Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2009 8:58:40 GMT -5
I posted this on another forum that I'm part of but thought I would share it with people that know way more about Sheiko than I do. I welcome any comments you may have as I'd like to try this out for a meet next year.
My Sheiko 37 Bench Only Experiment
I will not bore with you the specifics but I’ve had a lingering knee problem for 2 years and earlier this year it got extremely bad and I had to have surgery. It has been a challenging year trying to recover and I felt empty not lifting so I decided that I’d make the best out of a bad situation and at least bench. My comeback started on June 28, of this year, It was the first time I had benched since March 30th just a few days before everything went south, ironically that day I went heavy and hit 410. I was also down at least 30 pounds. I did 5 sets of 5 with 225 that day and it was a bit shaky. I then started doing the Buckeye (pyramid routine) with a realistic max in mind. Every week I bumped up my projected max 10 pounds. I had no leg drive at all and it was a slow steady comeback as I tried to heal and gain back my strength. On Oct 22nd I tested my max and got a fairly ugly 385. With nothing to lose I thought it was time to change it up. I have always wondered what a bench only program would be like and especially one of these high volume methods like Sheiko. It would serve my curiosity and allow me to lift more often. So, I contacted my local Sheiko guru and he suggested I do Sheiko 37 and strip out what I could not do. I have been a bit skeptical about Sheiko because I have always been one of those that feels like he is just getting started at 80% and not end with it. And how is multiple sets of 2s,3s, & 4s going to help me when I do this weight for 8 or 10? But having seen people train this way and post elite totals or near elite it certainly warranted my attention and what the heck did I have to lose doing a 4 week program anyway?
So I took the routine and stripped out DLs & Squats. There was minimal tricep work and flyes. I did nothing else. On days that I was required to have 2 bench session that would normally be sandwiched between the DL or Squat I chose to ride the stationary bike for 15 minutes and then go back to benching. I did every rep as quality as I could with up to a 2 sec pauses off my chest. I was amazed at how this routine broke me down physically and somewhat mentally. I had to really focus at the end of the workouts to stay tight and keep pushing through. It wasn’t long before I felt sore but I was determined to see this through. So I did this for a month and did a light bench session 4 days after with 225 but may have gotten a bit crazy with the amount of reps – I was already feeling mad strong as evidence by my last set of 22 (mistake in retrospect). I then decided that I would take the next week completely off and test myself. Well test day on Dec 2nd and I worked up to my previous max and paused 385 easy off my chest and tossed it up. I then went to 405 and gave it a slight pause and pressed it. I failed at 415 halfway up and had to finish it with tap love. So in a month I went from an ugly 385 to what I think was a competition 405.
My raw contest max is 405 and my best gym max is 425 (oddly enough 4 days after a comp). Having been around 400 for so long now it might be said that I was just getting back to where I was but the fact is I got there in a month lifting pretty much 80% (310) or less of my 1RM. This has been an eye opening experience for me and I look forward to experimenting with this more in the future. I think the perfect mix would be cycling this training with my old school training. My next run at Sheiko will be a contest simulator so that I can try this out next year for a meet….and put up 425+ on the platform.
My Sheiko 37 Bench Only Experiment
I will not bore with you the specifics but I’ve had a lingering knee problem for 2 years and earlier this year it got extremely bad and I had to have surgery. It has been a challenging year trying to recover and I felt empty not lifting so I decided that I’d make the best out of a bad situation and at least bench. My comeback started on June 28, of this year, It was the first time I had benched since March 30th just a few days before everything went south, ironically that day I went heavy and hit 410. I was also down at least 30 pounds. I did 5 sets of 5 with 225 that day and it was a bit shaky. I then started doing the Buckeye (pyramid routine) with a realistic max in mind. Every week I bumped up my projected max 10 pounds. I had no leg drive at all and it was a slow steady comeback as I tried to heal and gain back my strength. On Oct 22nd I tested my max and got a fairly ugly 385. With nothing to lose I thought it was time to change it up. I have always wondered what a bench only program would be like and especially one of these high volume methods like Sheiko. It would serve my curiosity and allow me to lift more often. So, I contacted my local Sheiko guru and he suggested I do Sheiko 37 and strip out what I could not do. I have been a bit skeptical about Sheiko because I have always been one of those that feels like he is just getting started at 80% and not end with it. And how is multiple sets of 2s,3s, & 4s going to help me when I do this weight for 8 or 10? But having seen people train this way and post elite totals or near elite it certainly warranted my attention and what the heck did I have to lose doing a 4 week program anyway?
So I took the routine and stripped out DLs & Squats. There was minimal tricep work and flyes. I did nothing else. On days that I was required to have 2 bench session that would normally be sandwiched between the DL or Squat I chose to ride the stationary bike for 15 minutes and then go back to benching. I did every rep as quality as I could with up to a 2 sec pauses off my chest. I was amazed at how this routine broke me down physically and somewhat mentally. I had to really focus at the end of the workouts to stay tight and keep pushing through. It wasn’t long before I felt sore but I was determined to see this through. So I did this for a month and did a light bench session 4 days after with 225 but may have gotten a bit crazy with the amount of reps – I was already feeling mad strong as evidence by my last set of 22 (mistake in retrospect). I then decided that I would take the next week completely off and test myself. Well test day on Dec 2nd and I worked up to my previous max and paused 385 easy off my chest and tossed it up. I then went to 405 and gave it a slight pause and pressed it. I failed at 415 halfway up and had to finish it with tap love. So in a month I went from an ugly 385 to what I think was a competition 405.
My raw contest max is 405 and my best gym max is 425 (oddly enough 4 days after a comp). Having been around 400 for so long now it might be said that I was just getting back to where I was but the fact is I got there in a month lifting pretty much 80% (310) or less of my 1RM. This has been an eye opening experience for me and I look forward to experimenting with this more in the future. I think the perfect mix would be cycling this training with my old school training. My next run at Sheiko will be a contest simulator so that I can try this out next year for a meet….and put up 425+ on the platform.
