Plague of Strength

“There were times,” recalls former onstage adversary Frank Zane, “when he would work out all day — literally. He’d get to the gym at 8 or 9 a.m. and train until noon or so. Then he’d go for lunch, and then he’d return to the gym to train for another few hours. After that he’d get dinner at 5 p.m. or so and come back for his nighttime workout. It would be a 12-hour day centered on training” (Perine)

Though he never competed as a bodybuilder, Hennessey didn’t train unlike a bodybuilder. He trained between three and six days a week, alternating what amounted to powerlifting and bodybuilding days.  If he was training six days a week, Hennessey would do all three power lifts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then assistance movements on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (Ditillo), and if he was training four days a week, he’d train heavy on Tuesdays and Thursdays and do “light” bodybuilding stuff on Thursdays and Sundays” (Hollister).  As you’ll see, “light” is an exceptionally relative term when it comes to Hennessey’s training, and no matter what the day, Hennessey always had the bench press in mind- it was his baby, and he treated it like a tiny little baby Jesus with bones made of glass and the brain of Stephen Hawking.

In spite of having his bench in mind at all times, Hennessey’s routines were as esoteric as those of The Black Panther.  Whatever he was doing on the heavy days, Hennessey would focus on the big three lifts, but he’d never know if he was doing low reps, high reps, or attempting a new max until he go to the gym.  Unlike some of the people you’ll read about who apparently never laid in bed at night and wondered , “what could I put up off the platform”, Hennessey was all about living in dreamworld like he just slid off the paint-spilled set of What Dreams May Come, and hit 590 on the bench in the gym right around the time he hit 571 in a meet.  Likewise, he bested his meet best on the squat (690) with a massive unwrapped 740, and pulled a full 45 lbs more in the gym than he did in a meet, all while casually demonstrating an easy set of ten with the 150s any time he decided to show off a bit and do some dumbbell clean and presses (Parrillo).

For his heavy work, Mel liked to mix it up like he was the unnamed founding member of Girl Talk.  After completing anywhere from 10-20 heavy sets on the big three, he would utilize partials in the rack, negatives, isometrics, and heavy supports (Ditillo Milo).  As he did with all of his movements, Hennessey kept his reps incredibly strict and deliberate, though that is not to say he didn’t train like a manic.  In the power rack, he’d pick a “zone” in which to work, and would begin by doing rep rep sets in that range of motion.  Over time, he would gradually increase the weight used in that “zone”, keeping his reps just as high until he was doing extremely heavy partials for high repetitions in what had formerly been weaker than a WHO aid worker in Liberia a week after their suit punctured.  Staying in the three to five range year-round is a mistake, according to Hennessey- high rep partials bring far more benefit than low reps due to their positive effect on tendon and ligament strength, and don’t come with the same joint pain and stiffness that low reps will give you (Ditillo Milo).

Hennessey’s light days resembled Nubret’s workouts more than your average “fuck machines and the fucking horse they rode in on” powerlifter might expect- Hennessey focused as much on appearance as he did on performance on those days.  He’d generally start with his “day brighteners”, which would include things like the good morning, working up to a single heavy set of five with 325, and then move onto his favorite lift- the close grip bench press, on which he works up to 360 for a set of five, jump setting with high rep lat pulldowns (Hollister) for between eight and rep reps of around twenty sets.  Yeah, that’s right- 20 or so sets of 8-20 reps, or between 160 and 400 reps on lat pulldowns.

Nor is he done there- sticking with his method of using ultra-strict form, just as he does on the bench press, Hennessey then moves onto lateral raises, starting with the 70s and working his way up to the 150s, and then polishes off his day with situps and barbell curls with around 125 for 3 sets of 6 (Ditillo, Hollister).  Though the exercises were never absolutely consistent, Hennessey always used a wide variety of dumbbell movements because they allowed much greater range of motion, which Hennessey believed would “give the muscular areas and joints will promote flexibility which will enable a more forceful contraction and explosion during the performance of a lift” (Ditillo).  They also allowed Hennessey to achieve his ultimate goal, which was a physique without any weak links- by training as a bodybuilder and working at a variety of ranges of motion, angles, and planes of movements, Hennessey ensured that there would be no tiny neglected muscle groups that would impede his progress due to omission, or the haughty shirking seen amongst powerlifters and American Olympic weightlifters these days, most of whom seem to think they’re too good and too strong to touch a cable or a Hammer Strength machine (Ditillo).

As this is an article about bench pressing, I suppose I might as well divulge Hennessey’s favorite bench press assistance exercises, lest you guys decide to abduct and behead me like I’d suggested to an ISIS fan that a caliphate in the 21st century was a pretty fucking stupid idea.  The movements Hennessey used to increase his bench were not unlike those found in any 1970s bodybuilding routine- heavy front dumbbell raises, ultra-heavy side lateral raises, lying laterals for rear delts, dumbbell concentration curls, dips, lying and standing triceps extensions (on which he worked up to a ridiculous 300 lbs), pushdowns, pulldowns, and bent over rows with dumbbells, on which he always started out light and finished with a set of 5-10.

Not unlike what some current powerlifters do, Hennessey would front-load his program with assistance work and then gradually reduce it as the contest drew near, to allow for more heavy bench pressing.  He felt that the assistance movements initially hold back your one rep max in the bench, but they build a very strong foundation, so when you reduce the assistance movements and focus more on the heavy singles, the increased mass from dumbbell work allowed him to handle far bigger poundages (Ditillo).  That is the problem with most lifters, in Hennessey’s mind- most guys avoid the assistance work at the beginning and focus too heavily on training the big three exclusively, which just leads them to hit their limits faster and limits their overall gains.  Training the way he did, however, steady and consistent gains over time were always coming.

So, there you have it- two examples of guys with completely disparate goals and physiques, yet they both managed 500 lb bench presses without the aid of dead Russians, stupid internet programs, form check videos, or ultimately useless information from Pubmed.  Instead, they built their badass bench presses through brutally hard work, doing what they enjoyed, and actively thinking about, modifying, and adapting their training to their needs.  Lemmings don’t bench press 500.  Bad motherfuckers do.  Stop being a tiny fucking rodent and get your honey badger on.

Sources:
Ditillo, Anthony.  Bench Pressing with Hennessey.  The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban.  29 Mar 2014.  Web.  10 Jul 2014.  http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2014/03/bench-pressing-with-hennessey-anthony.html

Hollister, Vernon.  Mel Hennessey, Bench Press King.  The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban.  21 Jul 2008.  http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2008/07/mel-hennessey-bench-press-king.html

Leistner, Ken.  History of powerlifting, weightlifting, and strength training- part 36.  Titan Support Systems.  13 Sep 2013.  Web.  10 Jul 2014.  http://titansupport.com/blog/history-of-powerlifting-weightlifting-and-strength-training-part-36/

Perine, Shawn.  The late Serge Nubret.  Musclemag.  Web.  21 Jul 2014.  http://www.musclemag.com/the-late-serge-nubret/

Pride, Victor.  Serge Nubret’s Old School Workout Routine.  Bold and Determined.  2 Feb 2011.  Web.  31 July 2014.  http://boldanddetermined.com/2011/02/02/serge-nubrets-old-school-workout-routine/