Road to a 405 bench

[tobistrength]

Greg Knuckols definitely is a guy to listen to. I second his articles on technique

[SaviorSelfJT]

Greg Knuckols definitely is a guy to listen to. I second his articles on technique

Yeah and a lot of times when I google something, I'm often going to his website and never noticed it (stronger by science). Never realized it was him


===============
This workout was absolutely agonizing, not only was every bench press rep hard, lots of stuff just hurt. Going to be a miracle if I can finish all 3 weeks. I'm going to ice my shoulders tonight

Bench press:
warmups with 45, 95, 135, 185, 225, 245
285x5
285x5
285x5
285x5
285x5
285x5
285x5

35 fuking reps with 285. On paper this doesn't look that hard, but it grinds you down so fast and you're not completely recovered from the last workout. Something I may have noticed is that on the first rep of each set I'm touching the bar too high on my torso when it should be closer to my sternum. Then once I get the groove the rest of the reps are where they should be. I think this may be why my shoulder is bothering me; not unracking

Wanted to just ball up in the corner and cry after this, but I can handle whats next:

Overhand bicep curls:
45x5
65x5
85x5

Deadlift (deload):
280x5

Ok, I tried some of the new form stuff:
Bar close to shins
Start where hamstrings are tight
Hips higher up
Flex both quads and hams before starting the rep

and WOW this felt different. Unlike any other way I've deadlifted before. 280 is too light to tell if its easier or harder, but I'm going to keep this form and keep focusing on strengthing my hams.

[ECGordyn]

Ok, I tried some of the new form stuff:
Bar close to shins
Start where hamstrings are tight
Hips higher up
Flex both quads and hams before starting the rep

and WOW this felt different. Unlike any other way I've deadlifted before. 280 is too light to tell if its easier or harder, but I'm going to keep this form and keep focusing on strengthing my hams.

Two additional cues would be: (1) Hip height when bar leaves the floor is your proper hip starting height. Need to vid yourself to see this. (2) Screw your shoulders into the sockets to get your lats tight. This helps keep your spine locked in place.

When I started a high volume bench program (Calgary), my shoulders ached for about 2 weeks before I got used to the volume. Smolov is higher volume, so not sure when you'll adapt. Shoulder dislocations are magic prehab.

[SaviorSelfJT]

Two additional cues would be: (1) Hip height when bar leaves the floor is your proper hip starting height. Need to vid yourself to see this. (2) Screw your shoulders into the sockets to get your lats tight. This helps keep your spine locked in place.

When I started a high volume bench program (Calgary), my shoulders ached for about 2 weeks before I got used to the volume. Smolov is higher volume, so not sure when you'll adapt. Shoulder dislocations are magic prehab.

Next time I'll vid deadlifts, but I don't think my hips even could have gotten higher, unless my back rounded. My hamstrings just aren't flexible enough. When I do RDLs and keep my back arched, I can't even reach the middle of my knee. My hamstring flexibility is pretty bad I think, I just realized this over the last week. Hopefully the exercises I'm doing will strengthen them and give a little mobility

Well my shoulders felt much better this workout. But my forearms were killing me. Like the actual forearm, not wrist or hand or elbow. After this workout I can feel a tendon in my left forearm is irritated; it hurts to the touch

200mg ibuprofen before the workout, hopefully I won't need this again

Survived first week of smolov bench!
Bench:
300x3
300x3
300x3
300x3
300x3
300x3
300x3
300x3
300x3
300x3

Good mornings:
95x5
135x5
185x5
185x5
Just focusing on loading the hamstrings and stretching them a little

Static holds:
500x2.5 or 3 seconds. Better than last time! My left hand opened up almost immediately but could hold it in my fingertips for a bit. My right hand held strong though. My left forearm is what's hurting, may be related
405x15 seconds. Same thing

Reverse wrist curls:
65x8
95x8
95x5

Finger curls
185x5

Wrist curls
185x5

bodyweight rows upside down, bar at face (kind of like face pulls?)
12 reps

Also massaged the tendon in my left forearm

[SaviorSelfJT]

And week would not be finished without some fatceps:

[tobistrength]

Arms look big man. Nice bench volume too. Great work

[SaviorSelfJT]

Arms look big man. Nice bench volume too. Great work

Thanks man. Not so great news today, but not the worst thing in the world. I completed the second set of bench today and called it quits for smolov. My left forearm was getting worse and I got scared


Smolov: week 2 day 1
Bench:
260x9
260x9
260xquit
260xquit


At least I made it one week. I think my forearm is legit tendonitis. I can squeeze my hand into a fist, and when I release my grip there's a burst of pain. Same thing when I grip the barbell for benching.

