Bench 1

Bench:

275 x 1

295 x 1

315 x 1 @ 10-

320 x 1 @ 10

325 x 1 @ 10

These felt much better than the benches at nationals. Lots of good explosion at the bottom and some drive at the top. Shoulder was still sore and the biceps ached, but not too bad.

Overhead pin press:

135 x 5

185 x 3

205 x 3

215 x 3

225 x 3

I didn't have a spotter so I did these just to get some heavy tricep lockout work. Felt hard.

Pendlay Row:

135 x 5

185 x 5

205 x 5

225 x 5

245 x 5 @ 9+

I did these with a loose belt for a change, and whoa, did they feel better. 245 was hard, but not nearly as sloppy as was in the past. I still feel these a lot in my hamstrings. Does anyone else?

Dips:

bw x 10, 30, 25, 25

The first set always feels terrible. Warming up?

Finished with crunches, pnf, and rotator cuff work.

3/8 Press

Push Press:
95x5
115x3
125x3
135x3x4
140x3x2
145x3x2

OH Pin Press:
135x3x2
145x3, 2

DB Press:
40x8/8
45x8/8, 8/8

Upright Row:
45x8/8
55x8/8, 8/8

Biceps

Working the volume end of the spectrum on my main lifts (squat and push press). It felt pretty good today, but what I have to focus on is getting maximum explosion on each and every set - not trying to conserve energy.

Also tried standing overhead pin presses today. I don't think these are a good move, as I end up leaning waaaaaay too far back.

The Quest for Stronger Shoulders continues...

7/16 Bench

Bench:
185x5
205x5
225x4 + 1 Greg (PR)

Overhead Pin Press:
135x5
165x5, 4

Delts, Pecs, and Triceps

Good solid 4 reps at 225 today. I tried to get a 5th rep, but I got stuck in the middle. This leg drive really helps a lot.

I tried to do some standing presses, but my upper back was fried from yesterday.

6/2 Post-Birthday Bench

Reverse Grip Bench:
185x5
195x5
205x5 PR
175x12 PR

OH Pin Press:
155x5, 5, 5

Face Pulls
Shrugs

Obviously the beer that I consumed last night lent itself to breaking my previous reverse grip records. I'm finally a real adult yay!

5/1 DE Bench

Bench:
140x3x8

Seated Pin Press: (forehead)
135x5
155x5
175x5
185x5 PR

Tricep Extensions
Chest Supported Rows
Lat Pulldowns
Reverse Curls

Today was an interesting day in the gym. My left bicep tendon (right at the elbow) is kind of inflamed, so doing any sort of extension work was a big pain in the butt. It kind of hindered me on the rows as well. However, when I tried the reverse curls, the pain pretty much went away. My theory is that my brachialis may just be weak, and is unable to support the loads on squat and bench days. Moar reverse curls to fix this weakness.

4-14-10 Bench

Bench

185 x 2 paused, easy

195 x 2 paused

200 x 2 paused, PR I think

200 x 2 grinder, brief pause, PR if you count back to back sets

200 x 1 + fail, full paused

190 x 2 paused, easy

Close Grip Bench

175 x 3 + fail, paused, elbow pain in right elbow

155 x 5 stopped so as not to aggravate elbow

Shoulder Pin Presses

135 x 8,8,6

Front Deltoid Raises/ Lateral Deltoid Raises

10's x 10 x 4 sets total

Machine Flyes

3 Sets

Bench

4/14/10

Bench

225 x 2, 2, 2, 2

215 x 2, 2

Close-Grip Bench

185 x 4

175 x 4

Shoulder Pin Press

135 x 8, 7

Flyes

Benching in the city of chess

Bench:
285 x 3 @ 9, x 3,3,3 @ 10
295 x 3 @ 10+
285 x 3 @ 10

Yesterday I irritated my elbows doing the isolateral row. Bench really irritated them today to the point where my hands were going numb and I couldn't pick up anything due to the pain when stretching my arms. Vitamin-I didn't seem to help.

Close-grip Bench:
225 x 5
235 x 5
245 x 4 (going for 5)

Overhead Pin Press:
Thing started feeling better at this point (perhaps the Vitamin-I kicked in?)
185 x 6
205 x 6, 6
155 x 10

Finished with cable rope triceps for 4 sets.

