Week 1 of "The Freak System"

[lilmikey]

Freak: If this plan doesn't workout for you well, are you going to go back to whatever you were doing before? IIRC, you were doing bodybuilding movements, kind of like ed coan does. You are strong as hell though, so it obviously works for you, which is what every lifter needs to find out.

You were naturally strong and big, i think, and these characteristics usually allow you to get away with getting stronger any way you train. I'm jealous . Perhaps you are like Coan an can train consistently with periodization and still progress... even though theorectially everybody cannot do that forever because it is too taxing on the body.

If this works for you, that's great, and i wish you luck. I know we will all see great things from you. At the end of a cycle of periodization, though, I would probably take a week off to recoup. Do some GPP and band work but take it easy for a bit. I'm sure you will do what you feel is right. Good luck.

 

[ZZuluZ]

How could you disagree?

Sure hypertrophy is beneficial but training with maximal weights usually results in better gains as illustrated anecdotally by 90% of powerlifters out there. Not to mention that they already include hypertrophy inducing work in the form of assistance exercise.

-Zulu

 

[latinus_spicticus]

Hell, I don't see anything wrong with training like that especially if it is just to mix things up. Westside is a great method but I think you should do whatever - high reps, low reps, fast, slow, etc. as long as you enjoy it.

 

[powerlifterjay]

I look at like this. YOu can up your raw bench, or it may completly stop moving. But i feel like alot of shirt power is built through Max effort day anyway.

Lets take me and my partners for example.
JImmie Dean doesnt max out raw but when he does i would say he is probably at 425 or so raw. Maybe more. But he not only did 523 at his last meet, but he did it fast and easy. He can lockout a ton.

Ron is 181 lbs his raw bench has gone as high as 450lbs. But even though he bombed his last meet he opend with 500 lbs. He got it with in 1 inch from his chest and locked it out. And at this point he is hittin 405 for 2 reps.

Both of these guys' raw bench really hasnt moved in over a year and change. But... both of there board presses and accesory work has gone up, way up! Ron does board presses with no bands with 545 on the 4 brd. Jimmie does about the same. But the 4 brd to Ron is like a 5 or 6 to us. He is little!!

Now me, my raw bench, and i have thought about this alot. It hasnt gone up really either. Last year i was reppin the same as i am now. I maxed out at 545 touch n go no shirt last year. Now since i dotn pause its hard to tell what i would pause raw, and determine what i get from my shirt. But when i did 545 i did a 585 bench (shirt). I am thinkin what the hell is that? Technically these guys get more out of there shirt then i do. But ... My lockout is high. (or should i say was high before my meet). I did 700lb free weight with my shirt off a 3 brd. But as most of you knwo i have been really battling aches in injuries. My left shoulder cant take too much more. The ONLY time it bothers me is free weight raw benching. My last meet i truly seen were i could improve my speed. So as of Now iam gonna try it.

But i got great results from my program and hittin reps on the bench. It works. But it only goes so far as a carry over to shirt benching. Cause i bench lesss now then i did last year (probably) raw touch n go , but i can lockout a good bit more then i did then too.

Two weeks i have been doing speed, then i do 3 sets of singles working up to 75 to 85 % of a shirt less max to see if iam still fast. Thats were i fucked up the other night. I guess thats not neccesary. But the first week i seen i could improve my speed and this monday i felt alot faster. My goal now is to be freakin fast as shit!!. I go up to 300 at the bottom becasue i hit over 600. But its last and if th espeed is slow i drop down. This monday my 300 was the same as my 275, and alomost as fast as the 225. So as you can see i am excited abou tthis and since i am switching to westside with a 600 bench already we'll see if it works!!

Freak do what you do. It works and you are getting stronger. When i benched what you do , it went up constantly. And so did my shirt. Until you hit a rut do what you do. You will eventually hit a rut. If you dont then its fair to say you will total 2700lbs one day. Then you will need to re evaluate your routine. But as long as th enumbers go up go for it. Your injury free and young.

