Metal Militia RAW Bench Program -

[rickhussey]

I found this routine recently and am using it to improve my RAW Bench. Thought I would post it for others to scan. There's quite a bit of volume, but you're only benching 1x per week.

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Raw Bench Improvement – Sebastian Burns

This was taken from a e mail I just sent to a friend.It will work for anyone wanting to get stronger raw or who is just starting out..you could throw some shirt benching in there after awhile and some boards but this is good for just getting started.

Bench press with regular wide grip
6 sets 3 to 5 reps (work up to a 3-5RM)

Close Grip bench(Go one hand space in from regular grip)
Pause the bar on the bottom for 2 full seconds
6 sets 3 to 5 reps (work up to a 3-5RM)

Regular Grip Pause Bench
6 Sets 3 to 5 reps (work up to a 3-5RM)

After this you could do 3 sets of Pulldowns and 3 sets of Rows for 3 to 4 sets also 3 to 4 sets of DB side raises.
Do this workout for 3 months and keep track of your weights always trying to beat your last weeks weight.After 3 months take a few weeks away from benching and do more back and shoulder then go back and repeat the bench cycle.
Try to make it all the way thru this workout it is the volume that will cause an increase in the bench.it may take 2 to 3 weeks to get used to the high volume but stick with it.

After 3 or 4 weeks add in some 3 2 1 board. The only thing I would add is some front raises with the straight bar 3 sets.

[chancey]

That sure is a lot of volume. I don't think I could hang with that one even with bench once a week. It kind of reminds me of many many years ago when I used to try the volumous body building routines in Flex or whatever mag at the time. They seemed to have some advantage that I didn't cuase I was always hurtin'. For me I keep coming back to the fact that I have made my biggest gains on less is best. You should post your training so we can see how it goes. Good Luck and see you in VT.

[rickhussey]

It's certainly something you would have to work into gradually. I'm not sure I would compare it to a flex mag routine, since it's focused on heavy triples, but I see your point. I seem to get my best gains when I cycle volume, so I'm this volume kick until I feel I need to back down.

I am not going to be able to make the VT meet, but will be looking forward to the results. I hope you do well!

[chancey]

Yeah that comparison is slightly whack. One thing is for certain though, and that is Metal Militia knows benching. I would in a heartbeat go to a seminar put on by them. When you finish, let me know how this routine worked for you because if you do well it might just be worth a try.

Sorry to hear you’re going to miss VT. I was really hoping to see some NH guys their. Maybe I’ll see you in some other meet, maybe around Manchester. A friend of mine is trying to lure me to the “Dark Side”. “…you know with a bench shirt you wouldn’t be having that shoulder pain….”

[rickhussey]

The darkside isn't so bad. I like both forms of powerlifting and did my first meet in Oct. The next APF Bench meet is in February (manchester). There's also an unsanctioned APF meet in December www.elitepowerlifting.com/8th_bigbench.html and a RAW bench meet www.elitepowerlifting.com/RAW2006.html . All in NH. I am not going to either of those Dec meets because of the family situation.

If you want to consider the Feb Manchester meet, let me know. Some lifters benched without shirts.

[ookla]

What work would you do for your squats and deadlifts while doing this program? I was thinking of trying this routine along with a lower body day and an auxilliary day (bi's, upper back, calves, etc.). On my lower body day I would perform similar set/rep routine as your BP workout: 4-6 sets of squats (3-5 reps), 4-6 sets of paused high bar squats, and then 4-6 sets of deadlifts (or GM's, rack pulls, etc.). Does this sound good?

[rickhussey]

Looks good to me. Give it a shot and see. I've found that I do better when I train BP, SQ, DL twice a week. I need more frequency and volume to make gains. I am sure that will change as I move up to heavier and heavier weights. That will probably require more recovery time.

[ookla]

On the 6 sets, are these all work sets, or are some warmups? 18 work sets seem like a lot but since this is a once a week routine maybe it equals out...

[rickhussey]

For the bench program...No. They have you ramp up over 6 sets to a 1, 3 or 5RM.
example...
135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 345x5

So between the 3 bench exercises you really only have 3 Top sets.

