Not sure why but didn’t realise you were that tall. Now I know why are press/squat/deadlift ratios are very different. lol
1 Like
Yeah I’m basically all limb. My wingspan is a smidgen over average but my legs are pretty long; I usually wear a 36" inseam.
1 Like
Thursday, 28 November
Weighed in at 236.2 today, which isn’t bad going after a hefty (but not overly-caloric) dinner.
Tactical Barbell W3D3: Endurance Session
Stationary Bike
10km at a not-easy-but-not-hard pace over ~25m. Aimed to keep heart rate around 140.
Saturday, 30 November
Down to 234.0 today.
Tactical Barbell W3D4: Strength Session
Squat
3x100kg (220lbs/2 plates)
3x115kg (253lbs)
6x125kg (275lbs)
Initially disappointed in this, then realised this was basically my max around six or seven months ago.
Pendlay Row
8x60kg (132lbs/1 plate)
6x70kg (154lbs)
4x80kg (176lbs)
Bench Press
3x60kg (132lbs/1 plate)
3x65kg (143lbs)
3x70kg (154lbs)
3x75kg (165lbs) (RPE10 which is really sad)
Unlike my squat improvements, my bench has literally not shifted in about a year.
1 Like
@MarkKO giving you a tag here because you’re always good for advice on technique. I’m hoping there’s a glaringly obvious flaw here that will add 30kg to my bench overnight rather than it simply being that I have the upper body pushing strength of a teenage girl.
I’ll also bring in @Pinkylifting because he’s not terrible at lifting heavy things.
Looking at the side view, I would think I need to touch higher on the chest? Would that mean altering grip also?
There isn’t anything that jumped out to me as an issue. You possibly could touch a bit higher if you wanted but your forearms are vertical as it is so I don’t think that it would change much. You’re touching around the base of your sternum, right?
What you could work on is your setup. Drive yourself with your heels onto your traps before you even unrack the bar, and maintain that tension throughout the set. Reach for the bar with your chest.
2 Likes
Im afraid 30kg might be ambitious, but it certainly looks like you are leaving some weight on the table there.
The first thing that jumps out is how loose the rest of your body is. Your legs are relaxed, your torso is relaxed, and that makes the whole bench look ‘loose’.
Your whole body should be super tight before you start the downward motion, if anyone were to push your legs from the side they should be rock solid.
Working on your set up might take a little time, but will certainly pay dividends. A few easy cues to start:
Feet - Your feet should be driving into the floor hard, imagine you are sitting in a wheeled office chair, and you have to push yourself backwards with your feet, feet driving down and forwards, thats what your feet should be doing throughout the press, trying to push your body up along the bench, only instead of sliding up the bench the weight of the bar pushing holding you down means you’re pushing body up onto your traps.
Breath - The valsalve or bracing is as important on bench as it is for squat or deadlift. Only instead of taking a deep breath into your stomach, you take the breath into your lungs, and tense your stomach to push the breath ‘up’ hard. You should be making your ribcage as big as possible.
Grip - Cant tell whether you are or arent doing this, but you should have a white knuckle grip on the bar. You should also be bending or spreading the bar. Some people have better results ‘spreading the bar’, imagine you are trying to pull it apart in the middle, some people like ‘bending’ the bar, twisting your right hand clockwise, left hand anti clockwise, like you are trying to bend the bar in front of your face. The first helps with tricep activation, the second gets good external rotation in your shoulders, also good for triceps, but also good for lat activation. Try both and see what works.
Don’t get me wrong, not a bad bench technique, and it dooeslooks like you try to do some of these things, just a little half heartedly, it doesn’t look like the rest of your body is full of tension.
3 Likes
Mark and pinky have covered it really well but you are deff not anywhere near tight enough. Try to tuck your shoulder down into the opposite pocket this will pull you shoulders down into the bench and lock your lats in place. Drive your feet into the floor, don’t try to think of this as driving as you press, more pushing you feet down hard and locking your legs in hard before you start and keeping them like that for the entire lift. If you aren’t uncomfortable then you are no where near tight enough.
It’s hard to see from those angles but maybe grip could be a little wider (you’ve got long arms) and elbows tucked a little more as you come down. I don’t think you touched too low.
2 Likes
Monday, 2 December
Up to 237.2 today, since I had a few people over for cans and pizza on Saturday. I also had pushed back my last strength session a day, meaning I only had one full day (of pisspoor recovery) between workouts.
