Original starter · 6 weeks

Bench Press Specialization

Six weeks of heavy, paused and volume bench days with maintenance squats and pulls, ending in a new bench max test.

6weeks

4days a week

24sessions

374working sets

Every week is written out below. Opening the builder lets you adapt the exercises, loads and progression, then share a link to your own version.

How the block progresses

Measured from the prescriptions below, week 1 against week 6.

Measure	Week 1	Week 6	Change
Working sets	69	34	−51%
Total reps	711	315	−56%
Reps per set	10.3	9.3	−10%
Average RPE	7.1	6.1	−15%

Week 1

DAY 1 - MON - Heavy Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Bench Press	5 × 5	75%	3:00
Incline Dumbbell Press	3 × 10	RPE 7	1:45
Pendlay Row	4 × 8	RPE 7	1:45
Cable Triceps Pushdown	3 × 15	RPE 7.5	1:00
Face Pull	3 × 15	RPE 7	1:00

DAY 2 - TUE - Squat and Spoto

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Back Squat	4 × 5	72.5%	3:00
Spoto Press	4 × 6	RPE 7	2:30
Lying Leg Curl	3 × 12	RPE 7.5	1:15
Lat Pulldown	4 × 10	RPE 7	1:30
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	3 × 15	RPE 7.5	1:00

DAY 4 - THU - Paused Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Paused Bench Press	4 × 4	RPE 7	3:00
Close-Grip Bench Press	3 × 8	RPE 7	2:30
Dip	3 × 10	RPE 7	1:30
Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row	4 × 12	RPE 7	1:30
Skull Crusher	3 × 12	RPE 7.5	1:00

DAY 5 - SAT - Deadlift and Volume Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Deadlift	3 × 5	72.5%	3:30
Larsen Press	4 × 8	RPE 7	2:00
Overhead Press	3 × 8	RPE 7	2:00
Pull-Up	3 × 8	RPE 7	1:30
Plank · Seconds	3 × 40	RPE 7	1:00

Week 2

DAY 1 - MON - Heavy Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Bench Press	5 × 5	77.5%	3:00
Incline Dumbbell Press	3 × 10	RPE 7.5	1:45
Pendlay Row	4 × 8	RPE 7.5	1:45
Cable Triceps Pushdown	3 × 12	RPE 8	1:00
Face Pull	3 × 15	RPE 7.5	1:00

DAY 2 - TUE - Squat and Spoto

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Back Squat	4 × 5	75%	3:00
Spoto Press	4 × 6	RPE 7.5	2:30
Lying Leg Curl	3 × 12	RPE 8	1:15
Lat Pulldown	4 × 10	RPE 7.5	1:30
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	3 × 15	RPE 8	1:00

DAY 4 - THU - Paused Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Paused Bench Press	4 × 4	RPE 7.5	3:00
Close-Grip Bench Press	3 × 8	RPE 7.5	2:30
Dip	3 × 10	RPE 7.5	1:30
Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row	4 × 10	RPE 7.5	1:30
Skull Crusher	3 × 12	RPE 8	1:00

DAY 5 - SAT - Deadlift and Volume Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Deadlift	3 × 5	75%	3:30
Larsen Press	5 × 8	RPE 7	2:00
Overhead Press	3 × 8	RPE 7.5	2:00
Pull-Up	3 × 8	RPE 7.5	1:30
Plank · Seconds	3 × 45	RPE 7	1:00

Week 3

DAY 1 - MON - Heavy Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Bench Press	5 × 3	82.5%	3:00
Incline Dumbbell Press	3 × 8	RPE 7.5	1:45
Pendlay Row	4 × 6	RPE 7.5	1:45
Cable Triceps Pushdown	4 × 12	RPE 8	1:00
Face Pull	3 × 15	RPE 8	1:00

DAY 2 - TUE - Squat and Spoto

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Back Squat	4 × 4	77.5%	3:00
Spoto Press	4 × 5	RPE 7.5	2:30
Lying Leg Curl	3 × 10	RPE 8	1:15
Lat Pulldown	4 × 8	RPE 8	1:30
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	4 × 12	RPE 8	1:00

DAY 4 - THU - Paused Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Paused Bench Press	5 × 3	RPE 7.5	3:00
Close-Grip Bench Press	4 × 6	RPE 7.5	2:30
Dip	3 × 8	RPE 8	1:30
Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row	4 × 10	RPE 8	1:30
Skull Crusher	3 × 10	RPE 8	1:00

DAY 5 - SAT - Deadlift and Volume Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Deadlift	3 × 4	77.5%	3:30
Larsen Press	4 × 6	RPE 7.5	2:00
Overhead Press	3 × 6	RPE 7.5	2:00
Pull-Up	4 × 8	RPE 8	1:30
Plank · Seconds	3 × 45	RPE 7	1:00

