2/17

Work is nuts...compressed two days into one.

BP Med Intensity Singles
45/15
135/8
185/5
225/3
275/1
315/1
330/1
345/1
360/1,1 My best rep of session was probably 345. Flew off chest, fast.

BS kilos Triples low intensity

20/12
70/8
120/5
170/3
200/3,3,3

REVISED

Work remains a constant time suck...I am going to get a rack/weights to keep at work so I can try and maintain some kind of consistency...I keep missing and pushing back days...

2/19
DL Doubles Med Intensity
135/10
225/5
315/3
405/2
495/2
545/2
565/2,2 I was tired, these were not easy...

2/24 BS doubles kilos Med Intensity
My wife called me at work at 8PM, crying in intense pain,..she had rolled her ankle over bad, came out all the way, fallen of course... she (er nurse that she is) reduced it in place...asked if I could come home... Im 110 all the way there, ...she was still on floor when I got there...calmly nursing baby...wife is tough girl....got home from ER around 12-1230...no obvious fractures but splint and weight for a week...she was excited because we rented a knee scooter...no complaints about anything....I was tired for training lol pussy I am for writing that.
20/12
70/8
120/5
170/3
200/2
210/2
220/2,2,2 These were not hard.

One of the benefits of training in a gym where there is a coach present is that the coach on everyone's work sets minimum barks out cues and castigates you through the lifts. I was thinking about this as he was yelling at me chest up, arch your ****ing back god dammnit, etc....what an advantage this is. So many of us on here train alone and don't get that kind of constant attention to form...and yeah after 5-6 years I am still getting barked at every time I train...so there's that.

2/25 BP Triples Med Intensity

Again work hours etc and night before baby sick with sore throat, fever.
I am, 3AM, walking laps outside the house trying to keep him distracted, not crying...

45/15
135/8
185/6
225/3
275/3
315/3,3,3 These were not easy.

Get well soon Mrs BPA.

Coaching matters a lot. My coach has not been at the gym with us for a while due to a messed up work schedule, but several of my other teammates and myself are damn good at coaching ourselves, so just having that is good. You cant see yourself lift and lots of times, other people notice stuff you are doing wrong.

Hope wife gets well soon. One time a few years ago, my wife fell out of her powerchair and hit her head and bled a good bit. She was too disoriented to call me but was able to videotape the blood on the floor with the sounds of panicked breathing and some moaning in the background and email it to me. I don't even remember how I got home, but I applaud your self-control at keeping it to 110!

Thanks guys...she's going to be just fine. No worries.

Holliday, holy **** man...video of blood...that would have been a whole different level and wow is your wife a trooper.

2/27
DL High Intensity
135/10
225/5
315/3
405/1
495/1
545/1
585/1, f, f
545/1
565/1
585/f

that was ugly...Should have been 585/4-6...just hit a wall there. Lots of excuses...no sleep, no food, etc but at the end you either suck it up or you don't.

If you have a situation like that again, I suggest stopping after failing the first 585 and work on form and speed with lighter stuff instead of attempting to continue the heavy stuff. Some days you just dont have it, and continually trying to grind up heavy stuff on those days will get you injured.

Agreed. Part of the problem is that I was thinking it was just mental...losing focus...so drop down, trick the CNS a bit and then jump back up...545 and 565 went up fast and I held 565 for 10 seconds at the top to kind of punish the weakness...that was also not too smart...aggro...aggro...aggro...fail.

Holding it is fine if everything is super tight the whole time. 10 seconds seems an awfully long time to hold that much weight with no movement though.

Work commitments pushed back BS to yesterday...

BS kilos singles Med Intensity
20/15
70/8
120/5
170/3
200/1
220/1
230/1
240/1 easy, fast
250/1 not hard, more there

Pretty sure I had 260-265 here. But, not trying to max. Trying to get and keep high percentage work sets. Funny how bad a week can run and yet have a good session.

Do you have a meet in mind? Do you have an idea of what your goals will be?

I was just looking at USPA national records. Some guy knocked your 628 DL off the list by pulling 634 last October. The 45 - 49 records look pretty tough right now: 611/523/634/1642. 523 raw bench, smh, lol.

