Bench 205 x 8, 215 x 7

Really solid lift (yesterday) haha. Only issue is, my elbows were flaring up a lot. Probably just cause it was a very heavy week, and I did that HUGE set of heavy squats yesterday. A little bit of a bummer, but still not too bad.

What a man

Started with benching. I was doing some higher rep stuff today, working up in sets of 8 with the goal of hitting 205 x 8 or more, which would be an all-time PR for me. Took quite a while warming up, trying to get those shoulders loose and feeling good. In the end, everything was really moving nicely, but my elbows just would not get warm enough that they didn't hurt. Anyways, hit the bar, then 95 x whatever, then 135 x 8, 165 x 8, 185 x 8, loaded up 205 and (despite someone unloading all my weights while I wasn't looking and trying to take my rack) hit that for a really solid 8, definitely had a rep or two in the tank. So, instead of pushing that set, I loaded up 215, and tried to hit THAT for 8. It was a pretty good set, a little bit wobbly but I really worked to focus on those last couple reps and managed to hit a 6th and 7th. I MIGHT have even had an 8th in there, but I had no spot and 7 was hard enough that I didn't go for it. However, 8 at 205 is a PR, and 7 at 215 is maybe a 2-rep PR or something like that. Pretty damn good.

Next up, some strict press. I tried to keep it touch n go the most I could - I think part of my problem with strict press is, I have gotten so good at the MOVEMENT that when I do it, my muscles don't actually get much bigger/stronger, because I am so efficient with it. So, I think by keeping it touch n go I am keeping more tension on the muscles, forcing my stabilizers to grow and my shoulders to grow and then, when I go back to doing the MOVEMENT really efficiently, I will be much stronger. (I think that exact reason is why my bench has been growing). Anyways, hit the bar, 95 x 10, then 135 x 12, 8, and 7. Pretty happy with that! Haven't been strict pressing much, and that 12 is my PR. So I am at LEAST maintaining all my strength, while significantly improving my bench strength.

Next, did some pec flies. Felt good, but I was kind of coaching a friend as I was trying to do my sets, so I wasn't super focused. Still, hit a few warmup sets then the 15's for 3 sets of 15.

Finally, I did a slew of t-bar rows. I really wanted to do bar stars, but my elbows were already REALLY acting up, so I thought better of it. Did a set of 20 rows with a 45, 20 with 2 45's, then 16 with that + a ten, and finally another set at the same weight, of 15. The pulling helped my joints, that's for sure.

SO, In summary not just a great workout, but a great week, full of PR's! Literally a bench of squat PR on every single workout this week. What that tells me, however, is the smart thing to do is to back off a little bit. So this is what I am thinking: next week, push for PR double/triple on the ME days, then really don;t be afraid to keep the weight lighter and the reps higher on the rep days. I have been pushing pretty hard on those days, so I think to avoid pushing myself to much I should take at least this next week and just focus on a bunch of really good, lighter, faster reps. Then, the next week on ME day perhaps I will push up and try and hit a new PR single. I know I am in "PR territory," so one more heavy and hard workout, followed by some workouts that are easier to recover from + a long weekend will hopefully mean that, two mondays from now, I will hit my 405 squat, and two tuesdays from now I might hit a 255 bench. We will see! lets keep at it.