That, plus an inexplicably bad night of sleep last night, meant that today was an I’m Not Doing Jack Shit day where I just hit some reps that all felt hard and went home.
Pecs and glutes were horribly tight, so the reps didn’t just feel hard but they hurt. Glad to have punched the clock on this one and gotten it over with.
Tactical Barbell W4D1: Strength Session
Bench Press
5x50kg (110lbs)
5x60kg (132lbs/1 plate)
5x65kg (143lbs)
Squat
5x90kg (198lbs)
5x110kg (242lbs)
5x120kg (264lbs)
TRX Inverted Rows
3x20
As a testament to how out of it and sluggish I was today, that nine-set session took 45 minutes 
2 Likes
I’ve taken over an hour to do 10 sets before. I think you’re good.
3 Likes
I was close to being on pace for that!
Still stronger squat than me.
1 Like
Tuesday, 3 December
Weight heading back down; 235.8 this morning. Not sure an “Under 220 by 2020” plan is viable but at least this marks four consecutive weeks of losing fat.
Tactical Barbell W4D2: Endurance Session
LSS Running [Couch to 5K W5D1]
5m run, 3m walk, repeated twice and bookended by 5m walks for a total of 15:00 running and 16:00 walking. I accidentally did a run phase before starting the app, though, so it was 20m total though only 15 is recorded.
Total Time: 31:30
Distance: 3.71km/2.3m
Pace: 08:22/km 13:30/m
Slow pace, but it dropped off at the end. I imagine it would have been better than last time had I started the app in the right place.
1 Like
Wednesday, 4 December
Up a tad to 236.0 today. Had quite a high-carb dinner yesterday because I accidentally cooked too many potatoes. Not the worst problem to have.
Given how well today’s run went (well, by my standards anyway), I might have to cook too many potatoes more often.
Tactical Barbell W4D3: Endurance Session
LSS Running [Couch to 5K W5D2]
8m run, 5m walk, 8m run bookended by 5m walks for a total of 16:00 running and 15:00 walking. Also the longest I’ve run continuously in about a year.
Total Time: 31:00
Distance: 4.05km/2.52m
Pace: 07:39/km 12:19/m
1 Like
Mate you’re not Irish unless you cook too many potatoes 
1 Like
Friday, 6 December
Weighed in at 236.2 today. Despite weight loss stalling I think I need to eat more, because today wasn’t a brilliant session in spite of a good night of sleep.
Tactical Barbell W4D4: Strength Session
Bench Press
SS: 3x12 DB rows @ 35kg (77lbs)
5x60kg (132lbs/1 plate)
5x65kg (143lbs)
3x5x70kg (152lbs)
@Pinkylifting thanks for your cues in that big ol’ post. I found my arse was coming up more than usual with the feet driving harder; any way to mitigate that?
Squat
3x90kg (198lbs)
3x100kg (220lbs/2 plates)
8x110kg (232lbs)
One off my PB at this weight, so a little disappointing.
Power Clean
3x50kg (110lbs)
3x60kg (132lbs/1 plate)
2x65kg (143lbs)
1x70kg (152lbs)
1x77.5kg (171lbs)
3x0x82.5kg (191lbs)
Good triple extension but basically forgot to get under the bar each rep. 80kg is my PB in competition so not bad going.
Misc
3x10 pushups
3x15 BW lunges
Did you find the tension helped the press? Arse coming up is a sign that you’re trying the right thing. To prevent butt lift though, the focus needs to be on driving your but along the bench, towards your traps, rather than pushing the weight up. So if anything your butt should slide, not lift.
2 Likes
Yeah, though when my arse did come up not so much. I guess I shifted the direction of my leg drive from what you’ve said there. I guess it’ll take a good while to get used to doing things properly.
When you are using leg drive, don’t think of it as pushing through the legs when you press. This will push you up the bench or lift your arse. Just get your legs pushing hard into the ground on set up, squeeze your arse hard and hold this tightness all through the lift.
2 Likes
Saturday, 7 December
No weigh-in today. Not feeling 100% but annoyingly not feeling bad enough to skip the session.
Tactical Barbell W4D5
LSS Running [Couch to 5K W5D3]
This was a 20m run with a 5m walk at either end, though if I’m being honest the last few minutes of the run was basically “running” at walking pace.
Total Time: 31:00
Distance: 3.95km/2.44m
Pace: 07:42/km 12:26/m