Singles Only Bench Experiment

[brkriete]

Curious how long you are waiting between single reps.

[OverheadDeadlifts]

Curious how long you are waiting between single reps.

Way longer than I should but I’m generally not in a rush. Both the last 75% singles and doubles session and the 84% 12x1 took about an hour so like 3 min+ rest times. I could probably cut that in half if I needed to.

[OverheadDeadlifts]

Sat

Bench 117.5 12x1
Accessories

Today

Bench 142.5x0
Accessories

Not bad, got it to about the same height I was getting 140 previously. I definitely didn't feel as fresh as when I hit 140 though so my plan is to just take an extra day of recovery if I need it before the next attempt.

[OverheadDeadlifts]

Wed

142.5x0

Fri

117.5 12x1

Today

142.5x0

Wednesday was supposed to be 12x1 @84% but the first single was unusually fast, so I decided to chuck on what is normally my last warmup of 130 and that was also unusually fast. Decided fuck it and went for 142.5 and FAILED 3/4 OF THE WAY UP. That’s the first time I’ve ever failed anywhere other than off the chest.

I mean it’s nice to know that I’m a hair away from hitting my goal but there’s a strong possibility that if I’d just stuck to the plan I’d have hit it today in a fresher state.

[OverheadDeadlifts]

Tues

117.5 12x1

Today

142.5x0

Took an extra rest day so I felt great going into this one. Similar story, got it halfway up.

I’m tempted to call it and move on to something else but I’ll give it one more attempt. Or two.

[JohnHelton]

You may have peaked.

You should check out Hanley's program here. You could just do the bench stuff. I'm pretty sure it would get you there. 3-4 weeks dependent on how you space the workouts.

viewtopic.php?p=296665#p296665

[OverheadDeadlifts]

You may have peaked.

You should check out Hanley's program here. You could just do the bench stuff. I'm pretty sure it would get you there. 3-4 weeks dependent on how you space the workouts.

viewtopic.php?p=296665#p296665

For sure, I’ve definitely peaked but I’m managing to maintain it well enough I’ve blasted past my old sticking point twice but haven’t quite managed the lockout. I’m one good day or form tweak away from nailing it. Worth another try I reckon.

Yeah was looking at Hanley’s program, it’s very similar to what I was doing before but doing a prewritten program will probably save me from doing too much like I usually do.

[OverheadDeadlifts]

Sunday

117.5 8x1

Today

142.5x1



Well, there it is. Definitely the least straight my elbows have ever been after an unrack, but who gives a fuck. No bouncing off the chest, strong lockout, that’s a rep for me. I’m just glad I can get back to doing some sweet, sweet volume and assistance.

Lessons learned:

I can handle a lot more heavy benching without melting into a puddle than I thought I could

Lots of singles are great for dialling in form but, once it’s dialled in, doing just singles is probably more time consuming than it’s worth

Back fatigue fucks with comp style benching quite a lot

Don’t worry about mild DOMS, you hit an all time PR with them

One last shoutout to @JohnHelton for a much needed course correction with the intensity. Helped a lot.

[JohnHelton]

Congrats!

[BenM]

Yay!! Congrats!