The Syla5 Files

rubbish session today, bench just ate up loads of my time and didnt feel great.

I will put part of my poor performance down to significantly cutting down the caffeine (including no pre work out coffee) and cutting out the creatine, as well as me just being useless at bench.

Bench
bar x20
50x5
50x5 (p)
70x5 (p)
80x3 (p)
87.5x5
87.5x4+1(s)
87.5x4+1(s)
DS 60x8

BOR's
40x10
60x10
60x10
60x10
still didnt like the feel of these, going to keep the weight at 60kg until it starts to feel right.

Seated DB shoulder press
26x8
26x8
26x7 damn you last rep
i had the pleasure of watching a rather nice lady squat whilst i was sat resting between sets, she was side on in the mirror and the first couple of times i saw her looking in my general direction i thought she was checking me out.....nope, just watching her own form :( (which wasnt to bad but i would have loved to go and give some pointers haha)

Front Squats
Bar x5
40x5
60x8
60x8
ran out of time

CGBP...all benches taken and no time to wait
Did a set of tricep pushdowns instead

Face pulls
45x10
50x10
50x10

Session was a bit meh, really not likeing BOR's i just dont seem to be able to get the activation right, and i really cant get the feeling in my back. Going to stick with it for now.
 
LiE said:
I don't think you're doing yourself anything favours the way you're mixing paused with normal pressing, especially as you pause as you build up to the top sets. I'd either pause on all sets, then do some lower weight normal bench press (this is what I do) or only pause on top sets.
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Fair point.

What about no paused benching at all?

I know your seeing great benefits from it, but i dont have 7 years of bench press monkieness before switching over, so do i need to stick with conventional to make sure i keep growing nicely?

Is paused benching to advanced for where i am at?

I feel like i need to put on more mass on my chest still and would conventional bench be better for doing this, with a little more volume?
 
i am going to go normal then for the next 6 months or so, i dont plan on competing until next year at the very earliest so plenty of time to cross over to paused before then.
 
What do you think about me structuring the bench work a little differently and revert to a 3x8 rather then my more strength focus's setup? Or should I keep the volume to the assistance work.
 
I need to improve my bench, significantly if I want to compete, and well in short I need more mass, what would be the most efficient way to add that mass?!

My bench is a stalling point that's starting to grate and I am just asking for opinions on the best way to improve my pressing strength, one way would be add more mass, and so I asked would I be better doing 3x8 to achieve this, or just stick at what I am doing?

I am training for strength and the purpose of wanting to add the mass is not a vain one, its about having more mass to be able to shift more weight, not so I can get dem teddies out.
 
MoNkeE said:
It's working alright for you though? :p
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Your forgetting the 6-7 years LiE spent being a bench press monkey.

MoNkeE said:
I've not heard that theory before, needing more mass to get more strength. Sorry but that doesn't stack up for me. If that were the case, the mass monsters would be the guys with the biggest numbers.

By your logic, LiE would be stuck at squatting 80kg still and BennyC would be the one squatting over 200kg.......!
Click to expand...

Your reading my comments very generally, I am being specific to myself. I am not genetically disposed to carrying a lot of mass on my chest, and it would also seem its very slow going adding mass there as well. My strength gains have been close to 0 over the last year on chest, unless you count being able match my current rep max but with improved form.

My chest is small, adding mass will mean I have more muscle there to push more weight. The size of my chest has not really improved much over the last year even though my training has been consistent and gains have been had else where.
 
Str cycle 4 week 2 5's deadlift day

I have cut down my caffeine intake to 1 a day, i was skipping my pre-workout but decided to have my 1 coffee first thing this morning, and it was a good idea :)

Deadlifts
Bar x 15 combination of DL's RDL's and GM's
70x5
90x5
110x2
125x2
137.5x6 lost count
137.5x5
137.5x6 lost count again
3rd set, 6th rep i just didnt straighten my back before lifting, noob error

OHP
Bar x5
40x3
50x2
55x5
55x5
55x5

Dips
BWx10
25x9
25x8
25x7
DS's of CGBP because i missed these out last workout
50x6 60sec rest
50x8

DB Row
36x8
36x8
36x8

GHR's and RDL's
BW x5
Bar x5

BWx10
60x10

BWx10

bit of lower back pump by the end so skipped the last set of RDL's and time was running short.

Pleased with most of my deadlifts they felt solid which is progress, and no sign of Mr lower Oblique/Ab twinge in weeks which is great news.

Roll on monday, start of 4's and some squatting :D
 
I was playing with my starting position a little, after watching my warm up sets, the frist rep starts higher and looks better, then any further reps were starting a lot lower 4" roughly. So come to my working sets and i was making more of an effort to start from the same height every rep, you may notice i dip down and then rise a little before starting the lift. I think i was to focused on getting the starting height that i wasnt getting as tight as i should have been.

vid of second set uploading, better back tightness, and highlights what i mean about starting height.
 
