Hey there. Excellent on the squats man, much more than i can do that is for certain. Thinking about it, i feel embarrassed that my squat isn't much more than what i can bench. I can bench 315 but can barely squat 395.

I also had a hard time convincing my wife to get into weight training (mainly compounds as well). But i think she is finally starting to like it more which is great.

Awesome progress you are making, keep it up man.

I'll get there eventually. If i flex i have some definition, but not much. Quads don't really come out well on camera, which is to say they are pretty small.

Cheers, IF seems to have kept progress going while my weight is going the other.

I wish i could bench 225, let alone 315! But thanks for the kind words, always appreciated.

July 4th: Recovery

Squat: 275x5x2
Klokov Press: 85x5x3
Cable tricep/bicep superset: 100x10x3
Ab roller: BW+25x8x3

Drank a heroic amount and stayed up late last night, everything felt as heavy as **** today. Thankfully only recovery day. My elbow/forearm are pretty sore at the moment, will have to get the butter knife out to dig around in there this evening.

More beer and fireworks this evening!

relevant:

http://startingstrength.com/index.ph...hangover_starr

The title is definitely relevant, but was there actually anything in that article other than how to teach stoned kids to still lift?

Just made me want some excellent hawaiian weed

no idea, I didnt read it...saw the words "hangover" and "training" and the pretty bottle of buffalo trace.

To be fair, the lifting on acid thing does sound like it would be fun.

6th July: Intensity

Squat: 410x3
Bench Press: 197.5x2, x1
Deadlift: 360x5 (2x mixed grip, 3x straps)
Dips: +25x3x3
Chins: +25x5x3

Took 3rd bench rep too low on my chest and got it stuck, ok on everything else. Dips were too light, but was cautious as I still had to do chins after. Need to add weight to both exercises.

9th July Volume

Squat: 355x5x3
Bench Press: 180x5x3
RDL: 195x8x3
Cable Row: 180x6x2, x9

Just another day. Need food.

I haven't read every page of this thread, what's up with your bench (not being a dick, just curious)?

I suck

Started really weak, found progress very slow going on SS, slower still once meager linear gains halted

interesting

do you have long monkey arms or something? I'm seriously intrigued. My brother does, he's 21, 5'8 178, deadlifts 540, squats 390, and benches barely 270, so I've been tryna think of ways to address his issues, as he wants to get into raw powerlifting.

I dunno. Don't think so. What is average wingspan for a 5' 9" guy?

casual googling says 6' 1.8"

ghetto-ish measures put wingspan at about 71-73", so close to bang on 6'. I can't blame my wingspan.

I squat (estimated) 440 and bench (estimated) 215... I don't think your bro is that imbalanced

ETA: @cobra

I'm genuinely befuddled here

how often do you bros bench?

Yea I don't know if those numbers are 1RMs or not, but they don't seem imbalanced at all. I have 5RMs for s/b of 370/280...

Aidan, however, def is imbalanced. But I'm curious to see where this 2x bench/week PL TM thing goes (I'm assuming you've been doing 1.5x a week like most people?); I'm planning on doing it myself in a couple months.

if you suck at bench and are stalling on TM, I'd say bench moar

moar tricep pushdowns (almost every legendary bencher of the last 30+ years swears by these)
moar close grip bench
moar incline close grip
moar floor press
etc

dunno, maybe I'm one of the famed genetic outliers, but in 2007 I started at a like 225 bench BW 245 (I lifted at 14 for football, then off for 3 years from 2004-2007), benched once a week while doing strongman/PL from 2007-2009, incline and close gripped only 2010, and cutout benching entirely by the start of 2011. Pretty sure I can walk into the gym warm up and hit bout tree fiddy to 370.

confirmed genetic outlier

I do have thick wrists.

For a helpful note, I would check out Jamie Lewis' latest posts on benching, he seems to suck at it, but through sheer strength of will and hard work he is halfway decent now, and lists the routines of many beasts for you to peruse through.

I know this only half applies because I am much weaker, but my squat is 275 (5rm) Deadlift 320 (5rm) and my bench is 150 (5rm)

Cobra status how big are your wrists? I'm right around 6.75" at ~20% BF. Not sure if that's big or small or what. I have pretty small hands fwiw

just measured, mine are 6 and 7/8's and I am somewhere between 13-14% BF based on estimates from my nutritional consultant guy (JC Deen if anyone is familiar), 5'9 205

I also have small hands

Isn't it very common for guys following the SS/TM trail to have their bench lagging behind their squat/DL though? Assuming no earlier bench monkeying.

Sorry, I missed the bro bit last night. I'll second the later comment that it doesnt see, that imbalanced. The classical 300-400-500 club isnt that far away for him.

Yeah, Cobra admitted to not reading earlier pages, but I have just made some adjustments to spur some bench progress: benching every week instead of every second and adding in some accessories.

and will add some moar of these if I continue to stall

gtfo

I've read these and others. Part of my problem is I really like TM-style progression for squats, deadlifts seem to be coming around a little. If i really continue to suck I will do some serious adjusting to a bench-centric routine just to bring some balance.

I think so. But everywhere I read that SS should bring you to a 225x5 bench, and I got no where close. I don't think it is technique (it's passable), or nutrition (making gains in other areas), or WIL (benching has been a focus for a while). We'll see how some added frequency goes.

Appreciate all the input as always, fellas.