Strict press 170 x 1

Really good day today. I'm starting to look pretty damn good - still not lean enough that my abs look good, but I'm getting to the point that my upper body is starting to look pretty lean and huge.

Oldschool badassery

Started with 5/3/1 press. Long warmup, then the bar, then 95 x 10 or so, then loaded up 135. Tried to get a little psyched up and angry for these, and it went well. Hit a nice 5 at 135, then a solid 3 at 155. Finally, loaded up 170 and crushed it for a single. Got a tiny bit out in front, but overall it was a great rep, smooth and fairly fast (although I got a little dizzy). After, dropped back to 155 and hit it for 3 with a long pause, and then on the 3 mins hit 135 for 5 with a long pause. The long pauses really work to fix the "pressing out in front" issue, and they feel really strong and solid.

Next up, rows. Decided to use 170 as my moderate weight, and rowed it for 4 sets of 10 on the 2 mins. Felt good. I REALLY need to focus on letting the weight stretch my back/lats at the bottom of each rep. It is really easy to shorten the movement by resisting with my biceps, but it hits my back SO much better when I get the stretch.

Next, did some speed-work type benching. Loaded up 170 and hit it for 10 sets of 3 on the minute. Tried to hit each rep/set as fast as I could, and it went well! definitely a lot of wobble on certain sets, which is no good - I want each rep to be precise and consistent - but overall the weight moved fast and easy. On the final set, I hit the weight for max reps and managed a tough but very solid set of 10! That's pretty good after 27 other reps. Quality volume with a good amount of weight, for fast and nice reps.

Finally, had fun with high rep bodybuilding stuff. started with 2 sets of tens on the curl bar, and tried to curl it for 50 reps as fast as possible. Then, threw a pair of 5's on and did 50 skullcrushers as fast as possible. Finally, grabbed a 10 lb plate in each hand and did 50 side raises as fast as possible. Man, I was done by the end. Had a great pump, looked awesome, felt awesome.

So, fun day overall. Pressing went really well, felt strong and solid, and I'm starting to get bigger AND leaner in my upper body. Got to keep on this diet, cause I want to start looking even better in the next week or two, and just keep training according to the program - by summers end, I should look awesome, feel healthier, and be even stronger than I was at my last mock meet. Lets keep at it.