Probably won't deadlift tomorrow to rest the elbow ligaments. GMoP instead, which is fun but not as fun as deadlifting.

Efficient post

Tuesday

Squat

235 x 3 x 2

245 x 3

255 x 3

265 x 2+f (PR)

Pause squat

195 x 3 x 2 (3 sec pause)

205 x 3 (12 year pause; dammit Kyle)

Last rep on 205 was essentially driven by rage, especially as I was coming up I saw Kyle and Scott coming over to try to spot me.

Transversus

CYBEX EAGLE GLUTE MACHINE

Wednesday

Bench

140 x 4 x 2

145 x 4 x 2

150 x 4

155 x 4 (PR)

160 x 4 (PR)

I'm still at the point microloading helps so I'm going to run with it.

Close grip bench

135 x 5

140 x 5

145 x 5 (PR)

Pin press

135 x 8 x 4

Cable flyes

RE Bench

Bench:
285 x 4 @ 8+, 4 @ 8+
295 x 4 @ 9, 4 @ 10
285 x 4 @ 9, 4 @ 10

The weight felt extremely light to start and got heavy on the second set of 295 much more than I had expected.

Close-grip Bench:
225 x 5 @ 9, 5 @ 9
235 x 5 @ 10

Military Pin Press:
Set the pins so the weight was at the forehead. Lots of tricep work here.
185 x 5
205 x 4
185 x 6, 7

Finished with cable flyes

ME Bench

Running late and on 3 hours of sleep. Another quality workout brought to you by the Jürgensbomb
Bench:
295 x 2 @ 9
300 x 2 @ 9
305 x 2 @ 10
310 x 2 @ 10

My butt came off the bench on the last set. sucks.

Had some fun with the 2.5s today.

Military Pin Press:
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 4 @ 10

Last rep was slowwww. like 15 seconds slow.

Finished with some wide-grip pull ups and cable triceps @ 6

03/02/10 Bench

Today was a mixed-bag. The full range comp. pause bench felt good. The last rep of 275 I got some slight help from the spotter at my sticking point and then locked it out.

Historically my 3-board press is hideous - and today was no exception. Its very frustrating to struggle at 3-board with a weight that you just went full range on. Almost defies logic. I am almost certain that if fresh, I could do more off my chest than off a 3-board.

Normal Grip Competition Pause Bench

225 lbs x 2 reps x 1 sets @ 8 RPE
245 lbs x 2 reps x 1 sets @ 8.5 RPE
255 lbs x 2 reps x 1 sets @ 9 RPE
265 lbs x 2 reps x 1 sets @ 9 RPE
275 lbs x 2 reps x 1 sets @ 10 RPE

3-Board Press

225 lbs x 3 reps x 1 sets @ 8 RPE
255 lbs x 3 reps x 1 sets @ 8.5 RPE
275 lbs x 3 reps x 1 sets @ 9 RPE
285 lbs x 1 reps x 2 sets @ 10 RPE
285 lbs x 2 reps x 1 sets @ 10 RPE

Standing OH Pin Press (Pin 4)

95 lbs x 5 reps x 1 sets @ 7 RPE
135 lbs x 3 reps x 1 sets @ 8 RPE
155 lbs x 3 reps x 1 sets @ 9 RPE
165 lbs x 3 reps x 2 sets @ 10 RPE
135 lbs x 5 reps x 1 sets @ 9 RPE

Finished with some face-pulls

Total Workout Time: 1h30m

BW (post dinner): 190.2

02/20/10 Bench

Very happy with this workout. It was the first time since I have been recovering from my forearm injury that I put a decent load on it. In the beginning it hurt a little, but as I worked the pain subsided totally.

I measured the purples to take 125# off at my chest and 0# for the last inch or so of the lockout. The 315 ties a PR and considering I haven't benched heavy or worked on my lockout in a little while, im quite happy.

The standing OH pin press was an interesting movement and one I had never done before. I felt a good isolation in my front delts and triceps - my two week points in the bench.

By the time I got to the CG I was a bit spent so I opened up with 185. And as can sometimes happen with me I caught my "second wind" and as I continued the weight got easier so I was able to work up to 215.

