Preparing to apply to the 1,000lb club

8/3/16 - Tuesday

Squats and tempo deadlifts

Squat

Bar x lots
40kg x 5
47.5kg x 5x5

I swapped to flate shoes as I was getting a pull in my hip flexor, goodness knows how I've aggravated that but now I really am resembling a lot more of a low bar squat.

Deadlift (Tempo 4-2-4)
60kg x 5 - Normal concentric, slow eccentric.
70kg x 5
82.5kg x 3
90kg x 3
97.5kg(S) x 4x3

These went on forever. As much as I'm enjoying them I'll be looking forward to doing some more standard pulls next cycle.

Shrugs

80kg x 4x10

BOR

55kg x 4x10

I'm trying to get a tad more parallel each time as my knees are improving.

Curlz

Ez + 12.5kg x 3x12
Ez + 12.5kg x 1x10

Not a bad session. Ended up being rather long but still a solid session. Rest tonight, bench tomorrow.
 
9/3/16 - Wednesday

Bench. Lots and lots of bench.

Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 8
60kg x 6
70kg x 2x4
80kg x 2x3

Must admit, felt a tad heavier than I would have liked it to feel. Lacking some arch and leg drive. Stuff to work on.

Slingshot Bench Press

80kg x 3x8

Paused the reps too. Had a little bit left in me each set, maybe 2-3 reps at the most.

Tricep Pushdown

Some weight x 4x10

Chin Ups

BW x 4x5

Better than last time but still rubbish.

Face Pulls

Mini band x 5x12

Band Pull apart

Mini Band x 3x12

Finished up with some super quick mobility work and that's that. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm close to catching a two plate bench.
 
Hi mate. What's a slingshot bench? I'm struggling with bench at the moment and anything that might help would be much appreciated. Good work btw - getting closer!
 
Warbie said:
Hi mate. What's a slingshot bench? I'm struggling with bench at the moment and anything that might help would be much appreciated. Good work btw - getting closer!
Click to expand...

It utilises an piece of equipment called a "slingshot" which is somewhat similar to a bench shirt. It allows me to bench for a bit more volume or a bit heavier than what I usually would do (sometimes both) and helps work on both parts of the lift whilst taking a good amount of stress out of the joints. It's a great thing to have but by no means should it be the thing to immediately go for without exhausting your other options first. First thing to do is make sure your setup, form and technique is correct. Then look at your program to ensure you have something that you can actually make progress on and if not change it accordingly. If that's looking good then start looking towards weak parts of the lifts and assign auxiliary lifts and accessory lifts to target weak muscles. It's at this point you constant to think about using lifts to strengthen certain parts of the lift, but don't introduce a lift just for the sake of it.

10/3/16 - Thursday

Squats in flat shoes. Utter rubbish.

Lots of warm up stuff to start with.

Squat

Bar x lots
32.5kg x 8
40kg x 6
45kg x 2x4
52.5kg x 2x3

Tbh, utter rubbish. Mobility is still trash but knee funk is a lot less so I guess that in it's own right is an improvement.

Good Mornings

35kg x 4x10

Oh the booty and hammy development.

The good mornings made me feel a tad better by making it feel like I had actually done something.

I finished up with some stretching ( :o ) and a sports massage so hopefully the fact I can now stretch my mobility might start to improve.
 
12/3/16 - Saturday

Ended up just benching, and not very well either.

Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 6
60kg x 5
70kg x 3
77.5kg x 3
85kg x 4
80kg x 2x3

Utter rubbish....

Double Paused Spoto Bench Press

65kg x 6x4

Most were good but my scapulas just were not sliding properly so when I went to pause the bar sometimes shifted.

French Press

Ez + 10kg x 3x8

Slingshot Dips

BW x 3x12

I tried some without the slingshot and it looks like my stabilisation is terrible.

I was supposed to squat and deadlift too but I'll do that tomorrow. Horrible session but that's not to say that my next bench session won't be better :)
 
13/3/16 - Sunday

Squats and deads. Both were laughable.

