Great day today.
Started with a nice long warmup, got the shoulders really warm, then got to work. Right away, I was feeling solid. Weight felt light. I really tried to focus on separating my reps out, trying to really rocket them down and up with as much speed as I could muster for the first couple reps, then banging the others out quickly, keeping tension on the muscles and really getting my stabilizers, chest, and lats warmed up and working hard. Hit the bar x 20, 95 x 15, 135 x 10, 185 x 5 all easy, and I knew it was a good day. Kept my energy high and my attitude animal, and smashed a rep at 225, then 240. Went to 255 and smashed it for a new PR. I flared a little early and pressed the weight back, over my face a lot, but it was pretty easy. Loaded up 260 and hit that too, definitely tougher on the lockout, but overall still really fast and a great rep, and that was a 10 lb PR. I knewwww attempting 265, there was a good chance I would fail, but I REALLY want 275 next time I max out, so it was worth the attempt to be that much closer to my goal. However, I just didn't have it. Good fight at the sticking point, but I just didn't have it moving fast enough to lock it out. Still, 10 lb PR is nothing to be angry about! really happy with that, it's 25 lbs on my bench since the start of summer, 15 lbs since coming back to school. I think if I really crack down 275 is realistic. It's gonna be a fight but I am going to get it.
Next, close grip feet up benching. It's been a while sicne I did this! I need to be doing it more, it works so well for me. Anyways, loaded up 145 and hit it for a max set of 25, which I'm pretty happy with. getting stronger for sure.
Next, 4 x 25 cable rows with 110.
Finally, bar starz. My pullup strength and grip strength are really starting to improve due to this, it's such a great tool.
So, feeling much better today about training. I thought things through, and I think the plan for the next four weeks is clear: First and foremost, things are going to stay ALMOST the same. Training had been going great, I have been enjoying it, and I am getting stronger. However, some small changes are goign to make a difference, I think. Number one, doing a 4-week wave instead of 3, so I can get some slightly higher reps in on the first ME day and do a better job of "building." I think that extra really hard ME set, and the extra week, will give me a little more time to build up strength that is demonstrated when I max out. Secondly, I think that I need to focus on SPEED for my squat, and REPS for my bench. Thursday, I think I am going to try and avoid choosing weights, sets, reps, ahead of time as best I can. Instead, I am going to squat with the sole intent of moving that bar as fast as I can, do whatever reps I feel like, and just keep adding weight as long as I can maintain bar speed. Once I start to notice it dropping off, I either stay at that weight or even drop back, so I am REALLY training my ability to move as fast as possible, catch a stretch reflex etc. Some weeks, this might mean staying really light, and some it might mean going up heavy. But the important thing is going to be getting reps in where I am moving that bar FAST. Then, I will use front squats to work my technique, seeing as how all my issues on squat (chest up, hips and knees forward) are emphasized with front squatting anyways. So, get stronger with heavy squats, then really work SPEED with back squats, and technique with front squats thursday. On the other hand, I think I have the hang of speed and really solid technique on bench. I focused hard today on bar speed and it came really naturally to me. What I think I need to focus on for fridays is banging out reps, with slightly heavier weights. But the emphasis needs to be on getting through the sets as fast as possible, keeping tension on the muscles, forcing my chest and my stabilizers to work really hard - almost a more "bodybuilding" style of doing a set. This will help me to build up my chest, build my stabilizers, build my back, force me to grow because it isn't as efficient as I might want. Then, on heavy days when I REALLY focus on a tight arch, treating each rep as a single, and being as fast as possible, all that extra muscle, stabilizer strength and pec activation will make heavy singles fly up, like they did today. For squats, I need to focus on being as FAST as I can, and for bench I need to build my bench up with less stable variations (pec flies, high rep BB benching, CGFUBP, dumbell benching, etc) and then, conversely, focus on SMASHING heavy reps, as single, with maximum speed and lat activation.
Great day, with some great ideas. Can't wait for these next 4 weeks. Lets keep at it.
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