BLAB Log: Week 4.Day 1

Simple-6

BB Bench Warm-up - BarX10, 65X10, 95X8, 115X5, 135X3

BB Bench - 125X5, 130X3, 145X6

Incline DB Bench - 45'sX25, 45'sX16

One-Arm DB Row - 70X8, 70X8, 75X8, 75X8
super-set with
Rope Push-downs - 40X8X4

BB Shrug - 155X8, 160X8, 165X8
super-set with
Incline DB Rear-Delt Raise - 50X8X3

Barbell Complex (DL, Bent Row, Hang Clean, Push Press, Back Squat) - 65X10, 45X10X3

Ha, I wasn't paying attention to my programmed work-set weights for the bench and over-shot that weight with my warm-ups.  Just shows I'm getting stronger in the bench, hopefully.  The 145X6 projects as a PR according to Jefit.  My previous best when I was at B@lly and working with suspect weights was 155X2, so I think it's true.  However, I really think my form is getting more locked in, and that is likely playing a large part as well. 

Speaking of that, the heavy lifters were working in the gym today, and I got to watch them bench at the same time as me and compare our set-ups.  These guys are doing the full PL form where they set-up with their heads way behind the bar, plant the balls of their feet there, and then pull everything else in front of the bar.  Extreme arch so that only the traps and head are on the bench, and their heels are way off the ground.  For myself, I put my eyes right behind the bar, pull my feet back as far as I can without my heel rising off the ground, then I pull myself forward so that my eyes are just in front of the bar.  My heels come off the ground a little, but I manage to keep my butt on the bench.  I then push on the up-rights to make sure my shoulders are tight together and making a nice solid surface with my traps for me to press against.  I grab the bar with my middle-finger on the rings, squeeze and "pull the bar apart," take a lot of air into my belly, and take the bar out.  If it's a work-set, I will pause at the top and take new air into my belly before taking the press.  I let the bar come down in a natural path (about to my diaphragm), then I focus on pressing it back up in the same groove.  I also focus on keeping my elbows tucked coming in and out of the bottom of the press, but letting them flare at lock-out.  This is feeling pretty good for now, and I'm hitting PR's.  I don't know if it is going to be stable enough as the weight keeps increasing though.  Looseness was one of my big problems at B@lly.  The bar swaying side-to-side as it came out of the rack, etc. 

Figuring out this form has been a bit nerve-racking.  The fact seems to be that there are many ways to interpret what constitutes strong in the bench.  So much of the stuff I read is geared towards power-lifting, which emphasizes that big arch that helps hit big numbers at meets.  But I'm not going to do PL meets.  Then when I read Rippetoe, he has you starting with the head and shoulders in final position in front of the bar, feet flat and shins at 90 degrees, and with just enough arch that a flat hand can slide between the back and the bench.  He also has trainees keep the elbows out at about 60 degrees during the press.  So PL form de-emphasizes the chest, and puts more of the weight on the triceps and the lats, which helps to move more weight.  Rippetoe's method uses more chest and shoulders.  I asked Paul Carter about form, and he said I'd have to figure it out for myself, and I guess that's what I'm doing.  To clarify, my goal is this:  Use the Bench Press to Get Stronger.  This doesn't mean I'm trying to build up my chest, but it I'm not sure it means that I need to build the biggest bench possible which would involve the PL-style extreme arch.  So for now, I'm settling on this hybrid with maximum arch while keeping the butt on the bench and feet almost flat.  As the weight goes up I'll just have to make adjustments as necessary.

Back to the session, all the assistance stuff went great.  If the one-armed DB rows, continue to have higher numbers than cable rows and/or pull-downs, I'm gonna want to know what that's about.  Am I being a wimp on the cable stuff, or just cheating more with the DB?  Probably the latter, as I don't think I've ever heard of anybody being more tentative on machines.  Whatever.  Right now it's just fun to be increasingly rowing weights from the fat end of the rack.

I should mention that I was totally out of gas for the BB complexes.  I think it was probably a combination of only having a shake that day prior to training, and having house-guests/staying up late the night before.  I started with the same weight as last time, but almost couldn't finish the set.  The cleans are always a momentum killer for me on these, but this time I just didn't have any reserves.  I was facing a mirror and my eyes literally went wide with surprise and concern on the first clean.  Pretty funny.  I pulled all the weight off after the first set, and barely managed to get through the rest of the sets/reps.  Hey, dummy, eat and sleep!  Tip o' the hat to you , Joe Defranco.  These finishers are definitely exposing all kinds of holes in my training.