Squat

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 5
52.5kg x 2x3

And that's the squats over with. Struggling with depth atm due to the knee but after quite a bit of work and playing around with stance, toe angle and cueing, it started to come together. Going to keep the training max the same for the next two weeks so I know that I'm hitting depth every time.

Sumo Deadlift (1/2 (x 3) + 1)

60kg x 3
85kg x 3
105kg(S) x 4x2

I've realised that these really can't be done for multiple reps as it's too exhausting with the constant pausing and the overall time under tension within one set. I've adjusted the upcoming deadlift days accordingly.

BOR (Pendlay)

55kg x 4x10

I switched to Pendlay today so I could ensure I was getting a full range of motion as I just couldn't keep a decent angle and instead kept keeping into a yates row.

Hammer Curlz

5kg x 3x8

And that's that. I had very little food in me and very little energy as a result. I guess it's just one of those days.
 
15/3/16 - Tuesday

Squats and bench. Squats are getting better, bench was feeling heavy. Sleep is off and food intake is super low so it's to be expected I guess.

Squat

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 2 x 5
50kg x 4x3
47.5kg x 3x6

Should have been 52.5kg x 4x3 but never mind. Mobility is improving and it's getting easier to hit depth. Taking this rehab super slowly seems to be the way to go. I'm not focusing on the squat too much now until after the competition so I'm not fussed about frequency, consistency or progression providing I don't allow the knee to get worse.

Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 8
60kg x 6
70kg x 5
80kg x 4x3 - Felt heavier than it should have
75kg x 3x6 - Paused.

Close Grip Bench Press

65kg x 3x6

Rather easy if I'm honest.

OHP

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
40kg x 8 - rep pb :D
37.5kg x 8
35kg x 10

And that is everything.

More bench and some deadlifts tomorrow.
 
16/3/16 - Wednesday

Food intake is better and sure enough the session was better too.

Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 8
60kg x 6
70kg x 5
80kg x 3
85kg x 2x2 - Felt Great

Slingshot Bench Press

90kg x 3x3 - Moved really well. Slingshot PB too :D

Tricep Pushdown

Some weight x 4x8

Really happy with that tiny bench session.

Everything moved really well and most importantly it was a lot better than the last session.
 
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20/3/16 - Sunday

Bench.

Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 8
60kg x 6
70kg x 5
80kg x 3x4 - Moved really welly

Spoto Bench Press

70kg x 5x4 - Also moved really well

Really happy with how bench moved today.

French Press

10kg x 4x8

Slingshot Dips

BW x 4x12

Hammer Curlz

10kg x 4x8

Decent session. Hopefully this will continue.
 
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22/3/16 - Tuesday

Really good bench.

Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 8
60kg x 6
70kg x 5
77.5kg x 3
85kg x 4x3 - rep/set pb
70kg x 3x8

Awesome.

Close Grip Bench Press

70kg x 2x4
70kg x 10

Happy with that.

Face Pulls ss/w Band pull aparts

mini band x 3x12

Awesome session. Hopefully my next session will being a little pb and some slingshot pb's too.
 
24/3/16 - Thursday

More bench.

Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 8
60kg x 6
70kg x 5
75kg x 4
80kg x 3
85kg x 2x2
90kg x 2x1 - All time pb!

90kg moved a lot better than the other warm ups so that's always a good sign.

Slingshot Bench Press

95kg x 2x1
100kg x 2x1

Yay, 100kg! Ok it's in the slingshot but there's potential that it isn't too far out of reach. 95kg flew, 100kg was a tad tough but moved pretty well.

Left the OHP and tricep pushdowns for tonight, I probably should have rowed but never mind. Only a week out from the competition so dropping training volume and intensity outside of the bench press probably isn't a bad thing.
 
Warbie said:
Good work on the pb :)
Click to expand...

Thank you. It's taken far too long for to add on any weight onto my bench and still have a very long way to go too.

