Much better day

Today was a much better day. Didn't stress too much about the workout beforehand, tried hard to just get in the gym with a clear head and do the best with what I had in me that day.

Took my time warming up on the bench, did a set of ten with the bar (instead of my normal 5), then ten at 75, then 5 at 95 and 115. Then work sets:

140 x 3
160 x 3
180 x max (5)

I hit the hooks twice during the set at 180 which really pissed me off, but other than that it was a really solid set. The 5th rep was pretty tough (probably cause of me hitting the fucking hooks), but that's still a new 5rm and better than the last time I benched that weight. AND, I set up better and didn't breathe like I did last week, so that's good too.

Next was 5 x 10 bench. I was planning on taking this from 115 to 120 today, but because I felt strong today (and a little irked about hitting the hooks and kinda messing up my last set), I decided to take the weight up to 125 instead. It was a good choice: even with only 90 seconds rest, I made it all the way through, even getting an extra 2 reps on the last set. I'll probably keep at this weigh for another week or two, try to get that last set up to 15 + and then maybe take the weight up again. But it felt great today.

High rep bench is also fun because the chest pump makes me look ridiculously huge. I'm really starting to look bigger and stronger than I ever have before. 

Next, I did kroc rows (my first time doing these instead of the lighter 5 x 10 bent over rows). I decided to do one big set to failure for each arm. I grabbed the 70 (with straps) and banged it out for 27, rested a minute or two, then did the same with the other arm. Overall, I like these WAY better than the bent over rows. I think I'll stick to the one set per arm for now, but I'll definitely take the weight up to at least 75 lbs next week. I'll keep playing with these, I think they're a great movement.

Fuck yeah

Because I took the weight up on the bench, I was iffy on upping the dumbbell overhead press weight, but I decided to go up to 45's anyways. I ended up getting 14 on the first set, then 8 and 4. I think I'm going to start doing these as a sort of drop set, because i want to keep pushing that first set heavy, but I also want to keep my overall volume higher (that last set being only 4 reps is sort of stupid). So a drop set is the way to go I think. Maybe I'll even start doing this with the dumbbell chest press as well?

Finally, Lat pulldowns at 160 were not bad. My lats were a little more tired than usual from the kroc rows, but even so these weren't much of a problem. I AM using a bit of body movement with this pull, but at the same time I feel it killing my lats, so I think i'm just going to keep doing them the way i'm doing them. I got 18 on the last set of these, so I'm thinking maybe one more workout at this weight before I push to 170. Then pretty soon i'll be switching back to pull-ups, and I can see what kind of carryover this lat work will have.

Anyways, it was an awesome day today. Didn't stress, had fun, felt strong. Basically the opposite of yesterday haha. Lets keep them like this.