Request for help: My first bench press competition

cclay21

New Member
On November 15, I plan to participate in my first bench press competition. Unfortunately, I just learned of the competition today.

I've been lackidaisical in my hypertrophy workouts lately, partially b/c lifting strictly for size doesn't hold the same appeal for me as it did once. I want to focus on strength.

I've never trained specifically for strength or for a competition. I've used HST on and off for the past couple of years. I'm about 5'7", 155-160 lbs., very lean (approx. 6% or less body fat.)

My bench press has never been my strongest lift, and I stopped doing it in favor of using dips and incline dumbbell presses, as suggested in the HST FAQ and by many of the members here.

Can anyone please suggest a four-week cycle for me to prepare for this meet? My 1-rep max is about 230lbs. I've googled and come away with too much contradictory information to be usable for a routine. I'm coming here b/c I respect the opinions of this community.

I'm not going to lie: I'd like to win, even if it is my first time, no matter how unrealistic that may be. This might be my entry into powerlifting, depending upon how I like the training and the competition.

One last question: The weight classes I could compete in are 150 lbs. and lower or 151-190 lbs. Should I try to get to 150 lbs. by the meet, or just concentrate on building my stength and power?

I'd appreciate any suggestions offered. Thanks.
 
I am no power-lifter, but I do know if you want to compete, form in bench press is extremely important.  If you can find an experienced power-lifter to watch your bench form, he can probably give you tips/advice on how to add weight to your press just by adjusting form alone.  As far as training, probably Aaron F would be your best bet for advice.
 
Find the rules for the comp you are going into, practice them to the letter.

With a month left, there is not really much chance to add much strenght, but practice the movmenet frequently, higher loads, lower reps - no failure - and practice singles pressing the weight smoothly though the entire range.
Learn what the weights you are attempting feel like.

You could play around with weak point work, but at this stage I think its possibly best to just play with the weights
 
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(cclay21 @ Oct. 13 2006,15:36)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">On  November 15, I plan to participate in my first bench press competition. Unfortunately, I just learned of the competition today.

I've been lackidaisical in my hypertrophy workouts lately, partially b/c lifting strictly for size doesn't hold the same appeal for me as it did once. I want to focus on strength.

I've never trained specifically for strength or for a competition. I've used HST on and off for the past couple of years. I'm about 5'7&quot;, 155-160 lbs., very lean (approx. 6% or less body fat.)

My bench press has never been my strongest lift, and I stopped doing it in favor of using dips and incline dumbbell presses, as suggested in the HST FAQ and by many of the members here.

Can anyone please suggest a four-week cycle for me to prepare for this meet? My 1-rep max is about 230lbs. I've googled and come away with too much contradictory information to be usable for a routine. I'm coming here b/c I respect the opinions of this community.

I'm not going to lie: I'd like to win, even if it is my first time, no matter how unrealistic that may be. This might be my entry into powerlifting, depending upon how I like the training and the competition.

One last question: The weight classes I could compete in are 150 lbs. and lower or 151-190 lbs. Should I try to get to 150 lbs. by the meet, or just concentrate on building my stength and power?

I'd appreciate any suggestions offered. Thanks.</div>
I recommend you go to bb.com and post this question in the powerlifting section, or maybe intensemuscle.com in the powerlifting section.  

Basically, you can't do anything in 4 weeks and your goals are highly unrealistic.  Sorry to be a downer, but that's the truth.  

I recommend you do some westside for a couple of weeks, then for the third week do nothing but practice your form.  Fourth week should be full of rest.  During those first two weeks, be sure to go to failure on all max. effort days. If you don't even know what westside is, then forget it and go do something else that someone in those other forums might recommend.

I also recommend that you should go for the 150 and below group.  230 is a pretty respectable weight for that weight group.
 
Westside would take longer than that to even figure out what he is doing and end up being a waste of time, and if he is unacustomed to heavy max effort work is a great way to get an injury
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Westside would take longer than that to even figure out what he is doing and end up being a waste of time</div>
Which is exactly why I told him to forget it if he doesn't know what Westside is.
tounge.gif


<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">and if he is unacustomed to heavy max effort work is a great way to get an injury</div>

So, he's unaccustomed to max effort work but he knows what his max bench press is.  Yeah, ok
 
Thanks for the all of the advice.

I was able to get a copy of the rules of the competition, and it states that I'd need to provide my own spotter. Since this is at the campus gym where I work out, and I always work out alone, that's a problem.

Plus, I just weighed myself: 157 lbs. To try and cut that 7 pounds and still maintain strength and have strict competition form, all in four weeks...

So, I'm scrapping this competition. I think I'm going to try either the Bill Starr 5x5 or the Mark Rippetoe 3x5 for a change of pace and strength training.
 
Hi cclay21,
I see your point in scrapping this comp. Too much to do in too little time.
I have been in many bench press contests. The first one I didn't do well as I only had about 3 weeks notice, but I did the best I could anyway. If you think you might want to do it again next year, it might not be a bad idea to try anyway just for the experience. You'll have this with you as you train for it next year &amp; will help you plan &amp; understand. This is what I did &amp; it worked for me. I placed the next year, then the next won my class &amp; overall. Like anything else, you have to start somewhere. Good luck if you decide to pursue this
smile.gif


O
 
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(scientific muscle @ Oct. 16 2006,18:19)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What is your highest bench Omegaman, I think I read elsewhere that you have benched 390, pretty impressive!</div>
Hey SciM,
Currenty is 390, but personal best in a contest was 415 flat &amp; raw (was 28 at the time, yr was 1989). I was getting 345x7 &amp; 390x3 flat, 345x3 on incline. Those were that days when nothing hurt yet
biggrin.gif
(I'm 45 now, ouch)

It all fell by the wayside when family, carreer, house, kids, business came along...but I'm back for good now.

O
 
45 yr.s old and benching 390, inspirational!
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I am 28 and I have trained off and on for years, but I consider myself a newbie, because this year is the first year I stuck with lifting consistently. When I started this May, I could only bench about 150 lb.s. Three weeks ago I hit 205 for the first time in my life. This weekend I hit 233. With gains like this I am aiming to put up 315 pounds by early next year. I don't max out much, just do normal training. But the maxing out about once/month helps get me excited and rewards me mentally for all the training I did.
 
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(Omega_man @ Oct. 16 2006,23:29)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">...Currenty is 390, but personal best in a contest was 415 flat &amp; raw (was 28 at the time, yr was 1989). I was getting 345x7 &amp; 390x3 flat, 345x3 on incline. Those were that days when nothing hurt yet
biggrin.gif
(I'm 45 now, ouch)</div>
Well, an update to the bench. The new current is 400 lb's even. This will likely be the highest on this HST cycle (it felt like a small 4 door car). Maybe more the next cycle....well see.

O
 
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