Has anyone here ran the sheiko bench specialization program? If so, what were the results like?

are you talking about this one?

http://worldpowerliftingcom.bl...

yeah i'm pretty sure its that one. I originally found it in a spreadsheet of a bunch of sheiko programs

I haven't done it, but I've done the bench portion of almost all the rest of them. I have to say the sheiko programs are simply amazing for the raw lifter. They're years of data, and Boris Sheikos experience rolled into one.

I wouldn't recomend that much benching unless you're at a very high level, ie 405 and above.

I'd say just do the regular sheiko routines, just do the bench portion and not the squat and deadlift, it's already 3x a week benching, and they give great gains.

I'd also add to do a lot of rows and face pulls to stop your posture from going to hell, and keep in mind, if your posture goes, an injury will likely follow.

Hope that helps.

do you think any one of the programs is better than the others? also thanks man

I think they all have their place, if you've never done one before I'd go Sheiko 29, 37, 30, 32, 31 CMS-ms PREP.

Try them out man, they're as good as it gets, they might seem a little light at first, but keep in mind you're benching 3x a week, and the volume is very high.

I will chime in with my 0.02

There is no such thing as training 'sheiko'. The man was a coach, not a programmer and thus anything you find online is merely an example of ONE four-six week cycle he used for ONE specific athlete training at ONE specific time. That doesn't mean that following it wont work, but is more than likely not perfect for you.

With that off my chest... Training sheiko shouldn't be about picking some numbered 'program' and following the prescribed % and reps... I think that the foundation of sheiko programming surround simple principles regarding how to train, how to practise, how to organize training. Individual workout principles largely come from Prelipin (google him). Basically, to achieve excellence at anything practise is needed. Of course, the human body can only handle so much and thus we need to practise in a way that facilitates a lot of practise and in the most efficient way. So, train off of Prelipins tables and train frequently. The rest of the details need to come from your experience and your knowledge of yourself.

For someone who knows nothing about so called 'sheiko', I would be willing to state that following 29 for the 4 weeks is not a terrible idea. That being said, deciding to do 6 cycles in a row would not be the best idea IMO. Also, may I ask why you are leaving out the squat and deadlift?

If you a 3 lift person, I would suggest working all three movements in this way at least for a while to investigate your success with it.

If you are a bench only person, doing something like 29 but only doing the bench is not nearly enough work. If all you do is bench, benching 4 days a week is a minimum IMO. Maybe do 1-2 weeks at only 3, but then get your butt in gear.

If you want to talk more feel free to PM me.

I did the Sheiko bench program from Talmant's post on elitefts when my knees was messed. Instead of pushups I did 2 boards. It probably did more for my bench than any other program.

Anyone have experience with the 12 week Dave Bates Sheiko routines? He designed one that Eric posted on here initially, and then a few others on his website.

Larry:
Feel free to PM me. I myself have done a lot of the numbered programs as well and there is merit to trying them, but I just stress that following them blindly is a poor idea. We can chat more on PM about any questions you have and I can offer any suggestions from my experience.

For an FYI, I started training 'sheiko' style about 18 months ago and have gone from ~240lb raw bench to a PR 227.5kg bench in a single ply IPF shirt and from a ~350lb raw squat to 305kg IPF squat. I don't think there is anything special, just being smart about training. I think the secret to my success was when I started constantly filming and evaluating things I was doing frequently. When you train sheiko, you find yourself able to correct errors quickly due to frequent practise, and moderate RPE's for most training so that you don't start slipping into old habits when you get tired.

Excellent insight, thank you very much for sharing, I sincerely appreciate it.