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Barbell What weight to start a new cycle or alternative with hypertrophy for bench?

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guardian7

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Need help determining the next cycle. I am following PTTP bench/DL program. I am using a linear step program. Add five pounds. Repeat for a workout. Then add five pounds. Lifting four days a week except for one week for the past month. Two sets, the second set 10 percent less. I am OK with deadlift but a beginner in bench. I am 50 years old. 75 KG. General health goals. I have an academic job not related to fitness. My goal is bodyweight (75) * 5 by March 15th.

Here are the actual numbers for the bench cycle in KG. Rounded down to avoid typing .5 each time.

50/50/52/52/

55/55/57/

57/62/62/ Added reps to the second set but couldn’t sustain the frequency.

60/60/65/65/

67/67/70/62.5

I am at the limit for a full cycle. Felt I couldn’t repeat the 70 workout, which was a PR. I did a second set at 60 after doing the 62.5, which was difficult. It was a good choice. 60 on the second set felt too light and I did 7 reps easily.

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What weight do I start a new cycle at? Or should I switch to hypertrophy/volume for a couple of weeks. The PTTP book is not that clear on what weight to start a new cycle. In a previous post on this forum on owning the weight, many said it was a good idea to add more volume before adding weight, but the suggested workouts would take too long and did not seem at my modest level.

Pavel has mentioned that two week of continuous improvement seems to be the maximum.

Are there simple programs that alternative stength and hypertrophy cycles while doing the same lifts in a macro cycle?

For example, for the next two weeks, in my case do as many reps of 62.5 as I can until I hit ten and then add weight?

I have one more month that I can stay with this program. It has to be, short, frequent, and simple like PTTP or I might not be able to follow it. There were some good suggestions in an earlier post of mine, but as you can see my bench is not very advanced. It is my weak link. This is the second time training it. I don’t have time or access to equipment for long workouts. PTTP is perfect.

Deadlift is still going on the linear step.

I started training barbell last year with PTTP. Did some deadlifting before but did not train bench until last year. I only train barbell two months a year. in the winter.

It is going well but not sure of the next step.
 
I suppose you listed 5 weeks workouts, 4 or 3 times a week? Straight progress.

If you continue 4 times a week, my bet is: start with 57,5kg and end the second week with 75kg. Then start with 62,5 and you'll end in 80. Just keep the second set light if you do 4 workouts a week.

I'm not sure how you've done in the past with the second set. Only 5 reps, with 5kg less than the main set. When you get to 67,5kg take 7,5kg off.

For hypertrophy you can do the bear. Take another 10% off and then do sets of five with short rest periods until you can't do it with good form. I wouldn't do this if training more than 3 times a week. But what do I know, I haven't tried.
 
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