Bench 200 x 5

Good day today! fun. hard, and interesting.

Started with 5/3/1 bench press. I worked today on implementing what I discovered yesterday - that I had been letting my rage and intensity from deadlifting spill over too much. I bench and squat best with a calm, methodical approach where I envision light weight, and I deadlift and press best when I get as psyched up and aggressive as possible. So, after a long warmup started benching, and the difference was clear. Hit the bar, 95, and 135, then 155 x 5 and 175 x 5, staying calm, treating each set like it was 95 lbs (and also setting up just a tiny bit higher on the bench than normal, so the unrack was easier. The result: form was great, weight felt solid and easy. Loaded up 200 and hit it for my set of 5. First 3-4 were totally easy. The 5th was definitely slowed down noticeably, and was a much tougher rep. But again, I don;t know what that means - was I at the end of my rope, and would have only had a rep left? or could I have ground out 2, 3, 4 more reps? Either way, great set. Next dropped back to 175 and hit it for a set of 5 long paused reps, which was cake. Definitely a lot easier than last month doing the same thing. Then dropped to 155 on the 3 mins ant hit that for 5 reps with a 5-second pause as well. Easy.

Next up, heavy yates rows. Did a quick warmup set with 135, then 3 sets of 10 with 205 on the 3 minutes. These are really crazy. Not only do I feel it a ton in my lower lats, but I really think just being in that leaned over position with heavy weight is going to really build up my lower back strength and stability. Basically, I think these rows are going to carry over so well to my deadlift. They do NOT feel nice to do, but I think they are going to help my dead a ton. I think I'm gonna push them up heavier soon, maybe drop the reps. I think heavier would be better with these, just gotta be careful with my back.

Next up, strict press. Loaded up 140 and, on the 2 minutes, hit 5,4,3,2,1. Then I psyched up REALLY hard and hit it for a max set. It was insane. I smashed the first rep, felt like an empty bar. Problem is, being that aggressive and psyched up is great for one rep, but then form kind of went to shit haha. I hit 9 reps and failed the 10th, but I think I could definitely have gotten 10 if I hadn't been really sloppy on quite a few reps in the middle. So, getting insane is great for heavy singles, but maybe I should keep it at like 50% for big sets - enough to make it a little easier, but also to keep form tighter.

Finally, did my lighter rows - 5 sets on the 2 minutes with 135, only this time I did sets of 10 pendelay rows instead of more yates rows. I like the idea of doing both kinds of rows. At first, the pendelays didn't feel very good - my shoulder was not feeling good and I didn't feel them much in my upper back. But then I started bending my arms a touch at the start of each rep. This definitely hit my middle upper back much better, and removed the shoulder pain. I must have just been using my shoulder ina  weird way to try and help. Anyways, I liked these! in conjunction with the yates rows, I think this will help me build a bigger and stronger back for dead lifting AND benching.

So, great workout overall. Benching felt awesome, rowing felt awesome, and pressing was like 80% awesome, but I learned more about the mental game. I am learning a ton this summer, about myself, my lifting, what works for me, and the best way mentally to excel in lifting. And, I'm looking leaner and bigger every day. Lets keep at it.