[Deleted]

I have been doing more volume myself for bench once a week. Seems to be helping. I just did a weight I could barely do once a couple months ago, five times. So it's working for me.

[350]

So what are the days for a routine like this? Once or twice a week or is it split?

[rickhussey]

Once per week for the MM RAW Template. It's a lot of volume, so you'll need the 7 days rest.

[jp]

I just started this program this afternoon and can report I like it very much. I'm a Master's lifter and had reached a sticking point in my training. I took about a month off from heavy benching (actually benching altogether) and concentrated on pushups on still rings and back and shoulder work; like chinning and DB presses.

The 18 sets on paper looks demanding, yet I noticed that once you're past the first exercise, the last two seem to be a challenge to complete. I like the "build-up" over a lot of sets with some sub-maximal weights. I felt worked, but not blown out like I usually do when I bench heavy.....also my shoulders don't hurt like when I used less volume with heavier weights.

I had no problem completing the workout and did the pauses where they were called for. The only thing I have to do is get the grip positioning down....and that'll be easy to do with a few workouts under my belt. Starting with a wide grip, then going to a close grip and finally finishing with a regular (competition) grip is challenging to say the least. Dare I say it's similiar to "pre-exhausting the muscle groups", with bench moves before getting into the actual competition grip bench.

Otherwise, I noticed that with those three bench exercises and the back work (I chose 3 sets of pullups and 3 sets of chinups), that I was "worked"......instead of the laterals like the plan calls for I just did one high rep set of some seated incline Tate presses.....but I don't really think they were necessary.....they just felt good do to do.

I do notice that my entire upper body feels great......now we'll see if it'll add any poundage to bench press (my worst lift).

I've talked to other lifters who claim that routines like this that are volume based, and with only a few exercises, seemed to be what they needed to get them out of a rut. I will agree that once a week on this routine is all one needs....more than that and I can see some serious burnout.

Cheers,

JP

[jp]

ookla said:

What work would you do for your squats and deadlifts while doing this program? I was thinking of trying this routine along with a lower body day and an auxilliary day (bi's, upper back, calves, etc.). On my lower body day I would perform similar set/rep routine as your BP workout: 4-6 sets of squats (3-5 reps), 4-6 sets of paused high bar squats, and then 4-6 sets of deadlifts (or GM's, rack pulls, etc.). Does this sound good?

I deadlift once every 8-10 days and rotate my squat with the deadlift. I typically use a Ricky Dale Crain style squat routine for both my squat and deadlift.....works out to about 10-13 sets of each exercise. I also do hamstring work (lots of it) as I'm a sumo style puller and don't want to blow those out......plus I work calves, traps and do lots of ab work to my core strong.

I just simply, bench one day, rest, squat, then rest, bench, then rest, then deadlift.....

[ookla]

I've been using this routine since February and have gained a lot of strength. I added in a squat/deadlift day and an auxiliary (upper back, biceps and abs) day as well. I started out with a recent max bench of 345, a squat of 425 (approximately 1-2" above parallel) and a deadlift of 515.

Summary of Routine:
Bench Day:
BP (tough and go) - 6 sets of 5
Close Grips (paused) - 6 sets of 5
BP (paused) - 6 sets of 5
Delts
Tris

Squat/Deadlift Day:
Squats - 6 sets of 5
Deadlifts (or rack pulls or Good Mornings) - 6 sets of 5
Paused Squats (or high bar squats or front squats) - 6 sets of 5

Auxiliary Day:
Rows
Shrugs
Pullups/Pulldowns
Curls
Abs

About a month ago I did a tough and go set with 345 for 3 reps. Two days ago I did paused close grips with 315 for 5, and paused standard grips with 340 for 3. My bench is as strong as it has ever been and is still improving. Unfortunately I hurt my knee at work about 3 months ago and have had to lay off the squats/deadlifts. Right before the injury, though, I squatted 380 for 5 (1-2" below parallel). I also rack pulled (1" below kneecaps) 505 for 5 reps.

When I am fully healed, I plan to get back to the squat and deadlift routine as they were working better than any workout I've ever used. Thank you to the kind folks who put this workout on the forum, it is fantastic.