14 JUL 11 -- Bench Thursday

Bench on Thursday, with the training max upped by 5 lbs to 340 lbs.

Warm up sets
45 x 25
135 x 5
170 x 5
205 x 3

Working sets
225 x5 (should be 220, but easier to put four big plates on, lol)
255 x 5
290 x 11

Okay, on this last set, I was aiming for 12 reps, and probably would have got them, but I was having a battle of wills with a friggin' fly that was in the gym! I'm benching away and the damn thing was trying to land on my face! So, I kept blowing at it and trying to shoo it away, all the while losing mental focus on the lift. At least I got the requisite number of 5 reps, and may have been better for it by keeping an extra rep in the hole. Who knows, maybe it was divine providence that sent the fly in the gym to ensure I didn't overdo it. Do you think it's true what is often said, that there is a reason for everything?

Assistance work was basic and to the point.

Dumbbell incline presses for 5 x 10 with 75 lbs dumbbells. Felt good, no snags, no flies, lol.
Bodyweight chins. I broke the chins up into sets of 10 for the first three sets, instead of one all-out set at the beginning: 10, 10, 10, 5, 6, 5, 5 = 51 total and 101 total chins for the week.
Dumbell one-arm rows 2 sets of 10 with 100 lbs, and 10 x 120 lbs on the right, and 8 x 120 on the left.
My left wrist is sore today, so I didn't want to push it too hard.

I stayed a bit longer in the gym to help spot a young fellow who was training his bench. He's doing good, working up to a set of 265 for 6 reps. I would judge his bodyweight to be around 170-180 lbs, so he's doing very well indeed. There was another guy, older, who was working on overhead press with 135 lbs.  I gave him some tips on form, specifically glute tension, to help his lift. I mentioned that glute tension is a major part of the overhead press, as well as other lifts such as the squat, and how it is often underutilized. "There's a reason why it's the biggest muscle in the body", I pointed out. When in the gym, I avoid being a busybody, and rarely give advice except when asked. This fellow seemed appreciative of the tips, and I congratulated him on training the overhead press, because it's a lift that not many people perform. I'll have to admit here that up until last year, I never trained the overhead press, usually just doing seated dumbbell presses for reps, and lateral raises. I'm learning a lot about lifting and I have, through the help of others, been able to identify the importance of the overhead press. I wish that I had spent more time on this lift in the past and put more emphasis on it, placing it in equal conjunction with the bench press, which I have always done.