Bench Press Training - Week 1, Day 2

1 October 2011

Bench press:

Warmup - sets with bar only, 135, 185 lbs.
225 lbs. x 5
250 lbs. x 3
270 lbs. x 1
285 lbs. x 1
300 lbs. x miss
300 lbs. x 1

The miss was a big surprise, tried to press with my feet tucked under and one of my feet slipped. The bar stalld about half-way up and came back. The second atempt felt much heavier than it should have. Could have something to do with the new partial pressing routine I'm using.

270 lbs. x 3 sets x 3, 1 set x 2

Paused bench press 225 lbs. x 5 (all with decent 2-second pause)

Close-grip bench press 225 lbs. x 2 sets x 4 (failed at 5 both times)

Pullups 3 sets x 8

Two-DB curls 3 sets x 5

The idea behind this new program is working up to an easy single, backing off 30 lbs. and hitting four triples, then down another 45 lbs. and one set of five with an extended pause at the chest. Next week add 5 lbs. to all lifts and do it again. On day two I will do bottom-up benches from two positions - Position 1 an inch or two above the chest, Position 2 two holes in the power rack above Position 1 (heavy lockouts).

Very weak showing today, possibly due to the body getting used to the power rack work which is absolutely lethal and might be throwing me off. If this persists, I'm going back to a normal routine where I cut reps as I go up in weight - worked fine so far.