This program is designed for fitness athletes who need to improve their Bench Press 1RM, their Bench Press volume capacity, and their Bench Press consistency under fatigue.
This program, designed by Coach Ray Fleser, has been performed 1-2 times per year by all of his competitive fitness athletes, including many CrossFit Regional and Games athletes.
Although this will likely increase a fitness athlete’s 1RM, the focus of this program is to increase volume capacity, not the 1RM. For experienced Powerlifters, this program will NOT likely help your 1RM, or be the preferred method of training for a Powerlifting meet. This focus is also athletic performance, not hypertrophy, so it is not designed as a “chest and triceps” workout for experienced bodybuilders.
However, if you are a fitness athlete looking to increase your endurance capacity for the bench Press, your pec and tricep endurance, and your general Bench-ability, this program will make you a machine!
Session Template:
Part 1:
-Establish a 1 Rep Heavy
-Build in weight as reps decrease
-Remain successful through the set at 16:00
-If you max out and fail at the 18:00 single, that is OK
0:00-5 reps
2:00-5 reps
4:00-4 reps
6:00-4 reps
8:00-3 reps
10:00-3 reps
12:00-2 reps
14:00-2 reps
16:00-1 rep
18:00-1 rep
Part 2:
-10 sets
-1 set every 2 min
-5 Bench Press at 60% or 1 Rep Heavy
-Row for Calories on the Concept 2 rower until the end of the minute
For this piece, you perform 5 unbroken Bench Press at beginning of each 2-minute set. Then, immediately get on the rower. You should be on the rower within 15 seconds. Row at a high pace, about 80-90% effort, until the minute mark. Then, take the next minute to recover. Repeat this for 10 rounds.
The way this is written is for the first session. 65% may seem light at first, but this workout strives for success for all 10 sets, and when the muscles fatigue, productivity stops. So, it is better to establish this workout’s baseline at a lower percentage, and create a platform to improve. If you start too heavy and fail miserably, it will make planning your growth very difficult.
For the rower, keep score for all of your sets. At the end, take the total number, and divide it by 10. For example, if at the end of your first workout, the rower shows 80 calories, then you will divide it by 10 and average 8 calories on your next attempt.
Hopefully, you are successful for all 50 reps on your first attempt and you have a total number that you can average out. Once you have that, you can plan your second session. For your second session, disregard the 1 minute on, 1 minute off time cap, and perform the average number of calories. With the previous example, you would perform 8 calories, even if it only takes 50 seconds, or even if it takes 70 seconds. You should strive to be consistent with 1 minute on, 1 minute off.
Whenever you are successful, add 5 pounds to the Bench Press the following week. This is intended to be performed 1-2 times per week for 8-10 weeks. If you are confident in your metcon improvements, feel free to add in a calorie on the rower as you progress.
RAY FLESER
CO- Owner and Director of Fitness Operations at oceanstatecrossfit.com
A 2017 CrossFit Games athlete and four-time Regional athlete, Coach Ray Fleser has had a life-long fitness journey. He is proud to offer you a world class fitness experience at Ironclad Fitness Center.
- Crossfit Level 3 Coach
- CrossFit Kids Coach
- NASM Certified Personal Trainer
- CPR/AED Certified
- ACLS Certified
- Crossfit Strongman Coach
- USA Weightlifting Level 1 Coach
You can find more by Ray Fleser here: https://www.oceanstatecrossfit.com/remote-programming
Follow Ray and his Facilities on the Gram @ray_Fleser @Ironcladfitnesscenter