Its working!

[SNC]

I attended an invite only bench bash this week at a local gym. As the event got closer and closer I worried I wasn't ready to compete but was going to attend to support a friend who was lifting. So the night before I worked chest and back because there was no way I was going to enter the lift. Well.....The desire to test myself got the better of me and I paid my entry fee and put my name on the card, even with my chest still burning from the previous night. A number of guys ended warming up with 3 plates plus. I started to worry I was gonna get my ass handed to me. I opened with a very conservative 285 - it felt like a continuation of the warm ups I was doing. I was ridiculed for doing what was obvious to all there, a lightweight for me. But because I wanted to get a lift in and worrying about how much was left in the tank from the previously workout, I played it safe. Lift two was another safe lift @ 320 that felt supper light. I didn't want to hit a PR so 345 was loaded and it went up like a sub 300 pound bar! I really think that a 375 - 390 would have gone up easy! I am so looking forward to my next 1rm attempt, I might be over 400!

I added 135 pound skull crushers to my workout and have been following a modified 5x5 and some overloads with 135 pound DB flat and decline.


429.9 here I come!!!

 

[mike8675309]

Congrats!

 

[paperfist]

Congrats!

Man you must be in some shape to move that much weight around.

 

[jane nair]

wow!!Congrats bro.!

 

[skyking]

Congrats!

Man you must be in some shape to move that much weight around.

No kidding!

 

[SNC]

Congrats!

Man you must be in some shape to move that much weight around.

I'm not really "in shape" I have just been training a few body parts.
My legs are junk, after a few surgeries and being shot in one knee, I will never be in as good a shape as I would like to be.
Here's a short video of me goofing around with 4 plates on a smith machine, it equals about 385 pounds. I was not warmed up, but was being prodded by a the youth group we train to lift in my tutu I had on for halloween. Ignore the god awful noise I make, I really should have warmed up.

 

[SNC]

I was horizontal for about a week with a nasty cold that made moving feel worse than death. Every joint in my body was in such pain! I was out of the gym for 2 weeks and after going back for a very light week because the tendons were still sore from the "cold" I had, I picked up a chest cold and was out for another week. Friday was chest day and I was super worried but was able to get up a decent 335 for 2 and 340 for 1. Back pulls were still strong at 400 for 3 sets of 8, but I could only muster 5 reps for each of the 3 sets of 135 lb dumbbell press. I feel like I lost about 2 months worth of gains, the struggle is real. It seems like the pecs were hit harder than the back. I had hopes to go the the states in April but not to sure now, I may go just to get a score.

 

[highland145]

My next kid's B day party, I'm paying for you to show up.

"Easter Bunny's got his ass unles it's moving."

Good work.

 

[SNC]

Last Night was another night in the slow recovery mode. I started a new 3 week course called the Smolov Jr for bench. It was the 1st day of week 2 and I had to do 6 sets of 6 @ 245 after warming up with 135 for 20 and 225 for 12, the 6x6 went really easy like a long warm up, soooo 315 was loaded and 2 went up like candy. I thought we'd push it a bit and loaded 365 and nailed it! Not sure how much was left in the tank, 10 -15 pounds if I was lucky. I'm hoping that by the end of this month I'll be at 405 and might even be ready for the record lift in June and the states.

 

[SNC]

Last workout in the first Smolov Jr plan. 135x20, 225x12, 275x8, 10 sets of 3 @ 315 and finished up with a 225x15 in under an hour, chest was killing me the day after but feels great today.
Now I take a week off and test for 1rm, hoping for 400 but it will be more likely 380. I'll then use that as the starting weight for the next 4 week plan. I'm hoping for 405+ for a non sanctioned meet on June 9th, and 430 for a sanctioned meet later in the year. I tried on my singlet for the first time a little while ago and I'm pretty sure there will be no video of the lifts.

 

[mike8675309]

Come on, When you are lifting you have to have no shame. It's all about the lifts. Women have it worse when it comes to competition. Deadlifts often lead to bowel control issues and it ain't no thing. lifters have no shame.

 

[pauldun170]

Last Night was another night in the slow recovery mode. I started a new 3 week course called the Smolov Jr for bench. It was the 1st day of week 2 and I had to do 6 sets of 6 @ 245 after warming up with 135 for 20 and 225 for 12, the 6x6 went really easy like a long warm up, soooo 315 was loaded and 2 went up like candy.

