First time benching 315 in 2 years

[induced_drag]

Since my back injury I have not gone heavy benching as I have instability which when I tried to push heavier weight would result in breaking form and hurting myself and sometimes lower back spasms.

For the last few years I have mostly benched 135 for reps and going up to 225 occasionally recently. I felt good tonight, so I put on 315 to see what it felt like. The first rep felt crushingly heavy, and then I had to mentally allow myself to push harder (a weird thing I have discovered when you dont train heavy for a while). My 'groove' was a little off, but all in all it felt ok.

Might start training a little progression, but just have to be careful. I could feel a slight tug in my back which happened on the second to last rep. That is why I did my last rep slowed down and decided to rack it there.

[Payton1221]

Way to go ID. Very impressive!

[induced_drag]

Way to go ID. Very impressive!

Thanks man. I would not choose 'impressive', but I am happy.

Truth be told, I have been in a workout 'funk' the past 2 years. Getting hurt, I felt like the thing I loved was taken from me. I feel like I have been going through the motions, were as I used to enjoy my workouts. I was always competing against myself to be stronger. I had my shoulder that I had to work around, but my back was bullet-proof. The pain from the disk injuries was humbling. Never been though anything even close, and I survived a helicopter crash and was left with a broken neck and frontal brain injury. It made that seem like nothing.

I am closing in fast on 50 and just trying to find a way to enjoy lifting again and feel good. I am not really sure where that is. But I do know I enjoyed my workout tonight!

[ajdahlheimer]

Good clean set of 5 there, ID. Crazy how you retain your strength like that.

I'm not sure I could even get that for a single these days, as I've been doing other things too and don't think I have the same kind of muscle memory (at least when it comes to bench).

-AJ

[quicksand jesus]

Good Job ID!

[Mark1T]

Approved Very nice.

[bustasinclair]

Very nice strength retention. Impressive.

I couldn't bench press 315 right now even if 50 lbs jumped off the bar to help me push.

[induced_drag]

Good clean set of 5 there, ID. Crazy how you retain your strength like that.

I'm not sure I could even get that for a single these days, as I've been doing other things too and don't think I have the same kind of muscle memory (at least when it comes to bench).

-AJ

Good Job ID!

Approved Very nice.

Very nice strength retention. Impressive.

I couldn't bench press 315 right now even if 50 lbs jumped off the bar to help me push.

Thanks guys. I am not sure if it is possible to be slightly bummed and partially happy at the same time....but I guess that describes the way I feel.

Being realistic, I know that I should expect to not be very strong. I looked back though my training vids and found the vid below when I was at the peak of my strength right before I injured myself breaking form in a meet. I did not realize it was 6 years ago! So in the past 6 years I have probably only done 315 3 or 4 times just to check to see how badly my strength has fallen off.





Thinking of it in that frame, I should be pretty happy I can still move the weight since I over that 6 years, I have mostly been working 90% 135 reverse grip and maybe going up to 225 10% of those times.

I was just getting ready to try to bench heavy again since I got my shoulder feeling good, and that was when I got rear ended. My back injury is tough as it is unpredictable. I think I have my shoulder the best it has been in a long time, but I dont feel like I have the stability in my back.



The best part about last night was I had my first enjoyable workout in a while. Been lost for a while trying to figure out what the hell I am doing. I promised myself I would not stop training, but I have been working out only because I know what happens when I dont. It has been a decade since I have been back, and I dont skip the gym regardless. I am just missing the days when I looked forward to working out vs feeling like it was something I had to do.


I need to suck it up and quit b!tching. Many worse off than myself and I should feel lucky to even be able to train through COVID.



On the cool side, I just managed to get a set of bumper plates and 15kg 25mm oly bar from Rouge for my daughter. We have been trying to find bumpers since COVID hit and they are always out of stock. They arrive tomorrow and having my daughter in there with me might make this a lot more fun!

[ArchAngel'73]

If FLEX can make gains in his early 50's so can we at our age.
Although it is harder to accept what is versus what once was, we still have potential.
and benching 315 is still impressive!

[induced_drag]

If FLEX can make gains in his early 50's so can we at our age.
Although it is harder to accept what is versus what once was, we still have potential.
and benching 315 is still impressive!

Funny you say that. He posted a vid of him squatting working back from a set back he had. It was pretty motivating. Nothing but respect for the big guy. (even though he still makes fun of my calves )

I have never looked to external sources for motivation. I have always felt motivation has to come from within. However, I have many times found inspiration from others. Flex is one of those guys for sure. I respect him on many levels. He and I share a lot of similarities with our journeys through the years and the gym.

[bodyhard]

Since my back injury I have not gone heavy benching as I have instability which when I tried to push heavier weight would result in breaking form and hurting myself and sometimes lower back spasms.

For the last few years I have mostly benched 135 for reps and going up to 225 occasionally recently. I felt good tonight, so I put on 315 to see what it felt like. The first rep felt crushingly heavy, and then I had to mentally allow myself to push harder (a weird thing I have discovered when you dont train heavy for a while). My 'groove' was a little off, but all in all it felt ok.

Might start training a little progression, but just have to be careful. I could feel a slight tug in my back which happened on the second to last rep. That is why I did my last rep slowed down and decided to rack it there.

Not many folks can bench press 225lbs for 5 reps let alone 315lbs, coming back from a layoff especially of 2 years, you made that look easy!

[Jtbny]

Ya but can you core an apple? Hmmm?


Seriously, very impressive how you can maintain a higher level of strength. I got vertigo earlier in the year and it derailed my progress with just 1 month off from benching. You're a beast.

[xTeTe]

Nice work. I'm hoping to put up 315 one day in the near future.

