12 Week Max Effort Bench Press Template

Max Effort Bench Press Design

Are you wanting to hit that new bench press PR?

Want to use the Conjugate training system, but not sure how to set it up or what exercises to use?

We’re going to help you figure it out so you can get your presses up. This template will help you cover your bases to get the most out of your press. It’s worth noting while these are the suggested exercises, to get the most out your bench training, you will need to find the ones that best target your weaknesses. These are the exercises we found to be beneficial for the people that we helped coach and other competitors. 

This template will allow for 12 weeks of Max Effort bench press workouts. In a true max effort definition, these would be for 1 repetition. How does that work without injury or stalled progress? The exercise selection rotates on a weekly basis leading to different stress on different muscles and joints which will help avoid accommodation. Most of us when starting out, likely made decent progress either maxing out on a weekly basis or use reps until failure to find new strength. Then at some point either injury set in or we quit making progress. Depending on if you compete at a high level or strength train recreationally, would likely dictate what rep ranges would be best for you. 

Option 1 - Work up to max single each week. Don’t miss, but work up to a weight trying to break your personal record by 5lbs. If you don’t have a PR on that variation, work to establish one. If you repeat this 12 week plan for four cycles throughout the year, you can add 20lbs to each lift. Done year after year, this is where the beauty of the plan is. 

Option 2- Use 3 and 5 rep maxes. This falls out of true meaning of max effort and begins to fall into strength endurance, but can still hold value. 

Option 3 - This is an option that I use with beginner lifters, people who don’t care to compete, and people who need to add some muscle to their frame. 

Work up to heavy set of 5, add 5% then do 1 set of 3 repetitions. 

Example  Set 1- 300lbs x 5 reps Set 2- 315lbs x 3 reps

Or

Work up to heavy set of 3, add 5% then do 1 set of 1 repetition. 

Example   Set 1- 300lbs x 3 reps Set 2- 315lbs x 1 rep

Grips

There is great value in finding differences in strength between a close grip, medium grip (thumb out from knurling), and competition grip (index on pinky max). By finding what your levels of strength are at each grip, you can then assess what exercises you need to build then base your accessories in training off of your results. 

Boards and Floor Press

Why use these for partial ranges of motion? Same as the grip differences. It will help us find where strength is behind. Here're a few examples of troubleshooting weaknesses ;

• Floor press higher than bench press - This will show us that the lifter needs to develop better leg drive during the regular press.
• 2 Board lower than bench press - This shows us that the triceps need to develop more strength as they’re the prime movers on the concentric portion of the lift.

Accommodating Resistance

Accommodating resistance might be one of the best things to happen to strength training. Here are a few of our recommendations on how, when, and why to use them. 

• Start with less then add as you become more experienced. Starting with too much band could lead to minimal results or even worse injury. 
• Bands are better, but will beat up shoulders, elbows, and pecs if used too much. The overspeed eccentric helps for a much more powerful concentric motion. 
• Chains should have 1-2 links still on the ground at lockout and bands should still have tension in the bottom of the lift. These are two of the biggest issues with using bands and chains. You don’t want all the chain to remain on the ground or even worse, swinging off the ground during the lift. 
• Chains are great for recovery. The chains reload in the bottom taking pressure of shoulders and pecs and feel more similar to real weight as you press. I used these a lot after tearing my pec tendon off. Helped build strength and confidence handling weight again. 
• Combination methods using bands and chains should be left to experienced lifters. There are benefits, but most don’t need them yet.

By using this, you will be able to continuously build strength and improve your bench press with a lower risk of injury. hit your 5lb PRs and move on to your accessories to work on building muscle size and endurance. If this was helpful, please share it with your friends so they get stronger with you. Our full bench press manual will soon be available to show how to structure your maximal and dynamic effort bench press training throughout different times of the year. Until then, if you have any questions on the bench press, feel free to email me at nick@showtimestrength.com

Nick Showman

Showtime Strength & Performance

www.showtimestrength.com