Guidelines for loading on "heavy" and "light" days?

[danki]

Im starting to bench more (after a long time off from BB benching) and wanted to make sure my plan for loading isn't a horrible idea.

I typically have a "heavy" day and a "light" day each week. Last week I week I worked up to a near max on bench of 255, so Im considering this my max at the moment.

Heavy daysI wasn't planning on using any variations of the bench, but instead vary the weight each week. I think weights in the 225-255 range would be good for improving strength. And for reps, id be in the 1-3 range and about 6-12 total reps.

Since last week I built up to a single at 255, this week i'd like build up to a double or triple at around 225-245. Then I'd back off by about 5-10% and perform singles as clusters.

Light days For light days I also wasn't planning on using any variations. Instead, some of these days will be "DE" while others will be more similar to HCT-12 loading.

Today was the first time back using bands. I did 155-185 + red short bands for 6x3

I plan on doing this DE loading for a few weeks and then going by feel whether I want to do DE or HCT-12 each time

My main question is whether I need to be concerned with loading the bench fairly heavy every week without much variation? And do I need to plan a "deload" or should I just go by feel?

Thanks in advance.

[Whoopipally]

I'm just seriously getting into the 'Westside' mentality of things, so I hope more experienced people chime in: but in my current opinion, going heavy (ME) every week with LITTLE TO NO variation in the lift will be counter-productive after about 3 or so weeks once your body "adapts" to what you're doing and puts your nervous system in a negative state.

Im not to sure about any positives when it comes to varying the weight (and pre-planning it, for that matter) each week. I think you might be better off working to a 1-3 rep max (with the intention of going higher each week) followed by loading off 10-15% and do a 3 or so rep max with that.

Vince did an article with simple tips to improve your bench in this section, check it out.

[vdizenzo]

If you are not planning on changing up exercises you might want to check out routines like Block Periodization, Wendler's 5/3/1, or Lilly's Cube method. They stick with the main movements without accomodating resistance.

At your present strength levels don't worry about deloads. When you have an obligation you can't get out of or get sick, boom, there's your deload.

[danki]

Thanks Vincent. I'll give it a try first and see what happens. I usually can tell when I need to cut back anyways. Thanks for the programming recommendations as well.