Reps and Volume. Week 10. Bench

BW - 208

Incline -
BarX30
95X5, 5
115X3
135X2
155X1
135X15, 6

Reverse Cambered Bench - 185X5, 5, 5, 5, 5

DB Bench - 50sX16, 14, 10
super-set with
DB Rear Delts - 25sX20, 20, 20

DB Hammer Curls - 35sX20, 16, 12, 12

Seated Calves - 90X15, 15, 15

Incline Treadmill Walking - 20 minutes

Wasn't able to hit bench on my regular day, and will be traveling this week, so I got it in on Saturday instead.

135X15 and for >18 total reps meets that goal, so I move up to 145 next time.  Shoulder feels terrible for the first several reps with the empty bar, but by the time I get into the high-teens/low-20s with it everything feels okay and I can do the rest of the programmed day.

Bumped the lockout/triceps work up to 185 for 5X5.  I'll move up to 195 next time.  My thinking with these right now is:  We've got a pin-press bench at the gym.  If I can take this lockout work up to 225 for 5X5 with the cambered bar, then I will move that weight over to the pin-bench and try to stay at that weight while gradually increasing the ROM with ever-lower pins.  All other things being equal, the pin-presses should be easier than the reverse cambered bar.  With the bar, the pad on the camber sort of makes you pause the reps because of the way it sinks into you.  At the same time, you have to keep really tight to stabilize the bar so it doesn't roll forwards or backward on your chest.  With the pin-presses you can actually stop the bar on the pins without having to keep it stable.  Anyway, hopefully this will work out and I can take the pin presses with some good weight down at least to the point where my elbows come even with my center-line.  That seems to be the threshold beyond which ROM starts to aggravate the shoulder.

DB Bench was solid.  Bumped the reps up well past where they've been the last two sessions.  Need to get these to 60-65s for 15-20 to be back in the range of my best DB benching.  If I can do that after Inclines and volume lock-out work, I will feel pretty happy about it.

As my bodyweight is going up, I've been toying with the idea of some direct calf work to add some extra intensity work onto the volume I'm getting by walking around with an increased load.  Tried seated calves followed by incline treadmill on this day, but my calves didn't have any soreness or DOMS.  That's not the be-all-end-all, but I would expect some DOMS for a muscle group/movement pattern I haven't trained directly in a long time.  If I'm gonna do this, I may need to hit it harder and with more variety.