kinda looking for a happy medium.,..

Wanna be strong and big

Powerful and Fast....

243 right now.. and i have till halfway through August to be 270...