BUt i will let you know if this westsdie is working. I mean hell how much can i possibly lose off my raw bench. I can freakin do a nose breaker with 405!!! If i get weaker, way like some who have tried it , then i thorugh it in and go back to my way. By then i will be healed enough to do some heavy raw reppin. If i get stronger then i will probably always keep at it.

Sorry this is so long , but i see where he is coming from and if it works dont mess with perfection! Its cool to bench alot raw, i am usually the last wrming up at meets for this very reason, but look at Glen Chabot. He can bench 665 raw but hit 722 with a shirt. His raw does nothign for his contest bench, and when money is at stake (like my next meet) who cares what you bench raw!! Right Irish? Dam!! Did i say that??

 

[IrishPower]

pljay:

you are chasing some monster numbers and aspire to be one of the strongest benchers ever so i would say this to you:

no one gives a fucking shit what you can do raw. As Pantera would say "Yesterday dont mean shit". I constantly fight with my ex-training coach about this. He was a 644 bencher with a single ply poly. I will never be able to bench 600 raw with confidence because of my blown pec, but I *may* bench 600 or more because of shirts. I can lock it out now without pain from a 4 board with a single poly. I am not crying because I can't do it raw.

Do you want to be one of the best? The one who goes to the WPO meets for cash and wins? Well, then stop worrying about your raw bench!


freak19:

you are young and strong as hell. I only say the things i do because i was there once. You are stronger than I was when I was your age. To me, this just means you are going to be heading to injury territory sooner. Unless your goal is to lift in the USPF or USAPL, you are not maximizing your potential by doing a lot of raw training for reps. I know, i know.. it works.

*everything* works for awhile.

The key to this sport is longevity. I have seen quite a few of the young guys I competed against when I was young burn out early and not make it to the 30s to compete. I was halfway there myself (blown discs, torn pec). The younger people learn that there are alternate ways to train, the longer they are gonna last in the sport and the greater they are gonna be when they are 30+ years old. As Gary Frank once said, you don't develop "man strength" until you are 30+. I love this because I am 30 now

Good luck both of you guys.

/irish

 

[p03t1c]

a bit off topic but anyways...

sometimes reading the posts on this section of the board makes what i do (my #s) seem absurd. have u guys walked the streets lately? have u been to a shopping mall or a restaurant? have you seen your mailman? people just aren't this strong. it's very inspiring to see the other board members hit such large numbers. i wonder what % of the population pushes 400lbs on the bench much less 500+. sometimes i forget that barely anyone, especially none of these class acts over at the local 'social' (gym), can hit anywhere near the range of the guys/ladies at a powerlifting meet.

when you lift on a constant basis in hopes of being great at a sport such as this one, it's hard to see that the rest of the world is so weak. this must be how the nba star feels going to a neighborhood park. the lifts of joe blow who still doesn't bench 1x bodyweight must be insulting to some of you. i realize that everyone is at their certain level but i have relatives brag to me all the time how they were so strong back in the day benching 1x what they weighed. what???? 1x bodyweight?

many of u here are total animals and are doing things that other people simply cannot understand. i just want to applaud everyone on all the PRs and all the PRs to come. it's great to be a part of such a great community.

 

[Jagermeister]

FREAK19,


on week 5, 6, and 7 you are hitting above 90%,

It might be just me, but my strength startes to go down after week 2 of above 90%.







Jager

 

[ZZuluZ]

"It might be just me, but my strength startes to go down after week 2 of above 90%.
"

Easy to burn out the CNS with max weights. Usually OK for three weeks tho...

-Zulu

 

[Twitched]

I've never seen anyone bench over 315 in person

 

[solidj55]

Damn Twitched, where do you lift at lol??? Actually where I live there have been very few people that I have seen bench over 315 other than myself, one of my lifting parners, Donald Robbins, and maybe two other people at my gym. SO basically just five of us, that is where I lift, now in the meets Ive been to I have seen anywhere from 100 to 500 plus benches.