In your manual, the basic tempalte you outline a equipped bench day,
Friday - Shirt Bench
Main Lockout variation - Cyclic Lockout Assistance - Cyclic Lockout Supplement - 4 to 5 sets of 5 to 8 reps Lats
If someone was wanting to focus on raw strength, how would you suggest to change this day? Would you suggest keeping this more of a mid range-to lockout type day? (IE bench with bands/chains,floor presses, boards?) or how would you alter that?
I would definately keep it "lockout focused" because I really feel like the increased weight can improve your ability to handle weights raw through a full range of motion. In fact, I would even reccommend getting into a shirt from time to time. If you want to focus it on mid-range, that's fine and just a function of exercise selection. Everything else I would keep the same.
I do have a shirt and can keep it an equipped day, I am just focusing on getting my raw bench up. For someone purley looking to up there raw bench at this time would you still think getting in a shirt would help? Or would just focusing on raw lockout be more benificial? For exercise selection, bench with chains/bands, boards(possibly with chains or bands), and floor press, would those sound alirght?
Maxing out on anything every week is a bad idea. Even if the board height is varied, it's not ideal for what you're trying to do. I can go into more detail here if anybody is still confused.
Seeing as the question was regarding raw strength, yes, I would still do shirt work even if my only desire was to compete raw. The shirt work would change and only occupy short periods each meet cycle, but it would still exist. The reason is the shirt allows you to handle straight weight (which feels different than bands and chains) far above your max for a full range of motion. Reverse bands are an acceptable substitute, but not the same thing. The reason this is good for a raw lifter is this: The overload it provides helps induce nervous system adaptations that result in greater strength gains when it is paired properly with raw work. Anecdotally, my raw lifts shot up when I started doing lots of gear work. It's the same concept as a static hold, but better b/c it's through a full range of motion. You don't get a grounding effect as you do with bands. You get full stabilization (you don't get this with bands and chains) It's a full ROM (no so with boards, floors, and rack work) As I said before, reverse bands are an acceptable substitute, but even then, the feel is so different.
Maxing out on anything every week is a bad idea. Even if the board height is varied, it's not ideal for what you're trying to do. I can go into more detail here if anybody is still confused.
Seeing as the question was regarding raw strength, yes, I would still do shirt work even if my only desire was to compete raw. The shirt work would change and only occupy short periods each meet cycle, but it would still exist. The reason is the shirt allows you to handle straight weight (which feels different than bands and chains) far above your max for a full range of motion. Reverse bands are an acceptable substitute, but not the same thing. The reason this is good for a raw lifter is this: The overload it provides helps induce nervous system adaptations that result in greater strength gains when it is paired properly with raw work. Anecdotally, my raw lifts shot up when I started doing lots of gear work. It's the same concept as a static hold, but better b/c it's through a full range of motion. You don't get a grounding effect as you do with bands. You get full stabilization (you don't get this with bands and chains) It's a full ROM (no so with boards, floors, and rack work) As I said before, reverse bands are an acceptable substitute, but even then, the feel is so different.
I want to compete in gear down the road and have had 6-8 training sessions in my shirt already. I am just focusing on raw strength atm so i wasnt sure if you would recommend more raw work or like you've said, the shirt work well help the raw work a lot. One point i failed to say is, I do not have your manual yet. It should be ariving sometime today or tomorrow, but most of the information ive gotten has ether came from this forum or from a friend who got his manual already. So are you advising do shirt work every week or do it for shorter periods(ie 3 weeks?).
If your focus is raw, then I'd suggest making shirt work an "assistance" exercise. It would be acceptable to put it in the "Secondary Bench Main" slot of the templates in the manual. If you do it for a 3-6 week period once every 15-20 weeks, that would be good (again, only if your goal is raw). The rest of the time, make sure to rotate in other exercises.
