10 minutes on the black Rumble Roller and lacrosse ball.
L-Sit Chin Ups
Hook grip. Gotta increase my pain tolerance.
Body weight (~200 lb): 6
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
400 lb: 3,3,3
+5 lb from last week.
High Bar Squat
400 lb: 3,3,3
+5 lb from last week.
360 lb: 5,5,5
+2.5 lb from last week.
Might have done an extra set...but I'm not 100% sure...dammit. I did another set to make sure I got the 3x5 I wanted.
Face Pulls
70 lb: 10
80 lb: 10
Reverse Grip Bench Press
Changed my shirt because my previous one was pretty sweat from squatting. Also, the shirt that I'm wearing has some printed writing and a logo on the back, so it'll probably stick to the bench a little better and prevent me from sliding.
10 minutes on the black Rumble Roller and lacrosse ball.
L-Sit Chin Ups
With the blue Fat Gripz.
Body weight (~200 lb): 6
Low Bar Squat
45 lb: 20
140 lb: 10
230 lb: 5
320 lb: 3
410 lb: 1
Paused.
440 lb: 1
Paused.
395 lb: 3,3,3
+5 lb from last week.
High Bar Squat
395 lb: 3,3,3
+5 lb from last week.
357.5 lb: 5,5,5
+2.5 lb from last week.
Face Pulls
70 lb: 10
80 lb: 10
Reverse Grip Bench Press
New bench shoes! (Actually they're my old Asics wrestling shoes).
Wore these instead of the Nike Romaleos 2 because there's less of a heel. I find that when wearing the weightlifting shoes (with a 0.75" heel), I have to be careful with the power of my leg drive, or I risk driving my butt off the bench.
With these wrestling shoes, there's less of a heel, so I can drive hard with my legs without having to worry about my butt coming off the bench.
Also, it matches my rack. Kinda.
Paused until work sets.
45 lb: 10
140 lb: 5
230 lb: 3
280 lb: 1
340 lb: 1
312.5 lb: 5,5,4
+2.5 lb from last week.Last rep was a bit tough.
Back slipped on the bench on the last set, 5th rep attempt.
For some reason, during my warm up sets, I touched the bar just underneath my chin before unracking. I tilted my head back before taking it off the rack, and the bar was at a higher starting position than normal (around the Adam's apple level, as described in my article "3 Ways To Increase Your Overhead Pressing Strength". The higher starting position lead to a greater stretch reflex.
Also, I've been focusing on driving the bar backwards and flaring out my elbows after the bar clears my head. This makes it easier to keep the bar balanced to press the weight straight up.
385 lb Reverse Grip Bench Press
An ice storm in my area lead to a power outage on Friday, so I had no electricity from around 8AM-6PM, with the exception of whatever power that was left in the battery in my phone.
My home gym is in the basement, and there's only one small window. Not much sunlight shinning in that day, so the lighting was horrible.
I missed the first try at 385 lb, likely because of not enough leg drive. The 2nd attempt, I focused more on leg drive and pressed the bar up. Legs are important in the bench press.
Initially I was planning on doing a 460 lb over warm-up, then dropping down for a triple at 440 lb.
But 460 lb went up without much struggle, so I added 10 lb to the bar.
470 lb went up without much struggle, so I added ANOTHER 10 lb to the bar.
480 lb wasn't too bad, so I thought, "heck, let's see if I can high bar squat 500 lb. The worst that can happen is that I get injured again...not the end of the world..."
And I did it!
Last time I attempted 500 was sometime in September/October 2012, and my last 1RM high bar squat PR was late September, so I'm pretty happy with this.
Also, 500 lb high bar squat is a milestone that I've been wanting for a while. Previous best was 495 lb. I've low bar squatted over 500 lb before, but high bar is a little more difficult, and a little more satisfying to get.
