Masons get lean log!



Those deadlifts flew up. Felt strong. Swapped Dumbbell press for lever chest press machine, don’t want a crunchy shoulder.
 


Tasty pause reps. Was not in the mood today but banged it out. Dips are creeping up. Soon I’ll be doing bodyweight. Hopefully good signs for my bench.
 
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Really not in the mood today. Work is super stressful, and I was tired. Squats felt good, really disappointed with bench though.

Before my deload I hit 5x85 and failed on 87.5 only doing 3 reps. Since coming back bench has felt good. 5x82.5 last week felt super easy. So was gutted I only managed 4 on 85 today. The 4th rep was a slog so I didn’t even attempt the 5th, really I should have. Might have been a form issue with the 4th… oh well I’ll try again next week.
 
Deadlift: 5x155, 4x5x140
Incline Bench: 5x8x60
Chest Press: 5x5x50
Lat Pulldown: 3x8x62.5
Body weight: 95.6

Really didn’t want to go today. So tired.
 
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The app I use has a nice calendar view showing when I went. Since May last year I never had a perfect month. Closest I got was missing 1 workout in July and August last year. Going to aim for a perfect February and never miss a session.

Today was the first day this week where I felt ‘up to it’.

Pause squats: 3x132.5, 4x3x120
Pause bench: 5x3x75
Pause deadlifts: 2x3x140
Dips: Bodyweight-15kg
Body weight: 96.1kg
 
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Juicy squats today. Also got the 5x85 bench. 4th rep felt tough again but I didn’t wimp out and went for the 5th and it was ok. Roll on 87.5 next week for a 5 rep PR.

Squats: 5x152.5, 4x5x137.5
Bench: 5x85, 4x5x77.5
Seated Row: 5x8x125
Brocep Curls: 3x12x22.5
Bodyweight: 94.8kg
 
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Deadlift day. Guy behind me did 180 and 190, was very tempted to ask if I could attempt a cheeky 1 rep max. But I’ll hold off for a bit.

Deadlifts: 5x160, 4x5x145
Incline Bench: 5x8x62.5
Chest Press: 5x5x70
Lat Pulldown: 3x8x65
Bodyweight: 95.5kg
 
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Deadlift day. Guy behind me did 180 and 190, was very tempted to ask if I could attempt a cheeky 1 rep max. But I’ll hold off for a bit.

Deadlifts: 5x160, 4x5x145
Incline Bench: 5x8x62.5
Chest Press: 5x5x70
Lat Pulldown: 3x8x65
Hard to resist when you're on the cusp of a big lift!

But it is worth the wait!
 
Very late to the gym tonight. I’m that saddo who rocks up to the gym at 21:30 on a Friday.

Pause squats: 3x135, 4x3x122.5
Pause bench: 5x3x77.5
Pause deadlift: 2x3x142.5
Dips: 3x8x (bodyweight-12.5)
Bodyweight: 95.3kg
 
2 PRs today.

1st one: BMI of 29.9 down from 37.8 in May last year. RIP obesity, I am now overweight.

Second was on bench:

Squats: 5x155, 4x5x140
Bench: 5x87.5, 4x5x77.5
Seated row: 5x5x133
Brocep Curls: 3x12x25
Bodyweight: 94.6kg


Moved quite nicely. I failed this before my deload only managing 3 reps back in November. Really pleased to get it and think it looked like it moved pretty easy. Roll on 90 next week.

The squats killed me today too. Top set moved ok but the volume - I was blowing a gasket after 3rd set. Was really thinking of wimping out but pushed through. Didn’t bode well for bench but managed to surprise myself. Happy days.
 
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By the way, never recorded or seen myself bench before. Would appreciate any tips on my form. I know you're supposed to have a diagonal bar path but I didn't realise I lowered the bar that much, it doesn't feel like I'm bringing it that far down but in the clip looks almost like I'm bringing it to the bottom of my rib cage... maybe it's just the angle.

I don't leg drive, and maybe I'm completely wrong on this but the way I see it: leg drive will help you if your goal is to lift the heaviest bench press you can. For me that's not my goal, my goal is to build strength in my upper body (chest/shoulders/arms). As I understand it, leg drive will help get the bar off your chest and more or less do the first 10% of the press for you. If my goal was to get the highest single 1rm on bench I possibly could I would work on that technique. But as my goal is to build strength in my chest, I don't see how using leg drive would help me here. I'm never going to be a competitive powerlifter. I'm more interested in: getting stronger and not getting injured.

Completely aware that my thinking here could be completely wrong so I'm open to peoples opinions.
 
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