Tiger Shark is a 6 week bench press program from Nik D (@niklas.damb). You train three days a week. Two of the days are focused on chest and one is focused on shoulders, and every session opens with the flat bench press before moving on to an incline or overhead press and dumbbell and isolation accessories.
Nik built it to increase pushing strength at every angle, which means the flat bench, the incline bench and the overhead press. The bench press reps change from session to session instead of sticking to one set and rep scheme. The last session of week 4 opens with a heavy triple to check your progress, and the last session of week 6 is a bench max.
It’s written for intermediate and advanced lifters. It only covers pressing, so you’ll need to pair it with a squat program and a deadlift program, plus rows and face pulls to balance out the pushing volume. If you’re newer to lifting, the bench press programs page has other options.
Table of Contents
Tiger Shark Spreadsheet
Enter your bench press 1RM, incline bench 3RM and overhead press 5RM, and the spreadsheet fills in the weights for the main lifts. Accessories are prescribed by RPE, so you pick the weight for those.
Tiger Shark Program Overview
The three sessions stay the same from week to week, apart from changes in weeks 4 and 6. The accessories are all done at RPE 9, and the second barbell press on each day (the incline bench on days 1 and 3, the seated overhead press on day 2) starts at 4 sets of 8 and drops to 5 reps by week 5.
| Day | Exercises (in order) |
|---|---|
| Day 1 (chest) | Bench press, incline bench press, seated dumbbell overhead press 3 x 10, chest flys 4 x 15, skullcrushers 3 x 15 |
| Day 2 (shoulders) | Bench press, seated overhead press, floor press 3 x 5, dumbbell incline press 3 x 10, chest flys 3 x 15 |
| Day 3 (chest) | Same exercises as day 1, except in weeks 4 and 6 |
Bench press sets and reps
The flat bench is the first lift of every session. Here’s the sets x reps for each day of the program.
| Week | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 x 3 | 6 x 4 | 6 x 3 |
| 2 | 6 x 5 | 6 x 3 | 6 x 6 |
| 3 | 6 x 3 | 6 x 6 | 6 x 3 |
| 4 | 5 x 5 | 6 x 3 | 1 x 3 (control day), then 4 x 4 |
| 5 | 6 x 3 | 3 x 3 | 6 x 3 |
| 6 | 2 x 2 | 6 x 2 | Bench press max |
The control day
Week 4 day 3 is what Nik calls the control day. It opens with a heavy triple on the bench press to check whether you’ve made progress, followed by 4 sets of 4 and the rest of the day 1 exercises.
If you get all 3 reps, carry on with weeks 5 and 6. If you only get 2, Nik recommends restarting the program and putting more effort into recovery and nutrition.
Week 6
Week 6 cuts back on the accessory work. Day 1 drops the skullcrushers, day 2 is just the bench press and chest flys, and day 3 is a single max attempt on the bench press.
For other bench-specific programs, see the Candito Advanced Bench Program or the 6 Week Russian Bench Press Peaking Program.
Program Description
In Nik’s own words…
The “Tiger Shark Bench” program has been developed in order to develop pushing power at all angles. It is specialized to increase Flat, Incline Bench Press and OHP.
The program has to be used as a supplement to a base program that includes legs and back movements. Rowing and pulling movements are especially important in order to counter the pushing volume. I recommend Face pulls, Bent over rows and Pendlay rows.
You simply put in your current 1RM, 3RM and 5RM for the lifts and the program calculates your weight for you.
Each week has three training days. Two are focused on chest, one is focused on shoulders.
To ensure that there is enough recovery time, have rest days from pushing movements between the days. An example is shown below. The program uses dumbbells a lot because they offer a different stimulus then a barbell.
You follow the program as it is written until Week 4 Day 3. This is the control day.
A 3rm is used in order to check if you made progress. If you fail to get 3 reps, it is recommended to restart the program and increase your efforts for recovery and nutrition. A calorie surplus is recommended as well.
You have the option to customize accessory exercise, it is recommended though to choose a set of movements and stick to it.
In order to make the most gains, you should try to actively progressive overload on the accessory exercises. Don’t stick to the same weight ! If you have any more questions, check out the Q&A part or send me a message on Instagram @niklas.damb
Tiger Shark FAQs
How long is the Tiger Shark bench program?
It’s 6 weeks long with three bench sessions a week, for 18 sessions in total. The last one is a bench press max.
What maxes do I need to start?
You need a 1RM on the bench press, a 3RM on the incline bench press and a 5RM on the overhead press. The spreadsheet works out the main lift weights from those three numbers.
How do I fit Tiger Shark around squats and deadlifts?
Nik’s sample week puts the Tiger Shark days on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with legs on Tuesday and Saturday and back on Thursday and Sunday. The idea is to have a rest day from pushing between each Tiger Shark session.
What happens if I miss reps?
Nik treats missed reps as a sign of poor recovery, since the weights are calculated so you shouldn’t miss important reps. If you miss 1 or 2 reps on the last sets but are mostly consistent, he says not to worry about it.
What if I fail the control day?
If you can only get 2 reps on the week 4 day 3 triple, Nik recommends restarting the program. He also recommends a calorie surplus while you run it.
Can I change the accessory exercises?
Yes. Nik says you can customize the accessories, but you should pick a set of movements and stick with them. Try to add weight or reps to the accessories over the 6 weeks instead of using the same weight every session.
Updates
- September 2026: Converted the post to the block editor and rewrote the intro. Added a program overview that lists the bench press sets and reps for every session and explains the control day and week 6. Added FAQs. Both are taken from Nik’s spreadsheet. Nik’s program description is unchanged.