When do you turn 50? Those records are 589 (a friend I met in Vegas, Dan McColgin holds that one)/396/716/1642. You'd have a shot at squat and possibly bench. That DL is ridiculous.

I wont be 50 for two years. Lol I know... that guy beat me out by 6lbs...

I am training with a meet in mind right now, but not sure when. I have to get food, recovery and work dialed in before I can get seriously focused on a specific meet.

For this year,
I think, barring injury or setback, I can get my squat to 605lbs...I really feel this is close and doable even without the best conditions.

I think I can, under best circumstances, I can get a paused 375lbs which is pretty lame but is what it is.

DL is an open question. In a competition with a DL bar and a belt, I think 650+ is there...I think I recently pulled 615 with a stiff bar and no belt...I will feel a lot better about this if I can get some consistent training in 90%+ territory.

So...on a good day...3/3 on maxes 605/375/650 1,650 not so good day would probably look like this 550/350/605 1505 which would suck

3/4
BP Doubles max intensity
45/15
135/8
185/6
225/4
275/2
315/2
335/2
345/2,2 Pr double for two sets

Getting a USPA national record total would be awesome.

The numbers in here are insane.
Love the giant centipede looking snake carcass every time I spin through here!

Cha, Since I don't juice, I sometimes wonder if USPA was a good choice...

Floppy, Rattlesnakes FTW.

3/6 DL doubles Max Intensity

135/10
225/5
315/3
405/2
495/2
545/2
585/ 1:2 No gas on 2nd rep...
575/2,2

3/7 BP Singles Max Intensity
45/15
135/8
185/5
225/3
275/1
315/1
345/1
365/1,1

Every once in a while, I will go to descend the weight and it's like my arms just give out. I did it here with 315 and basically dropped it on my chest...paused for a couple seconds and then pressed it right up like it was 225....weird experience.

USPA does have a tested division now. I havent checked records over there yet, but I bet there might be some low hanging fruit for you to shoot for.

UPA and APF also have both tested and untested divisions too.

I think you need to be careful with supplements and especially with pre-workout drinks in case you get tested. Even too much caffeine will make a test go positive sometimes.

What you're describing, and from what I know about your neck, I bet almost certainly your problem is nerve issues coming from your neck. Make sure you tuck your chin and dont lift your head off the bench when you bench.

****...I bet you're right about that...it's like a switch getting thrown...and yeah I definitely was not keeping my head down.

When you set up to bench, try to get your weight on a triangle from the middle of your head to the top of your traps. Tuck your chin and keep tight in that position when the bar is in your hands. Also, make sure NOT to shrug your shoulders up. Think "anti-shrug" - pull your shoulder blades down into your back pockets.

Cha, As always, thank you for the help!

3/10/17
BS kilos Triples Med Intensity
20/12
70/8
120/6
170/4
200/3
210/3,3,3 Each set better, faster than last.

I was tired and 170 felt heavy...but I was glad to get these. last set I was dropping fast and bouncing out of the hole with good control.

I was reading some of the old posts in here. What did you do to fix your bench or what was going wrong with it?

Keep crushing

He found some local people who coached him a little. I'll let BPA elaborate.

BPA is a very strong guy, but his bench setup was pretty loose and ugly from what I've seen in person and on video. I haven't seen it since the coaching, but judging by the improved numbers, I'm sure he's doing something right.

Lol that's pretty much it.

I train in a gym with weightlifters...the kind of guys who wear shirts that say "Im a Weightlifter...don't ask me how much I can bench".

I was frustrated and I reached out to Cha to review a video. He did and he was disgusted.

So, even though I had read and watched all the usual stuff..my bench, which had never been good, worst lift by far, just got worse and worse...making me almost paranoid...So I finally got a PL coach who helped me physically understand what it meant to get in correct position to bench.

Huge difference...being in "correct" position was painful, fatiguing and exhausting. To be in correct position, I actually need to warm up and stretch out my lower body before benching.

I think I am about halfway there. I still have a long way to go.