Hopefully it'll clear up on its own quickly in the absence of benching/curling

EDIT:
From googling around, this seems to be describes as "forearm splints", not necessarily tendonitis. With the telltale sign being that the pain happens when you release the grip/let go of the bar. Causes seems to be anything from:
Overtraining
Muscle imbalance in forearms (eg extensor part of foream)
Letting go of the bar too fast
Straight bar curls


Did some light reverse curls after 3x15 with just the bar

[SaviorSelfJT]

Yesterday there was actually a bruise on my forearm where it hurt to touch. I’m gonna assume that was from me massaging it, but hard to believe I was pressing it hard enough to bruise

bodyweight hamstring curl (stolen from ECGordyn's log):
5
5
Don't think I was actually getting full ROM on these. These are actually pretty tough lol

Squat:
Warmups sets
445x1
Didn’t feel too hard, felt like it went up smooth without a hitch. I think the most weight I’ve squatted before was 430

Deadlift with new form:
290x5
I got a good feeling about this. Feels like my body is like a spring and before I even realize I’m pulling on the weight it’s halfway up

Good mornings
185x6
185x6
185x6

Various reverse wrist curls. I ended up using a band to do them by looping around a rail low on my cage and putting my wrist on a j hook

Tested how low I can get with a RDL and no back round, and I could get just below my kneecap. Better!

Later tonight if I can get the courage to I’ll try a cold bath.
Update: bath taken. Water was 50 degees F and I stayed in for about 5 and a half minutes. Water temp was 53 when I got out. The tub isn't big enough for me to be completely submerged so the first half I was lying down to get my torso then the second half I sat up and got my legs submerged. A lot of my skin felt like it was numb afterwards lol

[SaviorSelfJT]

Wasn’t planning for this but my forearm felt a lot better and I already failed Smolov. So what the hell let’s do some bench singles


Bench press:
Warmups
225x3
275x1
315x1
325x1
335x1
345x1
355x0 dammit

That’s a 20lb PR, most weight I’ve done before was 325

Rows
135x5
185x5
225x5
245x5

RDLs
225x5
275x5
315x5
335x5

Shrugs
225x5
315x5
405x5
455x5
455x15 lol this was supposed to be 405 I forgot to take the 25s off. I had to redo my straps twice

Rev curls
45x5
65x5
75x5

[SaviorSelfJT]

I needed an extra day after those shrugs. My traps were so sore the day after and the day after that

Warm up by squatting 135 for a few sets

Light deadlifts:
305x5

Static hold
500x2 or 3 seconds
455x2 or 3 seconds, my left hand is definitely weaker, my right didn't have a hard time at all holding
more drop sets with 405 and 315

Reverse wrist curl with plates, wrist supported by rail: 10lbx10 and 25lbx3

Good mornings:
135x5
185x5
205x5

[tobistrength]

Congrats on the bench PR man. 20lbs in a short amount of time for a 315lb plus bench press is pretty damn good

[SaviorSelfJT]

Congrats on the bench PR man. 20lbs in a short amount of time for a 315lb plus bench press is pretty damn good

Haha thanks man. To be fair I've probably had the strength to do it at least since I've started this log. 345 felt easy enough to where I could have done more, I didn't grind it out. But 355 kicked my ass lol

Another PR, squat 455 lbs. This has been a goal for a while, 4 and a half wheels. I recorded this one. As I was unracking, the left side caught on the hook but I was able to recover and do it. Doesn't look that difficult in the vid


455x1 squat (+10lb PR):
Dont think I can embed this, so just have to follow the link if you want to see
https://streamable.com/648pjn

I'll post the full workout once I'm done

[SaviorSelfJT]

