Great bench day, 225 x 7, 5

Really good day today! I cracked down on my eating yesterday, and today's success shows me that I was right; diet (lack of creatine and carbs, specifically) was a huge contributor to my shittier workout yesterday. 

Post-workout weight. Right on the money baby

Started with bench! Got warm, THEN did my normal shoulder warmup stuff, THEN did a bunch of extra shoulder/chest/back warmup stuff, to really get warm before I started benching. Then, I started working up, using significantly less reps than normal - I hit the bar with my feet up, then 95 x 5, 135 x 3, 185 x 1. I had a little trouble getting the weight out of the rack (new equipment), but overall felt alright. A little tentative, but otherwise good. Loaded up 225 and went after it. The first rep or so honestly didn't feel that great, but I just kept moving it, hit my old pr (5), and a really solid 6... thought about calling it there, cause my lower back was crampy and that was a PR. BUT, I tightened my glutes, tried to keep the weight smooth, and although it was a hell of a fight and my lockout was a touch uneven, I got rep 7! Really happy about that, it's a big PR, and only one rep shy from my IDEAL, which would have been 8. I rested up, then went at it again, this time with a pause. Felt really solid - my paused reps simply feel stronger and more consistent, and I can grind through the hard ones better. I hit a really good 5 and was just about to rack it when I changed my mind. I haven't really pushed to failure on the paused stuff, so I decided to try a 6th - and promptly failed haha. But it's really alright. I kicked ass today, so that's good. Creeping ever closer to that 275. 

Next, did some CGFUBP, again focusing on squeezing down, pausing, and pressing hard. Hit 185 for a set of 6, then 165 x 8 (had to touch n go the last rep), then hit 135 for 10. Finally, as a "finisher," grabbed 45 lb dumbells and did some dumbell bench, really trying to flare the elbows and squeeze up with the chest. Hit 15 I think. 

Next, band rows. Man, these blow up my back. Hit 4 sets of 25 with a blue band. 

Finally, BArs Stars! it;s been a while since I have done this, and the pullup cages at CFD are so useful for this. Did 3 sets, really monkeybarring around. 

Also, measured the legs today... they were 26 inches over the summer. GAINZ

So, overall good day! Need to keep eating plenty, and stretch to get ready for thursday! I wanna smash my heavy front squat. Other than that, I need to start really honing in my recovery. Can't wait to max out in 2 weeks! Lets keep at it.