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Road to a 400# bench


Tommy J.

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Volume never worked for me - to add more plates to my max I had to add more plates in training.  I am impressed with your workouts though.

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On 2/23/2020 at 1:04 PM, climber511 said:

Volume never worked for me - to add more plates to my max I had to add more plates in training.  I am impressed with your workouts though.

Gracie. I’m sticking to my volume. Gotta master small weights before I can master big ones.

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20 minutes ago, Tommy J. said:

Gracie. I’m sticking to my volume. Gotta master small weights before I can master big ones.

Understand completely - what works for one doesn't always work for another. 

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2 hours ago, climber511 said:

Understand completely - what works for one doesn't always work for another. 

I do admit tho, I enjoy going heavy at times. Ultimately a heavy single is the goal. So I don’t completely shun it. in a weird way, I sort of look at going heavy as more of a treat to all the mundane volume work. It’s like a 10x10 is the at work all day bored version. And maxing or heavy doubles/triples is like the play day or fun day version.

i really do prefer to train light and to failure most of the time. Example, my last bench workout I did, on my 5th set at 2 plates was more like 9 and 3/4 reps. But couldn’t get it to the hooks. Then it started to drift back downward. That said, training heavy till failure is definite danger/retirement zone. At least on barbell lifts. So I tend to hold back on that.

then again, lightweight is relative to the individual. When thinking (dreaming rather) ahead, I visualize doing what I’m doing now, just with more weight. How cool will it be to get 3 plates raw for 5-6 or more reps for multiple sets?!

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And here I was happy with my 185 lb paused Spoto Presses today.  Haha

Strong stuff!

You're right about where I was with 255 when I did a 340 TnG.  You have to be closing in on the magical 350.

Edited by Mike Rinderle
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Thanks fellas. Oddly enough, on the way home from work I had no desire to lift.. had to force myself to this morning. Then ended up having a decent workout. Crazy how that works.

Mike, I love Spoto presses. And you’re strength will be back in no time! You’ll have a ton of muscle memory gains.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sunday the 8th between events at the grip comp-

jumped in with a guy on the bench doing some close grip work.

225x10 super close grip.

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Bench today:

135x20

245x3,3

295x3,3,3,2,2,1

close grip pushups for a tricep burnout on the end.

 

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Strong benching Tommy 

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  • 3 months later...

Almost exactly 4 months without doing a single rep on the bench..

stopped by pops house and visited last night. Grabbed a couple pitiful and embarrassing sets on the bench.

135x10

225x3

255x3 and this felt like a max effort.

time to get back at it.

 

no longer natty btw. Just went on. Legally. Out of respect for Bills board rules I won’t discuss this topic here any further. But I’m open to chat privately. feel free to PM with any questions.

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Bench

135x15

205x6

255x4,3

205x6,6,5

135x10,9

Did some skull crusher burnouts with 65lbs on the EZ curl bar. Then did some db triceps extensions till burnout with light weight. No real aim at adding strength to the triceps with the accessory work. But am trying to increase size.

not seeing the strength gains yet everybody swears up and down happens.. added a rep to 255 in 10 days though. But Im fairly certain that’s just muscle memory coming back. am looking bigger.. but no weight gains yet. Necks of my shirts getting increasingly annoying. Complexion of face looking slightly redder. Veins standing out a bit more than usual. Should prolly check BP and keep notes on that.. Hands feel and look thicker and blockier. Have not tested grip though. Feeling a lot more passive than usual. Which is practically the exact opposite of what everyone swears happens. No appetite gains so far. Not sure if it’s worth mentioning since it’s super hot here this time of year.. but have been craving and guzzling water like I can’t get enough.

gonna step the workouts up to daily. Not bench daily, but am gonna go ahead with full body training in something that resembles bodybuilder training daily. Wouldn’t mind looking the part for once in my life.

No intent to post sets and reps of non bench related exercises, other than bench, overhead presses, rows, etc. also no intent to train grip. Running a bit of an experiment to find out if that increases on its own.

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  • 1 year later...

Gonna update my log here.. bare with me.

had to scroll back to page 7 just to find it! 🤣

Edited by Tommy J.
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July 16th 2020

Roller pull-ups

3,3,3

regular pull-ups

3,3,1

bb rows

135x8,8,8,8,10

ez curl bar

65x15,10,10,11,15

db curls

35’sx9

reverse grip EX curl bar

65lbsx15,15,10

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July 31st 2020

barbell rows

195x8,8,8,8,8

lateral db raises

30’sx10,10,10,10

db curls

30’sx11,11,11

hammer curls

30’sx8,10,10

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August 4th 2020

bench- raw

135x15

205x3

230x1

Maddog slingshot

320x1

405x0

320x6

back to raw bench

185x10,10,10,10,5

 

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