Speed Bench: 9×3@215lbs + Chains(about 20lbs on the chest and 40-45lbs at lockout)
25 minute break to help Jamie with his shirt work, congrats on 425lbs on 2boards!
Bench Warm Ups: 3×225lbs, 3×275lbs, 1×315lbs, 1×335lbs(New Raw PR)
Shirted Bench: 1×365lbs, 1×385lbs(struggle), 1×385lbs(much better, new PR), 0×395lbs
Rotator Cuff(Standing L-Flies?): 6×15
Rear Delt Fly: 3×15@115lbs
I’ve been looking forward to this workout since almost the beginning of this routine. This is the first time we are putting up some big weight, the routine calls for 2×1@375lbs on 1 board. You can clearly see that we didn’t follow that.
The speed bench went well however I wasn’t finding much speed at this weight, it seems like too much to really explode off the chest with but we are supposed to do it for the next two weeks so we’ll see if it gets better.
Jamie brought his “secret weapon” and I helped him gear up and do his sets before warming back up and hitting my own shirt. I’m happy with my raw work, my new raw PR at 335 which went up really easy however I forgot to pause on the chest. I think I have at least 345 raw in me but I probably won’t get a chance to test that until the end of this program which is another 5 weeks.
The realization that my shirt maybe too big for me hit me today when I was able to put the shirt on by myself. In contrast it took at least 10 minutes to get Jamie’s on and adjusted before his first lift. I think it’s time to order a new shirt right away so I can get it before provincials(October). Either way I was still happy with the performance today. 365 was really light even though I lost it completely about half way up I was able to control it and finish the lift, it wasn’t a legal lift but it was easy. My first attempt at 385 went up REALLY slow but I got it up and after Jeff Butt mentioned a couple things to me. He said my grip was too narrow(oops! I was still pinkys on rings instead of pointer finger!) and the bar was too high in my hands, up near my fingers instead of down on the pads. This causes my hand to get pulled back ALOT when I’m pushing up which maybe what’s causing my forearm pain. The second attempt at 385 was good, I widened my grip and got the barbell down in my hands and it went up much smoother. Jeff and Ryan(another powerlifter) both said the pause was good and it looked legal. Another PR!
395 came down nice and I had a good pause but I lost it towards my head on the way up, I think I pushed my elbows out early. Jeff also said it looked too low on the chest which I think might have something to do with where I’m trying to hold it in my hands. I’ll have to work with the new grip and get used to it.
Other than that everything was pretty routine.
Nothing like making a significant change in style during PR attempts eh? The 385lb press looked like cake. I think you have 395 in you now if you were starting fresh.
I’d like to see 405 at the end of all this…or maybe more
Congratulations on your two new PRs! That’s some very nice benching… looks like all the hard work of this cycle is paying off.
Congrats on the PRs. Hope you’ve got a camera handy when you break the 400 mark – won’t be long.
Nice one.
Thanks guys. I’ll try to remember to bring a camera next shirt day. It’s hard to do because wednesday nights are pretty busy at the gym and the routine has us benching heavy on wednesday.
awesome PR’s, congratulations – hard work’s paying off…
Without that first attempt at 385 lbs, I think the 395 would have been yours. Congratulations on the PRs. What shirt was used for the attempt?
removed by request
Okay…so the geek code I put in there didn’t work. Damn…go ahead and remove that if you will. Wasn’t anything bad. Just a quick loop!
So yeah. Congrats on the lift. You’ll be above that 400 mark shortly.
On the new shirt purchase wouldn’t it be better to wait and see where you are at weight wise before putting some money into a new shirt? that is if you are planning on losing the weight.
Again congrats.
Thanks again guys.
Albert: Once I get used to the new grip I think it’ll help alot. I used my size 54 titan fury.
Christian: It does make sense to wait but because it takes so long to get a shirt from titan I think I need to order it right away. It’ll take probably 2 months to get it and I need at least a month to work with it. Which puts me pretty darn close to running out of time.
I tell ya Stinn. My 46 is available if ya want to use it?
Stinn, I’d say order a shirt a size smaller than what you are right now… that way you have an added incentive to lose weight. JMO.
If I thought that you could pull the 46 onto me I’d take it
John: I’m going to take my measurements and order competition fit and get what they send me, it should either be a 50 or 52.