With all the talk about “DB Hammer” and his training methods, I thought I’d post my experiences with his bench press training program for the benefit of the group. His website can be accessed at http://www.inno-sport.net
As he has recommended in his articles, I did 6 workouts for the total microcycle. They were all done with four days rest between each, and then a seven day rest before “maxing out.” This is actually contrary to his recommendations, which I will get to in a moment.
I will go over the mistakes I committed, and the alterations I made to Hammer’s program as best I can recall.
Let me state here that I was delighted with the results. Before I began the training regimen, I barely benched 250. I did not time the repetition as Hammer recommends, but it was very slow and stressful. If I had to estimate, I’d say it took around seven seconds to finish. Despite the slow lift, I consider myself nuero-rate dominant, so doubtless I was suffering from some real nervous system fatigue during that lift.
Today, after 26 days of training (because of work/family obligations I took five days between workouts on two occasions as I recall) and a seven day rest period, I maxed out at 265, a lifetime best. It was a “pretty” 265 as well, very quick and explosive. I barely missed (oh the agony!) 270. After three tries I called it a day.
I knew it would be a good day, as 225 felt light and easy, like I could have done 5 or 6 reps, which would be far and away more than I’ve ever done.
So I am very happy indeed. I made very little progress the last four years and I sometimes wondered if I’d ever go any higher. It seems that I can.
If you read DB Hammer’s Bench Press article, he offers workouts for people considered to be “neuro-rate” dominant and “nuero-duration” dominant, and then people who consider themselves a mix of both. I assumed that I was nuero-rate dominant, but after my slow 250 bench I wasn’t sure, so to be safe I picked the mixed program, but made some significant alterations. Here is what I did.
Day 1 (increasing neuro-rate)
PIM Bench @ 74% AW 1RM
N x 5 sec
OI Barbell Row
N x 0-9 sec
PIM Bench @ 63% AW 1RM
N x 5 sec
Iso Low Pulley Row
N x 25-40 sec
Day 2 (increasing nuero-duration)
Oscillating Isometric Bench
Hold 10 seconds
Iso Barbell Row
Hold 30 seconds
Oscillating isometric bench
Hold 30 seconds, change positions at 15 sec.
Iso Biceps
Hold 30 seconds
Each exercise is done consecutively, one ofter the other, in a circuit with plenty of rest between each. Following the principles of Auto-Regulatory Training (AREG) I stopped each session when my strength/reps/speed began to wane. This is key! Technically, you’re supposed to stop at 6% dropoff, but I haven’t the slightest idea how to measure that properly (I was doing good to watch the wall clock out of the corner of my eye to time my lifts), so I went totally by feel. When I began to drop off, I simply stopped.
PIM Bench is just a fancy name for a normal bench press. I did as many reps as I could for five seconds. Hammer advises that bench pressing incorporates lifting 15% of your bodyweight as well. This is supposed to go into figuring your percentage of maximum to determine the weight used in a session. Unfortunately I didn’t figure this out until workout number 5. Oh well. I was able to lift 3-4 reps in five seconds at 74% of my maximum, and 5 reps at 63%.
Day 2 on Hammer’s site does not have isometric benches. I included that on my own. I had never done isometrics before, so I figured it might be weak for me, and I was right. I was awful at them at first. I couldn’t even hold 140 pounds for 30 seconds! By the 6th workout, I had gone up 30 pounds in isometric holds for 30 seconds and 10 seconds. I held 215 for ten, and 165 for 30. Undoubtedly this was a big help.
I also did not understand, from Hammer’s description, how to do an “Oscillating Isometric” or a “Isometric Parametric” which is what the workout actually called for. So sometimes I would hold the weight at the most uncomfortable level for thirty seconds in a classical isometric. Sometimes I would hold it at one angle for half the time, and another angle the rest of the time.
Hammer has since posted some very helpful pictures on his site that describe how to do an “OI.” And yes, I was doing them wrong.
Another change I made was rest periods. To follow Hammer’s protocol, the first four workouts have a four day rest period between each, and then the next two have a six day rest interval. In all honesty, I just couldn’t rest that long! Mentally it was very tough for me. I’m used to training 4-5 days per week, and I just couldn’t wait that long.
I drank a Venti cup of coffee (that’s a “large” for non-Starbucks customers) before I lifted. I had done some sprinting the night before.
Right now I am trying to think through how these training principles can be applied in competitive sprint swimming.
Feel free to ask whatever quuestions you like.
