*Never hit 72.5kg for more than 3 reps, but also never really used this weight much. For estimated max it’s about on par with last week, but 75x3 is my best triple so it’s definitely improvement.
**This was my 1RM, so good going. Might have even had a third, though it would have been bad.
Decided to spend the next few weeks taking it easy on the volume and upping the intensity to hit some PBs before a built-in deload at the end of the month by way of a short holiday to Milan.
New belt(s) arrived today, too: a 13mm lever from Cerberus Strength and a cheap neoprene one for certain strongmanny things.
Got to give my old belt a nice send-off with a solid squat PB, though.
Training (AM - deload/test)
Paused Bench Press Superset with reverse-grip rows @ same weight/reps*
8x47.5kg (105lbs)
6x55kg (121lbs)
4x65kg (143lbs)
My 132.5kg (292lb) squat from earlier this year was jerky, high and unsteady. These reps might not have got 3 whites at a meet but they weren’t high, and they weren’t super-hard. Squat is moving really well at the moment which is extremely weird but equally welcome.
Where the fuck is my bench at, though??
1-plate OHP (tripled)
2-plate bench (still a pipe dream 1RM)
3-plate squat (doubled)
4-plate deadlift (six reps in comp)
Funny your should mention your bench, I was only thinking the other day that it seemed a little low low compared to your other lifts. Your squat is similar to mine and your deadlift is better than mine but your bench is way off.
I was thinking that because you are doing strongman maybe you just haven’t spent the time doing much benching. Is the bench something you really want to bring up ? Have you done any bench focused programming ?
Damn, imagine having a bench so bad it’s got people on the other side of the world thinking about it!
Nah I’ve always benched. Not doing it for a few months while training for comp won’t have helped but it’s always been shite.
It could be simply leverages, since my deadlift is a little better than my other lifts relatively speaking which is explained by longer arms. That said, even compared to my press my bench is low. I might just have weak pecs.
It does seem to actually be moving a bit now so we’ll see how it goes. I might get some bench-specific coaching at some stage.
Mon: spoto bench/floor press or Z press
Tue: squat/deficit deadlift
Wed: press/incline bench
Thu: deadlift/front squat
Fri: bench/close-grip
Next few weeks I’m easing off on volume a bit and going back to more of a full body 5/3/1 thing, but I’ll still have flat benching twice a week and dumbbell incline once a week I think.
Bench-specific programming could well be in my future, but for now even my strongest lift isn’t that strong so I’ll worry a bit more about getting weaker lifts caught up when I have some strong lifts.
Down to 238.2 today. Decided I’ll look to gradually lose weight for the remainder of the year, hopefully still being able to push some strength after a pretty decent accumulation block, and then ramp it up in 2020. I have a wedding to look not-fat for, after all.
Training (AM)
Conditioning
50m walk
I was going to hit the gym to do some actual conditioning but turns out if you do a full body workout for the first time in ages, including a squat PB, you feel a bit beaten up the next day. Recovery conditioning it is! Outside > elliptical, as the weather was… well, not good because it’s still Dublin in October, but acceptable.
The deadlift record in my group of friends is 200kg (440lbs) so I had to add the little plates on. This was hitched a tad, but clean. Not a 100% max but close.
@simo74 pretty sure I outweigh you significantly so I’m sure you have me on wilks or whatever they’re using these days.
@dagill2 thanks; they got near-live video. My friend who has pulled 200 is good for five plates though based on his recent AMRAPs so I think the record is only mine until he does his deadlift session tonight!
I’m actually going to run it three times a week, A/B/A B/A/B for a fortnight. That gets me a full 5/3/1 cycle out of it, and then I can reassess. I may stick with it (or a similar setup) for the remainder of the year, or peruse 5/3/1 Forever for another.
I fancy a full-body thing, though. Been a while. Main goal for the next six months will be fat loss, but I’m hoping to get decently stronger as well.
I’d like to get the two-plate bench by the end of the year, as well as a 220kg/5-plate deadlift. Ambitiously, a 180kg/4-plate squat as well but that may be wishful thinking.
Didn’t weigh in today, but I was at a wedding over the weekend so probably for the best!
Wasn’t feeling too great today but training went well. My bench estimated 1RM is >200lbs for the first time (lol) and I got another nice squat AMRAP in. So far on squats I’ve dropped a rep for every 10kg in weight added to the bar, so I wouldn’t mind that trend continuing!
Some dude asked me about how to get into the low-bar squat position right after the AMRAP set, which was pretty funny because I couldn’t actually speak properly for a few minutes.
I notice that despite you being bigger, stronger, younger and better looking than me, my bench is bigger than yours. By my count, that makes me the winner.
