2-24-14 – Almost Crushed with 500 lbs but 475 lbs Ain’t Bad
Today started off great! Woke up in a great mood, took a shower, felt refreshed and drove to HPF with my pretty wife by my side. What a great way to start the week! To make it even better today was heavy bench day! I decided to use the Sling Shot today. I used it because I wanted to keep my shoulders fresh and allow for an overload of what I usually use.
I foam rolled and warmed up with some mobility work with the red bands. After that I took some light weights without the Sling Shot. I worked up to 315 lbs and it was feeling pretty easy. I was focusing on keeping my shoulder blades tight and pressure on my heals. I decided to throw the Sling Shot on at 345 lbs. The weight felt very easy so I decided to do three reps. When it was time to hit my sets of singles I made sure my body was in the best position to complete the rep. With each rep I made sure I was as tight as possible. My lower back felt flexible today so I was able to get in a big arch. I used this to my advantage. To shorten the range of motion even more I pushed down on my heals and brought my chest up to the bar during my sets.
During my working sets I was feeling some pressure in my left bicep but it wasn’t anything to be worried about. On my last couple of sets I decided to put on some relaxing music. Kool & the Gang’s “Summer Madness” always puts me in a positive mindset and allows me to focus even better. 475 lbs was loaded on the bar, I unracked it with the help of my wife and completed the rep with ease. My confident level was sky high after this set. After that I decided to put 500 lbs on the bar. When I took that set I felt a lot of pressure on my left bicep again. I came down with my body very tight but when I pushed the bar back up after it touched my chest my shoulders flared out too soon and put me out of position. I wasn’t able to complete the lift. After that I did a downset of 405 lbs and it was completed but I was spent after that. Accessories went well. I kept it sweet and simple, focusing on my weaknesses. It felt great having some heavy weights in my hand again. A GREAT WAY TO STAR OFF THE WEEK!
MAKE IT HAPPEN
| Bench Press |
| Warm ups w/ no Sling Shot 2 x 10 - 45 2 x 5 - 135 185 x 5 225 x 3 2 x 1 - 275, 315 |
| Working Sets w/Sling Shot 2 x 3 - 345, 365 4 x 1 - 405, 425, 455, 475 missed 500 |
| Down Set 405 x 5 |
| Lat Pulldowns 6 x 10 - 150 |
| One Arm Dumbbell Overhead Press 3 x 10 - 35, 40, 45 |
| Band Spread 4 x 25 - red band |
| Tricep Pushdowns w/ Grenades 7 x 10 - 60 |
| Band Curls 5 x 10 - red band |