07 JUL 11 -- Bench Press

The wrist is holding up, but there will be a good bruise there for a while. My left thigh feels like it has a charley horse, due to the weight of the tire slamming down on it a couple of times yesterday. Other than that, ready to lift.

Bench with a training max set at 335 lbs:

45 x 25
135 x 5
170 x 5
205 x 3

Then, the working sets:

250 x 5
285 x 3
320 x 5

I had set the goal for the day at 6 reps, but my spotter was literally ready to run out the door as he had to get to a business meeting, but was still gracious enough to provide a spot as no one else was around. I know I could have gotten 6 if my concentration was more focused, but as Wendler points out, keeping one or two in the hole is actually of greater benefit than going to failure all the time. I'll take his experience on this as a guide.

Two singles followed, which I felt confident to push up without benefit of spotter: 335 x 1, and 340 x 1.

For assistance work, normally I would work a chest/bench movement, such as close-grip bench or incline dumbbell bench, but today, I wanted to get more work in for the shoulders and triceps, so I opted for 5 x 10 military press with 135 lbs. I reasoned that the extra work for the overhead press would still be of benefit to the bench press, and at this point, I want to focus as much on overhead press as possible with the approaching August event.

Chin ups: 13, 9, 8, 5, 5, 5, 5 = 50 total and 100 total overall for this week, just as I planned to do. The chin ups are feeling stronger everytime I do them, and I probably could have done 14 on the first set if I had pushed it.

I am using the Monster Mass first thing in the morning, upon awakening, and then hitting the gym an hour or so later, which falls in line with Cytosport's recommendation of consuming their drink 45-60 minutes before the workout. Just before going out the door, I also have a serving of Black Powder mixed with water. Since starting the Monster Mass, the last three gym workouts have been pretty good, and to my eye, I seem to be getting some extra size on the arms, especially the biceps.