JM Blakely

[dj181]

I've known him for over 15 years, and I was trained by him as well, so if any of you fellas have any questions regarding his training style or methods just give me a shout

[Hedgehog]

I've known him for over 15 years, and I was trained by him as well, so if any of you fellas have any questions regarding his training style or methods just give me a shout

Case scenario a natural powerlifter 181-220 lbser.

Describe a typical week of benchpress training.

And how are training cycles set up.

I also would like to know stuff like rep ranges, approximately what percentages you train at and what other training systems you tried and compare it to (Sheiko, Westside, Wendler, Metal Militia, Coan, et al).


...that should give you a little to work with.


And by the way, much appreciated that you share. Many times I believe it is even better to get feedback from someone who's trained with the creator of a system rather than the guy himself. Since that will be sort of a "consumers feedback".

[dj181]

Even though my title is Dj181, I basically competed in the 148 to 165 range, anyways about that training cycle It was a pretty simple method he used actually. After a good and through warm-up lasting for a good 15 min or so, we would start with 4*6 of competiton style benches. By competition style I mean going for a full 1 or 2 sec pause at the chest for the start of each and every rep, and the weight would stay the same for each rep. Once I could complete all 4 sets for 6 reps the weight would be increased by 5 pounds. After the bench, he would have my train tris which was close-grip benches, again with a 4*6 protocol but with no pause at the chest. And then as it got closer to meet time he would have my perform 4*3 on the bench, while keeping the close-grips at 4*6. Also, he would have me perform this training cycle once every 5 days, coz he said that I was too weak to warrant a once a week frequecy of training LOL! P.S. I was and still am a natural trainer.

[burn2live]

What are his recommendations as best exercises for an equipped bencher?

Regarding your reply to Hedge, I guess that's a raw cycle? Did he work in deloads, speedwork, anything different or was it all linear the whole way to the meet? What other triceps assistance did he advise other than close grips? (and apart from JM presses lol)

[dj181]

Well, he basically kept it at the same protocol, 4*6 further away from the meet and then 4*3 closer to meet time. Also during those 4 work sets rest time was of great importance, and we went when we were ready to go and feeling fully recovered, which would sometimes be up to 7 or 8 minutes. He never really had us very this protocol, but I know that he liked floor presses. He wasn't a fan of speedwork, and he thought that Louie Simmons 10*3 was basically training muscular endurance and not muscular strength. Another he was very good at and knowledgeable about was cutting and making weight. I remember once when he went from 237 to 220 in less than 1 day! Once I went from 157 to 148 in less than 1 day, and then I weighed in at 160 on the next day, which was meet day. All without taking and diuretics.

[tomjone20]

Please thank him for inventing the presses and let him know that I curse him after every workout that contains that exercise 

[dj181]

No problem man, I will So do you do bp competitions?

[Hedgehog]

Fcuking awesome thread man.

Thank him from me too for inventing the very creative JM presses.

Give him some credit for his awesome competition outfits too. Legend!

I will do your routine after my winter meet. Looks great when looking to add mass.

[dj181]

Yeah, the man is a true genius, and like most geniuses he is a very eccentric guy. I remember a meet that he did we back in the day, and as held 500 plus pounds on his chest the head judge gave him the press signal, and he let out a big laugh for a few seconds and then promptly pressed the weight off his chest. I even trained with his x-wife Anna for awhile. She had a 300 pound bench at 132 to her credit.

[dj181]

One more think that I forgot to mention, he thougth that it's best not to flare the elbows out, and to try and keep them at a 45 degree angle from the mid-line, rather than at a 90 degree angle. Also, he thinks that a HUGE bp is mainly from the triceps, as he used to make the point about guys coming back from pec tears pressing even more weight than before their pec tears.

[Hedgehog]

One more think that I forgot to mention, he thougth that it's best not to flare the elbows out, and to try and keep them at a 45 degree angle from the mid-line, rather than at a 90 degree angle. Also, he thinks that a HUGE bp is mainly from the triceps, as he used to make the point about guys coming back from pec tears pressing even more weight than before their pec tears.

With the newer shirts I gotta humbly disagree. It was correct with the EHPHD. But the way the next generation sleeves are sewn onto the body I think it's different today.

[dj181]

That could be man, he said that stuff back in the late 90s. BTW, he is just starting to train a bench team in Columbus, and I actually heard about through another friend of mine, as I am now living in Europe at the moment. I just started contact with him recently after a few years of silence, and I plan on asking him to come on over here for a visit