Home / Program Reviews / Mike Westerdal's Critical Bench Program

A Review Of
Mike Westerdal's
Critical Bench Program

For More Info And To Purchase Rating: Recommended For: Intermediates - Advanced Price: $40 Format: Customized Ebook (electronic delivery) Bonuses: Many Ebooks including ones from Ken Lain, Shawn Lattimer and Charles Staley This Site's Mike Westerdal Page

Once you tell people that you are lifting weights, you are bound to get the question, "Oh yeah, what do you bench?"

If you can't boast of an impressive bench, that's one question you can quickly dread hearing. Mike Westerdal's Critical Bench Program aims to take the sting out of that question by increasing your one rep bench max by 50 pounds in 10 weeks.

Is that possible? A 50 lb. increase in just 10 weeks?

Yes. With a caveat... As Mike makes clear, you can't expect to just keep consecutively repeating the program and making such increases every ten weeks. This is an intense program focused on increasing your bench. After completing such a program, you must allow the body time to regroup before trying it again.

But, while a 50 lb. increase is a lofty goal, it is a realistic goal for those willing to put in the effort.

Mike has done an impressive job putting this program together. As a guy who benches in the 450 lb. range, he knows a thing or two about what it takes to push serious weight. He explains that the bench press isn't just about your pectoral muscles, it is a compound lift that can utilize every muscle in your body. Your pecs, delts and triceps may do most of the work, but any weak links you have throughout the body can show up in your bench.

The program guides you through all the little-known bench press tips and techniques for safely getting a little more weight on the barbell. Correctly positioning yourself, gripping the bar, breathing, stretching and a host of other factors can give you a big edge.

Additionally, with the bench press more than any other lift, you must pay attention to your mindset (your mental approach to your lifts). This is an area Mike spends some time on. Being underneath a loaded bar has a way of playing some mind games with you if you aren't careful.

Mike Westerdal, author of the Critical Bench Program

Mike gives good instruction on developing a positive approach, on programming your subconscious mind to the point where you can't fail. He gets into the value of setting goals and very effectively primes your mind to go after and get that 50 lb. increase.

Though not the focus of the program, Mike does do a good bit on dieting, even providing a couple day's worth of solid sample meal plans. He also goes through the best available supplements and provides good recommendations.

Implementing the above techniques and tips can help you make an improvement in your bench literally overnight. But the real punch of this program is in the training program...

The Training Program

Inexperienced trainers looking to increase their benches will do bench press after bench press. They will do flat on Mondays, inclines on Tuesdays, declines on Wednesdays and then repeat. This doesn't work, it just creates overtraining (and frustration).

The Critical Bench Program is an intelligent approach that can produce amazing results. It trains your entire body with an emphasis on your bench. It is five-day-a-week training (5 short but intense workouts followed by two days of rest). You only bench in the first workout. Through exercise selection and a careful eye on avoiding overtraining, the other 4 workouts have you shoring up the weak spots that will ultimately translate to the bench press gains you didn't think possible.

It builds up not just your chest muscles, but your entire body. That is the key to truly great progress.

It is also a Personalized program. When you purchase the Critical Bench Program, you tell Mike where your current one-rep max is at. You receive the training program with the loads you need to be at for your bench press routines already figured and included on your log sheet.

Gradually, those loads increase as you progress the program until...

you reach that MONSTROUS goal
of the 50 lb. increase in 10 weeks.

The personalization is a nice feature that simplifies the program. It gives you the week-by-week goals you need to be hitting in order to reach your ultimate goal. All together, this is a well-explained training program that leaves no stone unturned. Impressive stuff.

Notable Bonuses

The most valuable bonus is Mike's email address. He provides a sincere offer to help you with any questions you have in order to assure that you get the most out of the program. Few are as knowledgeable as Mike when it comes to the bench press. So, if you have questions on how to increase your bench, you simply can't do better than getting your answers directly from Mike.

There is also a wide array of bodybuilding books included. An interview with world-class bencher Ken Lain and his "matrix" program is included. Shawn Lattimer also provides his best bench workout. These are guys who can move 800 lbs. off their chests.

Charles Staley's book is also a great read. It is a collection of articles from Staley and other top authors that any serious trainer will be able to take some good tips from.

If I had to complain...

I'd probably start to complain about the fact that the program relies on spotters for the benching and the fact that I know many, yours truly included, prefer to train at home and alone. But Mike addresses this and reminds you (and me) that big gains happen when you step out of your comfort zone and truly push yourself. If your not willing to do that from time to time, you really shouldn't expect the big, quick gains.

You can, of course, modify a little and make this program work for you. But having good training partners (spotters) will give you an added boost. Spotting is a skill and Mike gives good instruction on how to develop those skills (for you and your training partner).

Conclusion

The Critical Bench Program is ten weeks of intense training that will wake your body up and likely leave you bench pressing poundage that you never thought possible.

To be clear, a big bench press isn't just about having some bragging material. Your ability to lift heavy on the compound lifts like bench presses, squats and deadlifts are central to developing the big, impressive physique. If that is your goal, then you should be looking to improving your strength on these lifts.

Mike has done a fantastic job putting all of his vast knowledge into this program. It is the most respected and most effective bench program out there and has thousands of beefed up trainers singing its praises. It educates trainers on all the variables that go into pressing an impressive amount, skillfully teaches the advanced tips and techniques and gives trainers an extremely effective training program customized to their abilities.

For those looking to bust through a bench press plateau, just speed up their rate of progress, or simply looking to see exactly what they can accomplish with the bench when they really put their minds to it, this is a great program.

Check out Mike Westerdal's
Critical Bench Program Here