Great upper body workout: Bench 200 x 7

Today was a surprisingly good upper body day. Normally, my bench is always a little off after I take a deload week. AND, even as I was warming up today I wasn't feeling great. But, in the end I had a pretty great day.

His mustache gives him the strength of 3 men

Started by warming up nice, Then got right to it. Benched the bar for a slew, then 95 for a slew as as, then 135 for 10 or so. Overall, form felt pretty good, but I was just feeling a little weak and slow. I hit 155 x 5, and again it wasn't hard, but not as nice as I would have liked. I loaded up 175, and this time I tried to treat it as if it was lighter weight, and it moved a little smoother and nicer. So I put 200 on the bar, rested a lot, and when I went after it I really focused on 1) treating it like it was light weight (95), and 2) treat each rep as if it was a single. I got 5 solid reps, then a 6th, and finally a 7th. Before the 7th I wasn't sure I was going to get it, but honestly it wasn't even that hard - I'm not saying I had an 8th, but it was a VERY solid set of 7. An unexpected, but very welcome PR.

After that, dropped back to 175 and hit it for 3 sets of 4, with a nice long pause on the first rep. Moved very well, although form was a little lazy on the second set perhaps.

Next, yates rowed 155 for 3 sets of 10. I like Yates rows.

Next, my first crack at 155 strict press, working towards 3 sets of 10. Warmed up with the bar, then 115 x 9 , then hit 155 x 3 sets of 6. First set was pretty solid, second was tough, third that last rep was a battle. BUT, 3 sets of 6 my first time trying is something to be very happy about. My body will adjust to the new weight soon, and start making some serious progress. I was really trying to focus on taking a breath and getting tight BEFORE starting the press, to avoid that shrug/tremor that I saw in my max video. I think I did a good job. Anyways, next week I'll probably try for 3 x 7, see how close I can get.

Finally, did 10 x 1 chinups. Why? cause I'm too heavy to do more than 1 or 2 chinups, and the pullup bar I have at home doesn't let me do kipped pullups. But that's okay. I'll keep at kipped pullups while I'm at school, and then this summer while I am losing some body fat anyways, I will focus on strict pullups and chinups, try and get them better

Anyways, overall really good day. Bench and strict press seem the be coming along, and hopefully with the addition of this new bench training on friday I will blast forward. Lets keep at it.