DO NOT BENCH! Do NOT go to failure!

[Gladiola]

AARGGGG! Losing my mind here.

Got the lecture weeks ago that if you are going to do Olympic Lifting, do not bench b/c the hypertrophy (as well as potential tightness & inflexibility) can inhibit your ability to do the snatch.

Fine! Coach said dumbell presses & push-ups were acceptable. Having difficulty again last night with the overhead squat, he mentions that as the likely culprit & asks when the last time I benched was. "Weeks ago! I've only done DB presses & push-ups."

"OK, but how heavy?"

"Oh, to failure in 8 reps, 3 sets."

NO! Don't even go to failure, too much volume for pecs, too much intensity.

So the only thing I can rip up & go to failure in my workouts outside of the OL is my abs. Great. Can't even do that too often b/c I teach the yoga-pilates class too frequently & don't want to over-train my abs. Already strained them 3 years ago & have a bizarre lump of scar tissue in the center of my 6-PK.

The LAST thing I expected with OL was to have to stop being so intense with weights.

 

[The Shadow]

??

interesting???

 

[Gladiola]

Well, PL is the excuse I will use if anyone ever sees the chains in the trunk of my car. he he

I know the intensity will pick up eventually, it certainly is a sport that is about intensity like PL is, but there's just so much intricate technique I still have to master. It's supposed to take 6 mos to learn & I'm about 1 month into it now. It's not that the sport lacks intensity, it's just this damn learning phase.

& it's not that I fear change, I simply MISS all the old BB stuff! I loved my time in the gym doing what I was doing, so now that it's history, I miss it. I am honestly surprised just how much I miss Arioch too. Dammit, why can't he just come back?!

 

[b fold the truth]

You must find a training method which makes YOU happy. If you are not happy with the way that you are training or being trained...then change it/them. I train the way that makes me happy...till it gets serious contest time...then I go through a lot of pain.

If you are not planning to do any Olympic Lifting contests...why are you training like this? There would be nothing wrong with learning the OL lifts and adding them to a routine that makes YOU happy....

B True

 

[Gladiola]

You must find a training method which makes YOU happy.

Wonderful, wise advice, as always! Actually I *am* planning to compete at some point. This is just further griping - along with my "I hate Olympic Lifting" thread. It's just growing pains & **missing** the stuff I used to do that I loved. That's all.

Besides, if I'm going to do OL, I want to be the best that I possibly can be. I know that's going to mean sacrifices & I plan to make those sacrifices. But I plan to bitch & whine about it from time to time too!

 

[Realgains]

I personally don't think the bench press will cause too much hypertrophy of the pecs, especailly with a women, and affect Olympic lifting but it would be a good idea to NOT specialize on this lift since the olympic lifts need to take priority.

The failure thing.......many types of training work well and you need to find one that suits your mind set. I have trained to failure in the Yates style, very low volume and super intensity, with good results and I have also had good results with a Reg Parks type of routine were one does not train to failure but stops after the absolute last rep can be preformed in good form (5 sets of 5 reps)

One thing I can say for a certainty is MOST bodybuilders do not know how to train very well. They generally do way to much volume with not enough effort. They are also in the gym too much IMHO. Olympic lifters and Power lifters train far smarter although there are some bodybuilders that have trained very well ie: Mike Mentzer, Dorian Yates, Reg Parks, Tom Platz etc etc.

I think it is best to train a work set(most of the time) to the point were you can just barely squeeze out the last rep IN GOOD FORM and if you did another one you would fail. This takes some practise. Most people don't even come close to this level of intensity and as a result most people do not progress that well.

You have to train HARD but smart. In the long run it is best for most people to NOT to train to absolute failure...but then again many that think they are training to failure are not, especially in the Squat.

The key IMHO is "MICRO LOADING", that is adding tiny amounts of weight to the bar each week once the training cycle gets hard. In this way one tricks the body into growth as no increase in preceived effort is noticed from week to week.

Trying to add a single rep to a set of 5 in the Bench for example, after already killing yourself the previous week to make that 5, would be akin to adding 5 pounds to the bar and keeping the weight the same. This is too much to handle once your cycle is really hard. It is far better to add 1-2 pounds to the bar and even less as the cycle comes to a close.

Add 1 pound per week to your bench for 5 reps and in 6 months(long cycle) you will have a much bigger bench. Try to rush things and you will go nowhere and or get injured.

www.fractionalplates.com

Get yourself some tiny plates and practise the GOLGEN FLEECE of lifting....MICROLOADING. I got to a 450 bench, 750 Squat and 850 deadlift this way and I never trained with reps lower than 5 per set( sets of 5 are good for general strength and power and also)
size)
I think my lifts would have gone up more if I would have cycled down to sets of 3 but my main goal was not power lifting but body building.

Good luck....and by the way I think Olympic lifters have the best legs going due to their use of very deep and heavy "high bar" squats and romanian and stiff leg deads.