Cool,
I'm stealing that.
Gonna give that a try next week for bench and squats.

Nice work!!!

 

[SNC]

Cool,
I'm stealing that.
Gonna give that a try next week for bench and squats.

Nice work!!!

Thanks. The first week is like a cake walk, I almost gave up on it. that 10x3@315 was brutal on my pecs. I had a tested clean 335 ORM going into this program, tomorrow I retest, I am actually thinking 370-380. After one of the mid-week workouts, I put up a 365 so 380 is possible. If I was able to add 45 pounds to my bench in 4 weeks, that would be killer. Even if I can only put up 365 or 370 it was a great gain, and I'll do it again. I would love to do the full 13 week program but I have some meets I would like to hit, and I dont want to be in the middle of a program. But after the meet season I am so doing it! I dont know if you can tell how excited I am, but I am shitting myself over these results.

 

[SNC]

Come on, When you are lifting you have to have no shame. It's all about the lifts. Women have it worse when it comes to competition. Deadlifts often lead to bowel control issues and it ain't no thing. lifters have no shame.

Mike, do you compete?

 

[mike8675309]

Mike, do you compete?

I don't compete at this time but I am at a point in that working out on it's own is getting to be too routine and I want to work towards something tangible. I hope to be switching gyms from a LA Fitness to a gym that caters to more barbell minded folks. Ideally I'd like to do my first competition next year.

I do follow power lifters and body builders and enjoy living a bit vicariously through them and I do have no shame in the gym myself. I feel that when you are working out in the gym, it's about the workout, not how you look doing the workout. And if people can't deal with my fat showing sometimes or my crack appearing at inopportune (yet fully justified) times that isn't my problem. I'm working out.

 

[SNC]

So unless things change that was a wasted 4 weeks. After a week off, as recommended by the program, I attempted a new ORM and failed miserably at 380, not I just didn't get it, but it was like lifting a ton! I was able to get 345 x2 with no issues but 365 was a no go as well, tho that was after the failure at 380. I'm gonna go back to my old routine for a week and try again in a couple weeks. I really felt rundown before attempting it yesterday. I haven't taken a week off in a while that wasn't forced by sickness and it really felt weird. I added an inch to my chest and a quarter to my arms over that 4 weeks but I was really hoping for something around 380

 

[pauldun170]

So unless things change that was a wasted 4 weeks. After a week off, as recommended by the program, I attempted a new ORM and failed miserably at 380, not I just didn't get it, but it was like lifting a ton! I was able to get 345 x2 with no issues but 365 was a no go as well, tho that was after the failure at 380. I'm gonna go back to my old routine for a week and try again in a couple weeks. I really felt rundown before attempting it yesterday. I haven't taken a week off in a while that wasn't forced by sickness and it really felt weird. I added an inch to my chest and a quarter to my arms over that 4 weeks but I was really hoping for something around 380

You could be fighting something and it threw you off.
It happens

 

[SNC]

So yesterdays chest was 12x135, 12x225, 6 sets of 6 at 275 3 sets of 4 @315 and a clean 345. I didn't want to push it so I stopped there. I still dont se 380 happening just yet. Whatever that cold thing was destroyed me! I'm going back to my normal routine for a month and see if the additional work will help.

 

[SNC]

Starting to feel as if I'm moving in the right direction again, and BOOM!!!! I was doing single arm clean and presses with a 135 pound bar and on one of the last ones I lowered it to fast and while trying to catch it I think I tore a bicep tendon. Pain is crazy. Odd thing is I can still perform low rows and T-bar rows with no pain. Pendley and upright rows along with lat pull downs are the worst as are curls. I keep forgetting that I'm not a young fella no more. Anyway, the bench is still going up. Yesterday was 12@135, 12@225, 5x5@300, 4x4@315 and 2@345. I think I'll keep upping the 5x5 by 5 pounds a session until I can get 345 4 times clean. That should put me somewhere around 380 calculated. Monday will be 12@135 and 12@235 as always for warm ups then 5x5@305 and 4x4@ 315 and hope for 3@345. I'm not sure how to modify my second heavy set moving forward. At the point I'm doing 5x5@315 I'm not sure 4 more sets of 4 @ 315 will be helpful. I guess I should start now and bump that set up the same 5 pounds each session. I got it! I'm gonna bump up the 4x4s by 7 pounds each session! If it goes well I should be at 4x4@343 in less then a month ok 2.