Today, was raining so no walk for lunch. Did go to the gym though to retest on Nautilus Pullovers (120 actual max with better seating arrangement and no pain) and Hoist Neutral Grip Chinup (159 single).
In the evening, I ditched the pushups and decided to test on the flat bench press: 45x8, 70x6, 95x4, 125x2, 155x1, 185x1. I knew from the beginning of this cycle my limit strength would take it in the shorts - - - a 15 lbs drop in limit strength in the bench. But the 185 did not make my heart jump around like crazy this time, or leave me winded or tired. Heck, while I was at it, I also tested on the incline bench press (135x5, 175 max), and had someone teach me how to properly do the close grip bench press (115x10, 135x7, 160x1). I still felt fresh as a daisy. The GPP part of this whole workout structure worked. My next cycle will have the close grip bench as my heavy movement and the flat bench as my light movement.
Rack pulls 2" Below the Knees (345): 80x6, 105x4, 135x4, 160x4, 190x4, 215x4x5. I just about have the hang of this now. If I had only rack pulled sooner; Louie's right in saying that to only do the basic movements never really works the weaknesses.
Barbell Holds (Double Overhand): 285 (2 seconds - - - arrrrrrgh!!!), 225 (12 seconds - - - was smart to chalk up this time), 245 for 6 seconds, 265 for 5 seconds, 285 for 5 seconds. Next time, I will warm up with 265. In the future, like Colin Marlow suggests, I will do the same with alternate grips.
Hoist Neutral Grip Chins (159): 79x12x2, 94x10x2.
Bicep Curls: 1 descending set of 80x1, 70x3, 60x4, 50x6, 40x4, 30x4, 20x2. 1 other set of 45x8. This was all I had time for due to all the deviation. All in all, a real eye opener.
4 comments:
I quite like the idea of using the close-grip bench as a heavy movement and the flat bench as a lighter one. I'll be interested to see how effective that is.
I'd have to. It's obvious what my weak point is. Funny how I like dips but I can almost dip my own bodyweight and I can't bench 200. I have to put some work into this, and I'll be interested, too, in seeing if this works wonders for me.
Interesting about being able to do your dips with BW but your bench is weak. Do you know what the weakness is (doesn't sound like it would be tri's)? I don't have a good bench either (205), but I'm working up on it. I'm hoping that the next time I test it I'm at 225. Would like to see all three of the lifts @ 225 minimum.
Get Strong
I've never been a bencher (never cared enough) and now I'm trying to. It could be that I have to press in those ranges of motion. Comparing the dips to the close grip bench, the dips show that I have strong shoulders and the CGB shows that I do not have strong enough triceps in that range of motion to support a bigger bench. But this program has helped my squat and DL and I will apply it just as smartly to the bench. It will just be close grip and flat bench for my next cycle or two.
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