Reverse Band Bench (purples at pin 6)

275 lbs x 5 reps x 1 sets @8
295 lbs x 5 reps x 2 sets @8
315 lbs x 5 reps x 1 sets @10
295 lbs x 5 reps x 1 sets @8.5
275 lbs x 5 reps x 1 sets @8

Standing OH Pin Press (Pin 3)

95 lbs x 8 reps x 1 sets @7
115 lbs x 6 reps x 1 sets @8
135 lbs x 5 reps x 1 sets @8.5
155 lbs x 5 reps x 2 sets @9
135 lbs x 5 reps x 1 sets @9

CG Bench (no pause)

185 lbs x 5 reps x 2 sets @8
205 lbs x 5 reps x 2 sets @8
215 lbs x 5 reps x 2 sets @8.5

I finished with some tricep pushdowns against a purple band and some band pull-aparts also against a purple.

Late night Bench

Legs are fairly exhausted from monday and pushing cars on tuesday.

Bench:
275 x 2
285 x 2
295 x 2
285 x 2, 2

Muscles are starting to recover, but I have no speed at this point. Reps are all grinders. Also, I've noticed that when my legs are tired, my butt will occasionally come off the bench. I need to keep this in mind for the future.

Military Pin Press:
185 x 5
205 x 4
185 x 7
185 x 6

My right pec was feeling irritated so I switched to these. Felt good overall.

Finished with four sets of dips and wide grip pull ups until failure.

Bench

Bench:
275 x 3
295 x 2
305 x fail

Felt unusually sore to start. Then i realized that I bench on Sunday and today was only Tuesday, so I hadn't recovered. My training is all kinds of awesome right now.

Band-lightened Bench:
Used loose purples
285 x 5, 2 sets
295 x 5, 2 sets

These were all easy. Kept it light to avoid destroying my pecs further, which were already sore to the touch.

Seated Military Pin Presses:
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 3
205 x 5

Finished with front dumbbell raises and ab wheel

11/28/09 DE Squat, Accessory Uppers

Speed Box Squat (~14" box, against greens):
205 x 2 for 8 sets

I had strained my right hamstring on 11/17 and took 11/24 off from squatting to get it in order. Normally I lift thru things like this, but I felt like it would heal quick and I would only miss one lift (instead of lifting thru it and prolonging the injury). I made the right choice, the missed lift allowed it to heal and the speed squats felt fine.

Band (green) Pull Thrus:
3 x 10

Shoulder Pin Press:
155 x 5 for 3 sets

Upright Rows:
135 x 8 for 3 sets

Incline DB Curls:
40s x 6 for 3 sets

Bench Assistance

Standing Press
105 x 5
115 x5, 5

Close grip bench (2 second pause)
135 x 5, 5, 5

Overhead pin presses
135 x 5, 5, 4+1fail

Dumbbell rows
110 x 8, 8, 10

RE Bench

bench conditioning during the off week... bleh.

Bench:
alternated wide, medium-wide and medium grip

225 x 10 (med)
235 x 10 (m/w)
245 x 10 (wide)
225 x 10 (med)
225 x 7 - going for 10(m/w)
205 x 12 (wide)

Military Pin Press:
bar set 2" above eyes
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5

Bench

Bench (wider, normal, closer grips)

115 x 10

125 x 10 x 2

125 x 9+f

125 x 8+f

115 x 8+f

Seated Pin Press
95 x 5
105 x 5
115 x 5
115 x 3+f

9/16 Bench

Neutral Grip DB Bench: 50x10
60x10
70x8
80x8, 5

OH Pin Press (eye level, seated, BTN): 95x8
135x5
155x3, 2

Pullover (parallel bar, bent arm): 65x12
75x11, 7 PR

Pulldown Abs: 90x20

I tried to do some normal benching, but my right wrist doesnt like that position for some reason, so I did the DB presses. I also lowered the notch for the pin presses as well - that made a huge difference lol, but I felt my shoulders getting into the lift more.

But the star of this workout was easily the pullovers. I feel these in my triceps even more than the Dave-style skullcrushers, but there is no wrist or elbow strain with these. We'll see how well these work over the next few months.