Back In Lockdown

COVID-19 cases are rising steeply in my area, and my gym isn't requiring patrons to show proof of vaccination. So I'm heading back into voluntary lockdown. I.e. working out at home and outdoors. As before, I'll keep an eye out on the numbers and 

During my first self-imposed gym absence (16 months), I was annoyed about the situation and worried about losing size/strength. This time it doesn't feel like a hardship at all. I enjoy the flexibility of exercising at home, fresh air in the park and recreation areas, and the absence of non-mask-wearing/potential unvaccinated idiots in my immediate vicinity. Moreover, I have figured out a training system that lets me maintain my lifting gainz without touching a weight. The first 16-month no-weights experiment was a roaring success, and I don't anticipate this second "lockdown" taking anywhere near that long.

In the short time that I deemed it safe to go to the gym this year (June-December), I hit some numbers I have not been capable of in years. I almost tied my all-time best bench press and squat, was only 10 lbs. off matching my top standing overhead press, and set all-time PRs in the front squat and deadlift. Frequently pulling and squatting over 500 lbs. for reps. 2021 turned out to be one of my best lifting years ever. 

I turned 40 a couple of months ago. Last time I was anywhere near these numbers was in 2014. Was really looking forward to bench pressing 400 lbs. before my 40th birthday, but oh well. It gives me hope that one can maintain, if not increase, strength and muscle mass as one cruises into middle age. Don't want to attribute it all to isometrics, but for high levels of joint-sparing muscle tension, they can't be beat.

Hopefully this will be a short hiatus, but I won't be holding my breath. I know the weights are there when I'm ready to go back to them.

Deadlift PR, But Still No 400 lb. Bench Press

Another 5-week cycle down, the last one I'll complete this year.

Started out with high hopes of hitting 400 lbs. in the bench press, as all the stars seemed to be aligned. Last week I did 355 for a triple, and this week my warmups went great. 325-355-380 lbs., the last one popping up as if it were 50 lbs. lighter.

Then I unracked 400, lowered, strained. The bar stayed welded in the bottom position.

I took a few minutes to collect myself, got under the bar, tried again. Shoved so hard the world turned red. This time I moved the weight about halfway up before it slowly, inexorably, started its downward descent to failure.

Back to regular programming, with a few adjustments to the assistance exercises. I think I'll have 400 once I can triple 365 lbs. or so. Maybe do some isometrics at the halfway point to get stronger.

I've hit a wall with close-grip bench presses. After managing a set of five with 330 lbs., I've been unable to get more than two reps with 335 lbs. for two consecutive weeks. Feels like I'm doing too much heavy work for the shoulder girdle, and my bench press days are painful and sluggish. My pecs hurt, my shoulders twinge, and my triceps feel like they're about to rip off the bone. In other words, normal everyday meathead feelz.

It could be that my narrow- and regular-grip weights are too close together. E.g. the program I'm using calls for "close-grip bench presses to a five-rep max", then a separate bench press day. But the guy who wrote it (Marc Keys) uses a much lower percentage of his BP max for his CGBP sets, so I guess he's able to recover more quickly? Either way, I don't want to drop the CGBP completely, but I might lower the weight to 275-300 lbs. and start over.

Just for kicks, I did a few sets of incline presses, another lift I train only with isometrics, and worked up to a really hard single with 255 lbs. Not bad, but I was sort of expecting more.

Squats and deadlifts are progressing nicely. At this point, I'm just interested in maintaining, but will pursue a modest PR whenever possible. I hit a double with 500 lbs. in the squat (no belt - not for any RAWISWAR reasons, but b/c I forgot it at home) and a triple in the deadlift with the same weight, which I'm extremely pleased with. Then a deadlift single with 545 lbs., which is an all-time PR.

Squat: 410 lbs. x 5, 500 lbs. x 2 (beltless), 515 lbs. x 1, 530 lbs. x 1

Front squat: 335 lbs. x 1 (PR)

Bench press: 335 lbs. x 8, 355 lbs. x 3, 380 lbs. x 1

Close-grip bench press: 330 lbs. x 5, 335 lbs. x 2, 365 lbs. x 1 (PR)

Incline press (NEW): 255 lbs. x 1

Standing overhead press: 195 lbs. x 6, 210 lbs. x 4, 215 lbs. x 3, 235 lbs. x 1

Deadlift: 500 lbs. x 3, 525 lbs. x 1, 545 lbs. x 1 (PR)

Barbell curl: 120 lbs. x 3