Beyond 5/3/1 Bench Aug 25

If I were to describe this morning's bench training in one word, it would be... confusing.

Getting out of bed was rough, way too hot and muggy to sleep well last night and only enough time for a small bowl of oatmeal and some creatine hydrochloride before I had to get out the door. Warm-ups and the first two working sets felt really good, but the max set at 245 was... well, it just was. 9 good reps with 245 isn't terrible, but it isn't great either - certainly not knocking on a PR of any kind. As I started my first two Joker sets I felt better, triples went up nice and easy at 255 and 270. 285 for a triple would have been breaking new ground as the best sets of 3 I got up to when I was doing the Patrick Nyman program were at 280, and those were the main course at the time, not something I would've done after a set of 9 at 245.

Unfortunately, something happened as I was lowering the bar for the first rep. I wish I could say exactly what. I think I may have taken it too high, or maybe my hand position was off but I ended up kinda pressing it up and to the left instead of straight up. I still managed to wrestle it back to center and finish the rep, but my position on the bench was compromised. I tried for a second rep but she wasn't having it. By this point I was considering calling it and moving on to assistance work, I was starting to feel hungry and deflated and my joints were a bit iffy after my diagonal 285lb bench, but I didn't quite feel done.

I decided that I would throw on the slingshot and try it that way. The slingshot is a nifty invention by Mark Bell that adds a bit of mechanical overload as well as some much-appreciated stability in the bench press. You can get one at howmuchyabench.net and I highly recommend that you do - it's great for when you have as many old injuries as I do and don't want to miss workouts when you have tendonitis flare-ups. My reps felt fantastic with the slingshot on, so I went all the way up to a pretty easy triple at 315.

Warm-Ups

3 @ 45, 95, 115, 135, 155

Working Sets

3 @ 190
3 @ 220
9 @ 245

Jokers

3 @ 255
3 @ 270
1 @ 285, missed second
3 @ 285 w/ss
3 @ 295 w/ss
3 @ 315 w/ss

3 x 15 Rear Delt Flies superset with 3 x 15 tricep pressdowns (not shown in video)



The handsome gentleman behind me is my best friend and training partner, Brandon. We're actually doing the same programming but he doesn't blog like the cool kids.