Archives For paused bench press

It's exactly 2 weeks away from the CPF powerlifting meet in Waterloo, and I don't really have any sort of solid training plan leading up to the competition haha. Hope it all works out though.

This week, starting tomorrow, will be my final "normal" training week (i.e. heavy with a lot of volume). After that, I'm just going to take it easy and hit some PRs come June 9th.

Also I probably won't be eating so many cheeseburgers for the next little while:

McDonalds

3 Double Cheese Burgers and 1 McDouble Burger. Ate this on Wednesday, May 22.

Here's what I'm aiming for:

1st Attempt2nd Attempt3rd Attempt
Squat210 Kg (462 lb)235 Kg (517 lb)240 Kg (528 lb)
Bench Press160 Kg (352 lb)170 Kg (374 lb)175 Kg (385 lb)
Deadlift230 Kg (506 lb)250 Kg (550 lb)255 Kg (561 lb)
Total600 Kg (1320 lb)655 Kg (1441 lb)670 Kg (1474 lb)

All the 2nd attempts will be PRs for me, and they look reasonable. Hitting a few PRs this week gives me confidence that I will nail the 2nd attempts in 14 days.

Anyway, some personal records for this past week:

Paused Bench Press: 370 lb x 1 (1RM)

Started off the week with a paused bench press PR at 370 lb:

Getting this gave me confidence for pausing a bench press with heavy weights.

Front Squat: 370 lb x 2 (2RM)

On Wednesday, I got a 2RM on the front squat:

Bench Press: 370 lb x 2 (2RM)

On Friday, I hit a bench press 2RM at 370 lb. I was fairly certain I could get this after doing 365 lb x 2 last week, which felt quite easy:

The kind-of-rare 400 lb+ bench press milestone is within my sights. I might try for a 390 lb 1RM in a few days.

Deadlift: 560 lb x 1 (1RM - Strapped)

Hit a bunch of strapped deadlift PRs, including a 1RM at 560 lb:

Originally I wasn't planning on doing this, but I figured heck, why not try and see what happens. Hard, but wasn't super hard to the point where it looked like I was having convulsions on the way up.

Time to update my personal records scoreboard yet again...

 

 

Foam Rolling

Band Pull Aparts

Shoulder Dislocations

  • 10

L-Sit Chin Ups

Fat gripz.

  • Body weight (~200 lb): 5

Low Bar Squat

Paused until work sets. Beltless up to 410 lb.

Not feeling very explosive on the squats at all. Going to lower the volume this week (no sets of 5).

  • 45 lb: 10
  • 100 lb: 10
  • 140 lb: 10
  • 230 lb: 5
  • 320 lb: 3
  • 410 lb: 1
  • 440 lb: 1
  • 410 lb: 3,3,3
    • +2.5 lb from last week.

High Bar Squat

  • 410 lb: 3,3
    • +2.5 lb from last week.

Face Pulls

  • 70 lb: 12
  • 90 lb: 10

Reverse Grip Bench Press

Paused.

  • 45 lb: 10
  • 140 lb: 5
  • 230 lb: 3
  • 320 lb: 1
  • 370 lb: 1
  • 320 lb: 3,3,3,3,3
    • +5 lb from last week.
    • 5 sets instead of 10.

Felt a little nauseous this morning and all throughout the workout, but managed to get through it.

Foam Rolling

  • 15 minutes

L-Sit Chin Ups

Fat gripz.

  • Body weight (~200 lb): 6

Low Bar Squat

Paused until work sets.

Beltless up to 410 lb.

  • 45 lb: 10
  • 100 lb: 10
  • 140 lb: 10
  • 230 lb: 5
  • 320 lb: 3
  • 410 lb: 1
  • 440 lb: 1
  • 407.5 lb: 3,3,3,3
    • +2.5 lb from last week.
    • 4 sets instead of 3

High Bar Squat

  • 407.5 lb: 3,3
    • +2.5 lb from last week.
    • 2 sets instead of 3

Low Bar Squat

  • 367.5 lb: 5
    • 1 set instead of 0.

High Bar Squat

  • 367.5 lb: 5
    • +2.5 lb from last week.
    • 1 sets instead of 3

Face Pulls

  • 70 lb: 12
  • 80 lb: 12

Reverse Grip Bench Press

Paused.

  • 45 lb: 10
  • 140 lb: 5
  • 230 lb: 3
  • 280 lb: 1
  • 320 lb: 1
  • 360 lb: 1
  • 315 lb: 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
    • +5 lb from last week.

I was going to wear my singlet again for some sport-specific wardrobe training, but then I discovered that an area in the crotch is stretched to a point where there's almost a hole 🙁

Titan Singlet

I guess I'm going to need a new singlet.

Not sure how this happened, but maybe my squats were too deep last Friday :/

Also, my groin muscles felt unusually sore and stiff today. Made low bar squats feel uncomfortable.

L-Sit Chin Ups

Fat gripz.

  • Body weight (~200 lb): 6

Low Bar Squat

Paused until work sets.

Beltless up to 410 lb.

  • 45 lb: 10
  • 100 lb: 10
  • 140 lb: 10
  • 230 lb: 5
  • 320 lb: 3
  • 410 lb: 1
  • 445 lb: 1
  • 405 lb: 3,3,3,3
    • +2.5 lb from last week.
    • 4 sets instead of 3

High Bar Squat

  • 405 lb: 3,3
    • +2.5 lb from last week.
    • 2 sets instead of 3

Low Bar Squat

  • 365 lb: 5
    • 1 set instead of 0.

High Bar Squat

  • 365 lb: 5,5
    • +2.5 lb from last week.
    • 2 sets instead of 3

Face Pulls

  • 70 lb: 12
  • 80 lb: 12

Reverse Grip Bench Press

Paused.

  • 45 lb: 10
  • 140 lb: 5
  • 230 lb: 3
  • 300 lb: 1
  • 355 lb: 1
  • 310 lb: 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
    • +10 lb from last week.

Behold the latest addition to "John Phung's Gym For Muscles": 2 Ton Axle Stands used as an adjustable height deadlift jack!

2 Ton Axel Stand

Makes taking off plates super easy!

L-Sit Chin Ups

Fat gripz.

  • Body weight (~200 lb): 5

Low Bar Squat

Paused until work sets.

  • 45 lb: 20
  • 140 lb: 10
  • 230 lb: 5
  • 320 lb: 3
  • 410 lb: 1
  • 440 lb: 1
  • 402.5 lb: 3,3,3,3
    • +2.5 lb from last week.
    • 4 sets instead of 3

High Bar Squat

  • 402.5 lb: 3,3
    • +2.5 lb from last week.
    • 2 sets instead of 3

Low Bar Squat

  • 362.5 lb: 5
    • 1 set instead of 0.

High Bar Squat

  • 362.5 lb: 5,5
    • +2.5 lb from last week.
    • 2 sets instead of 3

Face Pulls

  • 70 lb: 10
  • 80 lb: 10

Reverse Grip Bench Press

Going to start doing paused sets of 3, because sets of 5 is getting too hard and to practice pausing my bench for the competition.

I'm dialing back down on the weight to 300 lb, and increasing the number of sets (10 sets of 3 reps).

  • 45 lb: 10
  • 140 lb: 5
  • 230 lb: 3
  • 300 lb: 1
  • 355 lb: X,1
    • Back a little too sweaty, slipped and missed on first set. Changed to tank top after.
    • +5 lb from last week.
  • 300 lb: 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3