Tag: Decline Bench Press

Breaking Bench

Warm-up

  • 20 PVC Passes
  • Bench Press
    • 10×45
    • 10×95
    • 5×120
  • Decline Bench Press
    • 5×65
    • 5×80

Chest

MAX Bench Press (140#)

Managed three more than Saturday for 36 reps.

100 Push-ups

I was able to go all fives for a big improvement over last week’s 4:16. Took me 3:39 today.

Decline Bench Press

3 Sets

  • MAX Decline Bench Press (175#)
  • 3:00 Rest

I did 15-15-10. On the first set I hit the j-cups like three times, so had to move the bench further away after that. Then on the final set, the bench kind of broke for declines. That was the end of that! Too bad because we really liked the decline, with the different feel.

Bench Press

  • 3 Sets
    • MAX Bench Press (145#)
    • 3:00 Rest
  • 3 Sets
    • MAX Bench Press (125#)
    • 3:00 Rest

I got 14 each time with 145 and 20 each time with 125. The first few reps my body kept trying to go through the decline range of motion. Very weird!!

6 Sets

  • 12 EZ Bar Skull Crushers (51#)
  • 1:00 Rest

Enough Decline?

Don’t seem to be feeling any effects from the long rowing session yesterday. In the garage before 1pm.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Bar Hangs

OHS (55X1 Tempo)

  • 2×45#
  • 2×75#
  • 2×95#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×135#
  • 2×150#
  • 2×165#
  • 2×175#

Still able to make a 10# jump this week. My fingers really dig into my palms after holding the bar overhead that long, especially with the heavier weights. Close grip felt better today, probably from the hanging I did to warm-up. Wasn’t even close to my snatch grip width on the final set, so my mobility must be improving.

Accessory

5 Sets

  • 12 Curls (Fat Gripz, 55#)
  • 6/6 Single Leg RDL (135#)
  • 15 Decline DB Bench Press (50#)
  • 12 Back Extensions

After the fat curls it started to get hard to hold the bar through the Romanian deadlifts. I think it’s time to switch from the declined dumbbell bench press to something more challenging, especially after 4 weeks. Maybe I’ll go to inclines.

Testing Twenty

Slept in this morning after getting up in the middle of the night to order my iPhone 6s. Headed to CFi just before noon.

Warm-up

Easy 3:00 on the Air Dyne for 61 calories.

Row

  • 20:00 for max meters

In the first week test I was not happy with my performance of 5,150 meters at an average pace of 1:56.5 because in my recent 5k PR I averaged 1:53.8 in just under 19 minutes. World’s apart. In that first test I started out at a good pace but couldn’t hold and just kept drifting away.

Today I followed the plan set out in the program and set my target at a 1:54 average, knowing I shouldn’t have much of a problem beating it and getting near or under the pace I did for the 5k. Having to hold back in the first 10 minutes was tough but I trusted in the plan. If you notice the pace of the first 2:00 split is low that’s because of going hard for the first 10 strokes and then settling in around 1:57.

Between 5 and 6 minutes the average was right an 1:56.0, and I held exact there until around 9 minutes in, when it started to creep down. From there it kept getting lower each minute. When I passed 5,000 meters it wasn’t off a PR time by more than 5 seconds and I was just starting my kick going into the final stretch, so I could have easily beat it. Averaged a 1:53.6 or .7, depending on if you’re looking at the ending screen or the splits, to beat my goal pace. Total of 5,278 meters for a 128 meter jump over week 1. I think I could have done a better job from about 8 minutes left to 4 minutes left, which I’ll have to remember the next time I do a 5k test.

rowing-wod-w6s2-final.jpg

rowing-wod-w6s2-splits.png

Happy with the progress and the things I’ve learned about the erg so far, but still a lot of room for improvement. Excited for the next phase.

I don’t know why I didn’t take my shirt off today. It got very uncomfortable after about 5 minutes when the sweat started pouring out.

Accessory

5 Sets

  • 8/8 Single Leg RDL (115#)
  • 15 Decline DB Bench (45# DBs)
  • 5 Supinated Pendlay Rows (135-145-145-155-155#)

Gradually going up on the RDLs each week. My posterior chain felt a lot tighter when I was standing on my right leg. The bench was easy even at 15 reps. First time trying Pendlay Rows with the reverse grip; definitely a different feel to it.

First Amanda

First time I’ve been able to make it for a Saturday class in nearly 2 months I think.

Warm-up

  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • PVC Good Mornings
  • Air Squats
  • Bottom Squat Hold

Strength: 2 Front Squats + 3 Back Squats

  • 45#
  • 135#
  • 205#
  • 235#
  • 3 sets @ 255#

Nothing crazy compared to what I’ve done in the past. Solid positioning though.

Conditioning

“Amanda”

9-7-5

  • Muscle-ups
  • Squat Snatches (135#)

Went 3-3-3, 3-2-2, 2-F-1-1-1 on the muscle-ups. That first round of snatches felt like it took forever; I kept wondering if I missed counting some reps. With the extra rest I had to take during the round of 5 muscle-ups I was able to speed through the final snatches. Snatches were singles the entire way though. Finished in 9:26. My first try at Amanda last December was with a 10 minute cap and I still had 4 snatches left so this was a nice PR even though I haven’t been doing many MU or snatches lately.

Out in the garage around 6pm.

OHS: 33X3 Tempo

  • 3×45#
  • 3×65#
  • 3×85#
  • 3×95#
  • 3×105#
  • 3×115#
  • 3×125#
  • 3×135#
  • 3×145#

Started with the jerk grip again and slowly moved hands wider through the sets until I was touching the ends on the final set. Pretty unstable in those first few sets due to the grip width. Shaky at the end due to the time under tension and the load, but 10# heavier than last week with more sets.

Accessory & Aerobic

5 Sets

  • 10 Decline DB Bench Press (50# DBs)
  • 4:00 Air Dyne (AD2) in Z1

Figured I might as well combine these two to save time instead of sitting around doing nothing between the press sets. Wore the HRM to keep track and make sure I stayed in zone 1. Can you tell where I was pressing? 😉

2015-08-29-hr

Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap.