I've started using incline bench on my secondary bench day (normally my dynamic effort day) the past few weeks, and then to make it even better we just got a new swiss bar at my facility. I was debating how I wanted to program my training for that day, and after reading how Vincent Dizenzo has been using 5/3/1 for his incline bench with the football bar I thought it sounded like a good idea (especially considering few people know benching better than Vinny). Obviously like anything I'll need to tweak things to myself but I like the thought process of using 5/3/1 with a low training max for those secondary movements. I've been trying to simplify some of my training in general so I decided to do 5/3/1 sets with the middle grip on the bar and then drop to 50% for 5 sets of 12 with the wide grip, superset with rows. This followed by the shoulder shocker 2.0 complex by Joe DeFranco and a couple small assistance exercises made for a efficient but tough workout that didn't take very long. Win Win.
A. Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown w/ Pause at Bottom - 5x10
B. Paused Swiss Bar Incline Bench (Middle Grip) - 5/3/1 wk 1
165x5
205x5
225x11
C1. Down Set Wide Grip - 5x12 w/ 145lbs
C2. Seated Close Grip Row - 5x12
D. Shoulder Shocker 2.0 - 3 sets, 1st two with 15s, last with 10s.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRjk5NfnsDw]
I figured 15 lb dumbbells wouldn't be too bad with this complex. I was wrong. I barely made the reps with the second set, and had to drop to 10 lb dumbbells for the last one (and still had to take a few breaks). This will be a good complex to work on to build the smaller muscles in my shoulders, which apparently need a lot of work haha.
E1. Cable Tricep Extension - 4x18
E2. Dumbbell Curls - 4x15
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