ExRx.net

So today I once again attempted and failed to get a 225 single on bench.

So my trainer happened to be around and I mentioned I was doing boring but big to get in practice trying to build a foundation and he said almost exactly these word, "I'd much rather see you do 10 singles at 85% than watching you deteriorate with a high rep set."

So I tried ten singles at 185, which is about 85%. For this session he suggested focusing entirely on keeping the lockout low, no shoulder protraction. At about rep 5 I was feeling pretty cocky, but he pointed out that I was executing well and then doing a sort of "victory protraction" at the end, and to stop doing that.

At about rep 4 I was getting seriously fatigued, but by rep 6 I caught a second wind and blew into the finish line. Each rep actually improved, so he joked, "If you can lock out so low that you can't rerack and you drop it on your head then that's a perfect rep."

So the reason I'm telling this long saga is because it was the first approach suggested to me where you can move an appreciable weight, so it is meaningful practice, but still get in plenty of reps, and actually improve during the session, so you're not just saying at the end, "Well I'll write down the weakness and hope to do better next week."

Just passing it on, all comments always welcome.

bless your heart

Nice job. 10 singles is a lot of work.

This is similar to what Joe and Eric over on GUS recommends, not so much for consolidation like I think you're doing, but as a heavy cycle. He has you work up by singles to the heaviest weight that you can do with good form, and then get in some singles that are within 90% of that (not of your PR). Joe says, "A high, moderate, very high and low volume scheme has worked well for me in the past (Joe). That might look something like:

Week 1: 7 to 8 singles
Week 2: 5 to 6 singles
Week 3: 9 to 10 singles
Week 4: 2 to 3 singles"

They suggest not doing that all the time, but for 1 or 2 cycles of 4 weeks, then into another progression method. Again, they recommend setting a new relative max each day. The max lift, and any lifts that are done on the way up that are over 90% of the max are counted in the number of lifts.

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Doc, it's a short hop from what I did to what they are recommending there.

I am considering those singles as the main accessory of the day, is that how you understand it? In other words, after the singles, its on to rows and triceps work.

No. They consider consolidation a major task, worthy of being the only lift of the day. It might even be considered more demanding than in a regular progression. Their scheme for consolidation is 8 to 10 singles at 90% of a 1RM first week, 6-8 (I think, this is from my recollection) of doubles at the same weight the next, followed by 5-7 sets of triples at the same weight the next, followed (I think) by a deload, then cycling back into progression via Eric's "SDT" progression.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

OK. I think I get it. I have no immediate plan to do doubles and triples.

Anyway, moving on, today I did this again for Press, and the results were stunning. Just like in bench, it really started to get solid about rep six, and the last few had much better form than the first.