25/3/16 - Friday

Squats. Super light squats.

Squat

Bar x lots
32.5kg x 8
40kg x 2x6
45kg x 2x5
52.5kg x 2x3
57.5kg x 2x1 - Moved really well
55kg x 9

The last set didn't feel great on the knees tbh but not terrible either. I'll add on a few kg's for my training weight to work on from next week.
 
26/3/16 - Saturday

Today was deadlifts and it was horrific. I've lost silly amounts of strength and now really struggling to pull sumo as a result. Conventional came to my aid for some super light work and that was that.

Sumo Deadlift (1/2 (x2) + 2)

50kg x some
75kg x 1x1(4)
90kg x 2x1(4)
105kg x 1x1(4)

From this point I just couldn't even break it from the floor because of my knee so I swapped to conventional.

Deadlift (Tempo 4-2-4)

105kg x 4x3

That was a lot easier and I've finally broken my curse of using straps too.

Shrugs

90kg x 4x8

BOR

60kg x 4x8

And that's that. Let the rebuild begin...again.
 
28/3/16 - Monday

So after a weekend of feeling grim, and I wasn't much better today if I'm honest, I pushed myself in for the last big session before the weekend and whilst things didn't move amazingly to begin with the session as a whole was worthwhile.


Bench

Bar x lots x lots
40kg x 8
50kg x 5
60kg x 4
70kg x 3
80kg x 5x4 - Paused

Not bad but felt a tad difficult. I'm putting that down to a self unrack and putting myself into less optimal position.

Double Paused Bench Press (Spoto + Pause on chest)

75kg x 5x3

Fatigue sets in quickly on the last rep of each set.

Close Grip Bench Press

75kg x 3x3

Yay for triceps getting stronger.

13 sets of bench later and that's that. Time to move on to accessories.

OHP

Bar x lots
30kg x 5
35kg x 3
42.5kg x 5 - Moved well
40kg x 5
37.5kg x 8

All nice and rather comfortable.


French Press

10kg 5x8

Not convinced I'm doing these properly from a laying position.

Slingshot Dips

BW x 5x12

I have a feeling I'm going to need the slingshot for another cycle or two before I can do this kind of volume without it. I'll just through on some weight with a dip belt.

Hammer Curlz

8kg x 5x8

Really should have used the 10kg dumbbells but never mind.

Rather happy with that. Much, much, much less on Wednesday and then nothing until Saturday.
 
30/3/16 - Wednesday

Horrific session. Squats were ok though...at the might 57.5kg that I was lifting...

Squat

Bar x millions x billions
32.5kg x 5
42.5kg x 4
50kg x 3
52.5kg x 2x3
57.5kg x 2x2

Moved much, much better than before but knees aren't super happy and it's baby weight. Going to get bigger knee sleeves as the ones I've been wearing are a size too small for me now.

Bench

Bar x lots
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
60kg x 4
70kg x 3
75kg x 2x3 - Did not move well
80kg x 2x2 - Horrific

Moved really badly tonight, but I think it was down to a bad unrack positioning more than anything. Just going to have to suck it up and rest until Saturday to see what happens.

BOR

65kg x 4x5

And that's that. Followed it up with some basic stretches but the bar moving really badly has somewhat knocked my confidence for the the weekend. Hopefully it was just one of those days.
 
2/4/16 - Saturday - Competition Day

So today was competition day for YNEPF Bench Classic. Set a nice 7.5kg all time PB and a 20kg competition PB!

Bench Warmups

Bar x lots (8?)
40kg x 5
60kg x 3
70kg x 1
80kg x 1

Warm ups finished.

Bench Attempts

85kg x 1 - Smoked it
92.5kg x 1 - 2.5kg PB
97.5kg x 1 - 7.5kg PB!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDtLZZDGGcY/?taken-by=porridgeisyummy

Super happy with this and it means I qualify for the national bench press competition next year! Time to get more gooder.
 
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