[quote]davethebarbarian wrote:
Can I get in on the close grip race[/quote]
the moar the bettter.
Chest day. Really wanting to get technique down to lay a good foundation to when my CNS decides it’s ready to start moving bigger weights again. Going to spend a few weeks not taking bench to failure. If things don’t start cooking, I will look into a program like 5/3/1 for bench. god.
oh, and I totally fasted yesterday. lol. must. hold. onto. leanness. gah. trying to serve 2 masters is a bitch.
Bench press -videoed this sumbitch.
95 x 8, 8, 8
135 x 8
185 x 6
225 x 5
275 x 3
Incline smith - didn’t feel like pushing it today.
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10 - felt the best out of all 3 sets.
Cybex flat press - won’t be doing this anymore. the ROM just doesnt gel with me.
1pps x 12
2pps x 10, 10
One-armed smith bench - training partner suggested this as an alternate to ^. I think we will give it a go in earnest next week.
10lbs/side x 12 LR
20lbs/side x 12 LR - i could have some fun with this. can really squeeze da chest.
Cable crossovers to cable presses (hit failure on the flies, then press em out).
3 sets with the stack. lot of reps. great pump.
Rope pressdowns SS rope overhead extensions
#8 x 15 / 10
#10 x 12 / 8
—switch to v-bar - god tris so pumped.
#13 x 10 / 6-7ish.
PJR pullovers
70 x 10
90 x 10, 12
2 sets DB skulls as a finisher with 25s.
And that was it. Here is bench video (135, 185, 225, 275), working on staying tight and all that jazz. Powerlifters - comments, crits?
totally fasted, as in nothing? no protein shakes, no nothing!!!?
[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
Here is bench video (135, 185, 225, 275), working on staying tight and all that jazz. Powerlifters - comments, crits?
- YouTube [/quote]
Bar path looked very consistent, and everything seemed very stable. That looked very good on the whole. Only thing to work on is to constantly try to get tighter. Might try working your traps lower on the bench when you slide into place, if a big arch is what you are looking for. Other than that, it seemed like the bar might have been a bit far back on your hands and not quite over your forearms at times. Thought this could just be the way it looked due to the false grip.
Very nice work.
EDIT: to fix retarded quote function.
[quote]DoveofWar08 wrote:
Bar path looked very consistent, and everything seemed very stable. That looked very good on the whole. Only thing to work on is to constantly try to get tighter. Might try working your traps lower on the bench when you slide into place, if a big arch is what you are looking for. Other than that, it seemed like the bar might have been a bit far back on your hands and not quite over your forearms at times. Thought this could just be the way it looked due to the false grip.[/quote]
Thank you for your input. Definitely getting tighter is a big focus. I’m not necessarily looking for some huge arch, but just want to find something that is “comfortable” for me that I can do over and over again until it feels totally natural.
I think I might be bringing the bar a tad high. Will work on touching a little bit lower. Will film again next week. Thanks a lot!
[quote]hlss09 wrote:
totally fasted, as in nothing? no protein shakes, no nothing!!!?[/quote]
As in nothing except a head of lettuce with a little lemon juice and salt for “dinner”, lol.
[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
[quote]hlss09 wrote:
totally fasted, as in nothing? no protein shakes, no nothing!!!?[/quote]
As in nothing except a head of lettuce with a little lemon juice and salt for “dinner”, lol.[/quote]
I actually hit the gym one day last week while fasted… I felt fine (surprisingly)
I had never done a serious lifting session fasted before, only cardio, and it went surprisingly well. Who woulda thought?
Benching looked good to me. I’m not powerlifter but it looked solid to me.
Thanks Greg. Yeah, energy felt fine yesterday, so like I said, will continue to try to incorporate these fasted days. Although next Monday is July 4th so I dunno how well that’s gonna work… haha. I was pleasantly surprised with how the form looked on video, but I just don’t feel like I’m really using the tight setup optimally to move the weight (yet). Hopefully some weeks of hitting the form hard and I’ll be able to move some weight.
What I’m looking like shirtless as of this morning. Lighting was quite good too lolol.
Weighing 203 in the photos.
[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
[quote]DoveofWar08 wrote:
Bar path looked very consistent, and everything seemed very stable. That looked very good on the whole. Only thing to work on is to constantly try to get tighter. Might try working your traps lower on the bench when you slide into place, if a big arch is what you are looking for. Other than that, it seemed like the bar might have been a bit far back on your hands and not quite over your forearms at times. Thought this could just be the way it looked due to the false grip.[/quote]
Thank you for your input. Definitely getting tighter is a big focus. I’m not necessarily looking for some huge arch, but just want to find something that is “comfortable” for me that I can do over and over again until it feels totally natural.
I think I might be bringing the bar a tad high. Will work on touching a little bit lower. Will film again next week. Thanks a lot![/quote]
FWIW, a guy who taught me a ton in undergrad always benched with a huge arch, put many powerlifters to shame, used it to hammer his chest.
Said guy won Mr. Arkansas last year.
If you’re going to fast, I’d suggest using MAG-10. I used to ‘pulse fast’ with only MAG-10. It’s like 50 for a bottle, but it’s good stuff, and really works IMO. But if you felt fine fasting without it then who cares?
Oh and in those pics you just put up, are you ‘flexing’ your waist/abs? Or are you letting it out completely? Either way, I think you have MUCH better genetics than you think. Very aesthetic and all.
Dixie - I’m not opposed to arching, but I don’t need to create the McD’s golden arches under my lower back to achieve tightness I don’t think, lol. I would love to hear what you have to say regarding the posted video?
hlss - thanks for the input. Well I was posing, so I’m keeping my abs tensed. I don’t know if I would call myself aesthetic. Thing is, I have been practicing posing for one reason or another for quite some time, and have gotten fairly decent IMO. I know what poses and angles are flattering for my body. this is one of them.
sexi as usual
Yeah, I hear you. But, I’m sure (like me) that you are your own harshest critic. To me and everyone else you look amazing. Narrow waist, wide broad shoulders, great delts, thick chest. I’m not an expert, but I’d say if you brought up your arms and traps you’d look like a madman. Do you ever want to compete BTW? I’m sure you’d kill it.
And wouldn’t it be nice to get more girls than HolyMac? lol
[quote]hlss09 wrote:
To me…you look amazing. Narrow waist, wide broad shoulders, great delts, thick chest, probably a very girthy penis. [/quote]
Get a room you two!
<3
Lookin good Bug. All the babes will be jocking you on the 4th.
haha Greg, I’m actually getting pretty serious w/ the old hand lately.
Teach me how to swole?
Looking big and lean man!
A big thing you could do for tightness is Keigel exercises…
No seriously, for tightness go with a liftoff.
Other than what Dove said: grip the bar in the meat of your palms like you are gripping a baseball bat, dont let it roll back onto your fingers - make sure your shoulders are pulled back and down - get a liftoff, for me I get a lift off for 315 and above, otherwise I cant stay tight