Bench 230 x 2

I'm feeling a little frustrated today, but I will vent at the end.

Started with 5/3/1 bench. A bunch of friends were in the gym today, so I was a little less focused than I should have been. Also, I was feeling very tight, especially in my back, from yesterdays workout. Anyways, warmed up, hit the bar, then 95, then 135 x 10. Focused on squeezing the shit out of the bar today. Kind of felt good, but it kind of made doing reps harder too haha. That might be a cue that serves better when trying to max out. Anyways, went up to 185 and hit it for a solid 5, then 205 for a solid 3. Both sets were good, but I definitely wasn't feeling great. I loaded up 230 and went to press it, but set up to low on the bench and couldn't unrack it easy, so I took a minute so re-set and then hit it for a very solid double. First rep was smooth and pretty fast, second was harder but still solid. I felt pretty confident I wouldn't get a third though, so I didn't try for it. After, dropped back to 205 and hit it for 3 singles with a 3-5 second pause at the bottom. These moves easy and fast.

Next, did 3 x 12 rear-delt flyes with 12.5 dumbells.

Next, strict press. Hit the bar, then 115, then went after 155. Focus was on squeezing the hips a little forward from the start, in order to be very strict with my reps and press in a straight line. It went pretty well considering the change. I hit a set of 8, then a set of 7, then a set of 6 where I BARELY failed the 7th rep. I also was moving perhaps a little faster than usual on these, because I was slow in the beginning of the workout. Overall, weight moved well, although on a few reps I DEFINITELY felt the weight get out in front, which may have definitely contributed to the fatigue. I need to focus on driving the weight straight up.

Finally, I decided that doing kipped pullups is stupid and a waste of my time. So instead, I did 3 x 20 lat pulldowns with little rest, at around 110 lbs. got a good pump.

So overall, not a terrible day, although I am frustrated. Clearly I am progressing on bench, because I don;t think I could have doubled 230 at any other point in my lifting career - but progress is just SO slow. I was hoping to triple this weight, and hopefully triple 235 next cycle. Going from 235 x 1 to 235 x 3 would be solid progress, but going to 230 x 2 or MAYBE 235 x 2 just isn't as good as I had hoped for. It's just frustrating to have tried SO many things - 5/3/1, speed work, rotating exercises, heavy chaos + pain style stuff, and now this higher volume stuff - and STILL be making such slow progress. Plus, it doesn't help that I have sort of hit a wall with the strict press stuff, and now THAT doesn't seem to want to move either. However, progress is still progress, and If I can keep putting 25 lbs on my bench each year, even though that SEEMS like shit... well in 10 years my bench will be right where it needs to be haha. PLUS, I am really going to give this new arm training element to my programming my all. I definitely have tried a LOT of different things to get my press up, but this is something new that I think may really help. At the very least, even if it doesn't help at all I will still make the VERY slow progress I am making now, and end up with some big ass arms on top of it. And If I am lucky, the more I train my arms and the bigger the get, the more and more it will add to my progress. Just another 25-50% on my gains would be SO inspiring, and help to catch my bench up to my other lifts, which I have been very happy with.

Anyways, enough ranting. Going to simply keep at the bench training, and REALLY throw myself into this arms work. I think it has the potential to FINALLY change the benching game for me - if I work my ass off. So lets rest up tonight, and get ready to kick some ass tomorrow. We are gonna keep at it, till the bench is 500.