Week 4

DAY 1 - MON - Heavy Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Bench Press	4 × 3	85%	3:00
Incline Dumbbell Press	3 × 8	RPE 8	1:45
Pendlay Row	4 × 6	RPE 8	1:45
Cable Triceps Pushdown	4 × 10	RPE 8.5	1:00
Face Pull	3 × 12	RPE 8	1:00

DAY 2 - TUE - Squat and Spoto

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Back Squat	3 × 4	80%	3:00
Spoto Press	4 × 5	RPE 8	2:30
Lying Leg Curl	3 × 10	RPE 8	1:15
Lat Pulldown	3 × 8	RPE 8	1:30
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	4 × 12	RPE 8.5	1:00

DAY 4 - THU - Paused Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Paused Bench Press	5 × 3	RPE 8	3:00
Close-Grip Bench Press	4 × 6	RPE 8	2:30
Dip	3 × 8	RPE 8	1:30
Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row	3 × 10	RPE 8	1:30
Skull Crusher	3 × 10	RPE 8.5	1:00

DAY 5 - SAT - Deadlift and Volume Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Deadlift	3 × 3	80%	3:30
Larsen Press	5 × 6	RPE 7.5	2:00
Overhead Press	3 × 6	RPE 8	2:00
Pull-Up	4 × 6	RPE 8	1:30
Plank · Seconds	3 × 50	RPE 7	1:00

Week 5

DAY 1 - MON - Heavy Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Bench Press	3 × 2	90%	3:00
Bench Press · Backoff	3 × 3	82.5%	2:30
Incline Dumbbell Press	2 × 8	RPE 7	1:45
Pendlay Row	3 × 6	RPE 7.5	1:45
Cable Triceps Pushdown	3 × 10	RPE 8	1:00
Face Pull	2 × 12	RPE 7.5	1:00

DAY 2 - TUE - Squat and Spoto

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Back Squat	3 × 3	80%	3:00
Spoto Press	3 × 4	RPE 7.5	2:30
Lying Leg Curl	2 × 10	RPE 7.5	1:15
Lat Pulldown	3 × 8	RPE 7.5	1:30
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	3 × 12	RPE 8	1:00

DAY 4 - THU - Paused Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Paused Bench Press	3 × 2	RPE 8	3:00
Close-Grip Bench Press	3 × 5	RPE 7.5	2:30
Dip	2 × 8	RPE 7.5	1:30
Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row	3 × 8	RPE 7.5	1:30
Skull Crusher	2 × 10	RPE 7.5	1:00

DAY 5 - SAT - Deadlift and Volume Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Deadlift	2 × 3	80%	3:30
Larsen Press	3 × 6	RPE 7	2:00
Overhead Press	2 × 6	RPE 7.5	2:00
Pull-Up	3 × 6	RPE 7.5	1:30
Plank · Seconds	3 × 40	RPE 7	1:00

Week 6

DAY 1 - MON - Heavy Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Bench Press	1 × 1	102%	3:00
Pendlay Row	2 × 6	RPE 6	1:45
Cable Triceps Pushdown	2 × 12	RPE 6	1:00
Face Pull	2 × 15	RPE 6	1:00

DAY 2 - TUE - Squat and Spoto

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Back Squat	2 × 3	70%	3:00
Spoto Press	2 × 4	RPE 6	2:30
Lying Leg Curl	2 × 10	RPE 6	1:15
Lat Pulldown	2 × 10	RPE 6	1:30
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	2 × 15	RPE 6	1:00

DAY 4 - THU - Paused Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Paused Bench Press	2 × 2	RPE 6	3:00
Close-Grip Bench Press	2 × 5	RPE 6	2:30
Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row	2 × 10	RPE 6	1:30

DAY 5 - SAT - Deadlift and Volume Bench

Exercise	Sets × reps	Effort / load	Rest
Deadlift	2 × 2	70%	3:30
Larsen Press	2 × 6	RPE 6	2:00
Overhead Press	2 × 6	RPE 6	2:00
Pull-Up	2 × 6	RPE 6	1:30
Plank · Seconds	3 × 30	RPE 7	1:00

What the research says

"Thus, from a practical standpoint, greater training frequencies can be used for additional RT volume, which is then likely to result in greater muscular strength gains."

Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Davies TB, Lazinica B, Krieger JW, Pedisic Z. Effect of Resistance Training Frequency on Gains in Muscular Strength. Sports Med, 2018. PubMed

From the guide How Often to Squat, Bench and Deadlift Each Week