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Grrr horrible nights sleep, bed at 11, woke at 1, 2, 4, 5, and alarm at 5:45 :(, snooze as so tired, then 15 mins late for the gym. All this lead to a mediocore session.

Squats
bar x 10
60x6
100x5
125x2
137.5x4
137.5x4 - clipped the catcher and lost tightness on my left side on the last rep, nearly failed the rep.
137.5x4
should have done one more set but was running really short on time.

Pull ups - 60sec rests
10x6
10x6
10x6

RDL's - 60sec rests
bar x5
60x8
70x8
70x8

Inclined db bench
28x10
28x10
dropped the weight from last week and dropped the last set due to time.

Standing cable rows
45x10
45x10
...you know the story with set 3 by now.

I hate rushed sessions, and really bad sleep, but i was pleased with my working sets on squats, still a solid improvement over cycle 3 (125,130,135,135 working sets for 4's)
 
turning off my alarm instead of hitting snooze, dem feels

sticking with my current routine and might change things up after my holiday to see if i can kick start some bench gains

Bench
Bar x20
40x10
60x5
80x2
90x4 90sec rest
90x4 90sec rest
90x3+1
skipped last set due to time

BOR's
40x10
60x10
60x10
60x10

The 40 felt much better then the 60's, but pulling the bar lower down my torso also made the 60's feel better then last week. Progress

Seated DB shoulder press
26x8
26x8
26x7 --- damn you last rep, maybe next week when i am not so rushed

Front Squat
40x5
60x5
70x5
Felt comfortable

CGBP
50x10
60x7
60x6

Face Pulls - no time :(

not a bad session but fail with alarm clock made it all a bit rushed.

Weight update, weighed in at 11st 11lb on sunday morning, and 11st 12lb this morning at the gym.

Going to be on holiday in 3 weeks so plan with diet is stick as it is for now, enjoy holiday, then redo prep week for CBL and then back to CBL as i currently am. 7lb gain since January.
 
Strength cycle 4, week 3, 4's

Deadlifts
bar x10
70x5
110x3
130x2
147.5x4
147.5x4
147.5x4
147.5x4
Strict 3 min rests between sets.
Vid of last set. I have taken to resetting between reps to get better core bracing. 2nd rep felt uncomfortable, now the right side of my lower back is a little more pumped, hoping its nothing serious and will give it some attention.

OHP
Bar x5
40x3
60x4
62.5x2+2pp
62.5x2+2pp
62.5x3+1pp
60sec rests didnt help with these, but I didnt want to miss any exercises today.

Dips
BW x10
25x9
25x9
25x6
DS BW x 6
again short rest periods didnt help hitting reps on the last set

DB Row
36x8
36x8
36x8

GHR's and RDL's ss
BW x5/6/6
60 x8/8/8

All in all a good end to the week.
 
Cycle 4 week 4 triples

Todays workout was totally out of sink, normally in the gym by 6:15am, today not till 5:15pm. My backload was also pretty shabby last night so fatigue was going to be fun to deal with. I also feel like some one has punched my just at the top of my right glute/lower back and although nothing feels tight/pulled the area feels brused.

Squats
Bar x 15
60x5
100x5
130x2
140x1
152.5x3 PB :) that was tough, and felt all kinds of lose which wasn't good.
152.5x2......hmmm
152.5x1 re-rack, re-brace, unrack (that was totally awesome) and....
152.5xf never mind pb set, day out of sink, time for a punishment drop set
100x10 :D
Looking forward to squats next week, and might skip the Deload and give 152.5kg another go.

Pull ups
10x6
12.5x6
15x6

RDL's
60x8
60x8
60x8

Inclined DB bench
28x10
28x10
28x10

Standing cable rows
45x10
45x10
45x10
 
Today almost didnt happen, my alarm went off, i woke up and thought "why has my alarm gone off, i am going back to sleep" then i remembered its gym day, sleep, nearly...

Bench
Bar x20
40x10
60x5
80x3
95x3
97.5x2+1 rep PB
100x1+f - current PB nearly repped it
DS 60x15....

BOR's keep them lighter for better feels
50x10
50x10
50x10
nice overall back pump

Seated DB Shoulder Press
26x8
26x8
26x7......still the last rep elludes me...

High Bar Squat and Front Squat
Bar x 10
HB 60x8
FS 60x1
FS 60x1
FS 60x8

CGBP
50x10
60x8
60x8

Pleased with today. Now happy to say 100kg is my current bench rep max from the chest rather then 4 inches above it...maybe another 2.5kg in there if a rep max was properly worked to.
 
A few reasons, to help with feeling out the bottom position of the squat. Making it clearer to see from the vid if i have butt wink, and also using it as a bit of a stretch for my hips.
 
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