So Your Bench Press Sucks? Work Harder…

“Success comes to those who persevere, not to those who complain and give up” -Jim Wendler

During my senior year of high school, I discovered powerlifting and began soaking up whatever content I could find about the best ways to train so I could get as strong as possible. I began a deep dive into content on Westside Barbell and EliteFTS.  I was convinced that a conjugate program structure was the best way to train no matter what.  I loved the idea of switching movements and finding ways to hit very specific weaknesses.  Implementing a rotation of movements helped to satisfy the urge to program hop, without actually jumping off the plan.  Makes sense right?  I later learned that specificity of competition movements was needed early in my strength training career.  I was highly influenced by Jim Wendler with his 5/3/1 setup (Wendler, 2019) and Marty Gallagher with a linear approach (Gallagher, 2008).  My body reacted well to the increased volume and I was able to pack on a lot of lean mass. I saw a ton of progress that I wasn’t experiencing in lower reps ranges.  Brian Bingaman, now an Athletic Director at Eastern University, made a comment to me when I went to visit him during his time as the strength coach at LaSalle University.  I was in my early 20’s and he told me how I was in a really cool time period where I could try out different programs and see what really worked for me.  That mindset stuck with me: I needed to explore and determine the best concepts to establish sustained progress.  I’ve incorporated a variety of ideas with myself and clients over the years, but conjugate has always been a north star for me and generally plays some role in my programming.

The dynamic effort format and movements that emphasize the triceps are 2 of my favorite takeaways from Conjugate.  I have seen, firsthand, that using full range of motion (ROM) movements creates an opportunity to maximize force production and build the most strength.  When I’m in the beginning stages of planning for a meet or competition, I will use these ideas and draw up a conjugate template.  I typically begin by expanding maximum effort movements into 3 week waves, based on Matt Wenning’s focus on getting the most out of movements before rotating (Wenning, 2022).  I ensure that my programming incorporates the many nuances of movement rotation from the work of Brian Alsruhe.  Like Brian, I incorporate giant sets into my conjugate structure (Alsruhe, 2017).  The volume for accessories is high while keeping each session time efficient.  My overall intention with this approach is to put in a lot of effort and maximize return on exercises that are incorporated.  This doesn’t mean programming ego-driven singles under well rested conditions.  The idea is to push yourself or your athlete on a difficult barbell exercise - with intention and a sense of urgency.               

The floor press/barbell row couplet epitomizes my idea of effort and hard work. It's a true representation of what I aim to get out of giant sets and a push/pull approach to building press movements.  There’s a high level of commitment required to lay on the floor and press, then get up and immediately hit a set of bent-over rows. When a high level of effort is present, most plateaus will end up being stepping stones.  

I tried floor press for the first time during senior year of high school. Many didn’t understand the idea behind it and said I should bench press instead, so I followed their lead.  Years later, I circled back to it and the press/row combo stood out as the most effective way to build my pressing strength.  A close-grip is used on the press, of course, and grip can vary for rows.  When I visited Matt Wenning’s gym in Columbus, Ohio, we pressed laying on foam.  Recently I tried a crash pad normally used for dropping stones and other strongman implements. The elbows hit the floor and then you get a little more sink before beginning the press.  I am at the point where the barbell still hits my chest on the floor press, but either way the elbows should be allowed to sink into the floor momentarily while holding a quality position at the chest before pressing.  This challenges stability and position at the bottom range.  These aspects will take many lifters outside their comfort zone and the willingness to do that needs to be there if you are going all in on the strength game.

When an athlete is effectively able to use leg drive to produce force in the bench press, training the movement without that advantage is a great way to continue progressing.  Creating a stable base and platform on the bench with the lats, core, and lower body is also vital.  Introducing an unstable environment for pressing, and pairing it with a row that engages the core, improves the ability to create a stable base. The comfort level to push heavy loads under these conditions may not be there for everyone.  Plateaus in competition lifts are typically due to adaptations to current demands in training.  Pushing limits for these variations is a great way to switch up how you're training the movement and break through that stagnation.

Conjugate is one the most controversial training ideologies.  It’s also one of the most adaptable.  A particular lift may require a certain approach that’s a little different in order to experience sustained progress.  The bench press was the most frustrating for me when I hit a wall.  Utilizing some different movements and approaches got things moving forward. This piece is not an endorsement or advertisement for conjugate, even though I feel there is a place for most programming to incorporate it.  It is important to understand that variety within your respective periodization needs to be considered.  When the list of concepts you’ve tried after being “stuck” is short, are you really working that hard to make progress? I would suggest that it is more likely that the individual is sticking with what’s comfortable or making too many excuses to commit to anything else.  The lies need to stop. “How do you stop the lies?  You stop the lies with the truth.” (Willink, 2017)  The truth is that you just need to work harder.       

References

Alsruhe, B. (2017, February 7) Free Strength Program!!! How I Setup the Conjugate Method (Video). Youtube.

Gallagher, M. (2008, June 21) Purposeful Primitive: From Fat and Flaccid to lean and Powerful – Using Primordial Laws of Fitness to Trigger Inevitable, Lasting and Dramatic Physical Change. Dragon Door Publications.

Wendler, J. (2019, January 16) 5/3/1 Forever: Simple and Effective Programming for Size, Speed and Strength. Jim Wendler, LLC

Wenning, M. (2022, June 15) 121 - Matt Wenning on his Warm-up, Westside, and Turds? (Video). Youtube.

Willink, J. (2017, August 7) All Your Excuses are Lies - Jocko Willink (Video). Youtube.