[BeginnerGainz]

Nice OP

Have you considered going to a really low incline? I find that helps me quite a bit.

[induced_drag]

Not many folks can bench press 225lbs for 5 reps let alone 315lbs, coming back from a layoff especially of 2 years, you made that look easy!

Even though bench is my 'wost' major lift, I have been lucky in the fact that I retain strength pretty well. Even after 10 years out of the gym on my first workout back to the gym I still could bench 300lbs. (and I was dumb enough to do it that is how I know ).

You have had a long time in the gym except you have managed to stay in with only small gaps vs my 10 year 'break'. So since I am now back 10 year without missing any unplanned workouts minus a few days here and there, I am just trying to find that right path forward. We cant be 'all out' all the time. I may finally be back to a time in my training I can push a little hard again if everything cooperates.

Ya but can you core an apple? Hmmm?


Seriously, very impressive how you can maintain a higher level of strength. I got vertigo earlier in the year and it derailed my progress with just 1 month off from benching. You're a beast.

I know you have been taking up things outside the weight room. I have considered that, but I almost feel 'pot committed' at this point. Truth is, I do enjoy this, I just have to find that fire again, and find things I can get excited about even if I can no longer do what I had in the past.

Nice work. I'm hoping to put up 315 one day in the near future.

They are all just numbers. Truth is that no PR made me satisfied the next day. If you are wired to succeed, than no goal will ever get you to the point where you feel you have 'arrived'. Even 405 bench which took me a while to hit wore off very quickly after doing it.

My advice is great to have long term goals, but if strength is a goal, you should have goals EVERY workout in the form of a periodized planned progression. When I did have goals, I never was just 'winging' it with workouts. EVERY rep and set was goal based. If you do that, it will give you the best chance you have of hitting your target!

Nice OP

Have you considered going to a really low incline? I find that helps me quite a bit.

Actually incline hurts my shoulder. A slight decline feels better and I do that from time to time. What I have really been doing the past few years was trying to utilize things like TUT (time under tension) and pre-exhausting along with MMC Mind Muscle Connection to hit the areas I would want to train. I think this is why I was able to workout with 135 and still get the signaling effect I needed.

Another silly things I started doing was pushups. I was doing 100 / night. Elbows in concentrating on moving with the chest. I started only being able to hit 70 and then had to rest to get the last 30. After a few weeks I got to where I would just go to 100 straight. I think this, combined with my elbow positioning helped my shoulder feel more comfortable pressing. I have not worked shoulders directly in about a year just giving them a break.

[Jtbny]

I know you have been taking up things outside the weight room. I have considered that, but I almost feel 'pot committed' at this point. Truth is, I do enjoy this, I just have to find that fire again, and find things I can get excited about even if I can no longer do what I had in the past

That's the important part right there- finding that fire. Truth be told I've never really had the fire to lift weights. I'm competitive which can be confused with fire and used to motivate myself. Never the less I haven't missed considerable gym time in over a decade. My goals have just shifted. I still like to bench 3pps though

[induced_drag]

After benching the heaviest I have ina long time two weeks ago, I took last week off benching. I felt OK this week, so I figured if my shoulder and back felt OK, I would 'dig' a little deeper to see what I had.

I put on 315 again and got 6, 1 more rep than before, but my 'groove' is all wacky. The plus side, is I did not pull my back at all. It started to tighten up a little after I stood up but some stretching worked it out.

I think for the first time in a loooong time, I am going to try a strength progression training again. I'll blow some dust off one of my old 5/3/1 templates. Only going to do this for bench and keep working everything else the same.

See if I can manage to make some progress back. I remember from my progression going back that 315x10 gave me 405, and when I was able to rep 315x12, I had a 420 paused.
I am not sure if I can approach those, but I dont plan on maxing. Rather I will judge my progress with 315x REPS. 5/3/1 will have me handling some heavier weights though as it progresses, but I think I will try to keep reps above 3 and then reset if need be.

[Payton1221]

Looked smooth to me. Out of curiosity, are you left handed? Maybe it was the camera angle, but it looked like the weights veered left a little bit. I'm right handed and my weights veer right. Not to bore you with a statics class from my engineering school days, but by veering right my right arm is supporting a bit more weight due to the movement of the center of gravity.

[induced_drag]

Looked smooth to me. Out of curiosity, are you left handed? Maybe it was the camera angle, but it looked like the weights veered left a little bit. I'm right handed and my weights veer right. Not to bore you with a statics class from my engineering school days, but by veering right my right arm is supporting a bit more weight due to the movement of the center of gravity.

I am pretty much ambidextrous. I do things equally right and left. But for very specific things, I have adopted a favored hand, but it does not favor one or the other. I write left. I throw right, but bat left. I shoot guns and play guitar right. I skate board right forward. Things like tennis, golf, that I have not played a lot of, I cant pick which hand to use. I worked caprentry for many years, and cant tell a difference between hammering with either hand or sawing. Same with using tools, etc.


BUT, I broke my right collar bone at 17 and it threw my entire shoulder geometry off. My right shoulder got moved into the center line of my body about 1 1/2" permanetly. If I reach my hands in front, my right arm sticks our 1"+ further. It also changed my development of my back, chest, and even arm sizes. Left arm and pec bigger, right back and delts bigger

Benching, was always my 'worst' exercise. When I was younger I never could bench since it hurt my bad shoulder too much. I did lots of dumbbell work and declines when I could. Never benched successfully till I came back to the gym and learned to bench like a powerlifter vs that 80's gym bro bodybuilding style. Basically I learned to tuck my elbows and bench off my back. Never even benched 315 in my younger years, but could press 150 dumbbells.