Bench 215 x 3

Good day today. Bench still isn't feeling great, but I'm working on it.

Started with a nice warmup - I was pretty stiff and not having an easy time moving today, but I warmed up best I could, took my time, and got moving alright. I had in the back of my mind that I wanted to do some triples today, so I warmed up with that in mind. Hit the bar for some reps, moved up to 95 and did a set of 3 reps with a long pause, and then a set of touch n go reps, then did the same with 135. The long pause stuff really felt good on friday before the touch n go work, so I figured I would work it into my warmup a little. After that, switched to triples. Hit 155, 175, 195 for triples. Form wasn't great, but got better with more reps - which is why I did a lot of warmup sets, to try and get in the groove. I always bench better with more, rather than less warmup reps. Finally, hit 205 as my first "work set." It was actually a bit tougher than I wanted, so I loaded up 210. I tried to picture myself moving 135 x sets of 20 the other day, and tried to focus on moving the heavier weight as if I was doing it for a set of 20. Hit 210 and it was really solid, so I went up to 215. Went through the same mental preparation and hit it. It was a tough triple, but solid! I MIGHT have had 220 today, but 215 was pretty hard so I left it there. I'm happy though! My best triple ever is only 225, so 215 isn't bad. And, while last week I hit an easy 215 and then just failed, this week I got solid triples in at 195, 205, 210, and 215, so wayy more quality reps. Very happy with that.

Next, dropped back to 155 and did some close-grip, feet-up benching. My idea is to just try and hit my chest and triceps hard, with as little stability and aid from my legs as possible. If I can increase my raw pressing strength, that can't be a bad thing. First set was a little shitty - I think I was expecting it to feel easier than it did after the 215. Bar was a little wobbly and shit, but I still managed to get a solid 11 reps in. Rested a good bit, hit it for another set of 11, then rested again and managed a 3rd set of 11. Felt good.

Next, felt like I needed to hammer my back. I kind of wanted to just do some pullups or cable stuff, but i felt like that was kind of an easy way out. So instead, I put 135 on the ground and started pendelay rowing it, with my bench grip. I decided to do 100 total reps, broken up however. It was tough! It is a hot day and I was sweating and bummed out. But I made it. worked hard, really trained my back well, and I feel good about it.

Finally, rigged my cable system up and did a 1-arm pec fly type thing with really light weight (like 10 lbs) for 3 sets of 10 each side. Didn't really feel like a super productive or revolutionary exercise haha, but it was just a little extra chest work to finish out the day. I have been thinking lately that I want to start doing some pec flyes, just cause i think a little more chest size, strength, endurance, whatever, can't hurt my bench.

Anyways, good workout! Some quality heavy pressing, lighter work, and a ton of pulling. I wanted to do some overhead press and pullups, but just couldn't today - so I think maybe tomorrow I will do a vertical pressing/vertical pulling workout, doesn't have to be very hard but just try and get some moderate volume in after my cardio and (maybe) some jumping. We will see. Lets keep at it.