Squat:
135x3
135x3
185x3
225x2
275x2
315x2
365x1
405x1
455x1 (PR, vid in prev post)
315x10

Press:
95x5
135x5
155x3
175x5

RDL:
135x5
225x5
315x5
355x5
275x16

Reverse bicep curls:
barx5
65x5
85x5

[ECGordyn]

Haha thanks man. To be fair I've probably had the strength to do it at least since I've started this log. 345 felt easy enough to where I could have done more, I didn't grind it out. But 355 kicked my ass lol

Another PR, squat 455 lbs. This has been a goal for a while, 4 and a half wheels. I recorded this one. As I was unracking, the left side caught on the hook but I was able to recover and do it. Doesn't look that difficult in the vid


455x1 squat (+10lb PR):
Dont think I can embed this, so just have to follow the link if you want to see
https://streamable.com/648pjn

I'll post the full workout once I'm done

Great squat there man. Mirin hard.

Set the J hooks one notch lower so the bar doesn't catch on walkout?

[SaviorSelfJT]

Great squat there man. Mirin hard.

Set the J hooks one notch lower so the bar doesn't catch on walkout?

Thanks. I used to go one pin lower, but recently moved up cause it felt too low. But after today I’m going back before I have a serious accident lol. If I had to abandon the lift while only one side was racked I’d need a new floor and new plates and maybe even a new bar

I was reading about something that I’d have never heard of before. It’s called cluster sets. The idea is you take your 3RM and do 5 reps by racking the weight and resting for 20 seconds after each rep. Basically heavy singles with very short rest periods. I might have to try this

[tobistrength]

Squat looked good man. Great form too. Congrats on the PR

[SaviorSelfJT]

Squat looked good man. Great form too. Congrats on the PR

Hopefully that 25lb plate will turn into a 45lb plate.


Today was pretty much a fail. My hamstrings/inner adductors are REALLY sore still and I didn't dare try anything using them. Yesterday they were so sore there was a little discomfort just walking. And I pretty much couldn't bend my legs to a full squat position cause it stretched my hamstrings which too sore. Those RDLs are killer

Bench:
95x10
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x1
325x1

The 325 was supposed to be a clustered set of 5......I only got one rep fml. The second one was a failure
315 also felt much harder than it normally would. The 175 press the other day also felt really heavy. Maybe I'm just a little overtrained on these pressing movements and need to back off for a little

Reverse wrist curls with grey bands
20 per hand
15 per hand

Left forearm tendon still is a little inflamed but nowhere near as bad as when I quit smolov

[SaviorSelfJT]

Needed a really easy workout today, feeling a lot of fatigue:

Squat:
135x5
135x5
135x5

Deadlift:
135x1
225x1
315x1
325x5

Recorded the deadlifts. Form looked good, no back rounding, and can tell the hips are higher than my old form. I need to stop craning my head up though. 325 flew off of the ground like it was 135

Reverse curls:
45x5
60x5
70x5
80x5
90x5


Had a dream the other night where I was deadlifting a lot of weight and it was really easy

[SaviorSelfJT]

Another easy day. Basically a rest day, but going through the motions to stay in habit

Bench:
45x5
95x5
135x5

Good morning:
45x5
95x5

Row:
45x5
95x5
135x5

I might have one more easy day again, depends on how I feel

[SaviorSelfJT]

Felt a lot better yesterday and today, so today wasn't an easy day. No hamstring work since I'm going to deadlift next workout and I don't want crippling sore doms in my hamstrings for that

Bench:
45x5
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
315x4
260x9
260x9
260x8

Rows:
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5 kinda sloppy form

Strict press:
95x3
135x3
175x3
205x0 shouldn't have even attempted this in hindsight, my triceps especially were tired by now. But for some reason I thought I could get a rep or two

Pull aparts with bands:
orangex8
greyx8

Reverse bicep curl:
45x5
65x5
85x5
95x5


No forearm/hand/wrist discomfort at all today! I think the work with reverse bicep/wrist curls helped this. I'm also trying to grip the bar like this:


I may have been a little guilty of letting the bar cock my wrists back. Not by much but with 300+ lbs its bound to start hurting eventually

[SaviorSelfJT]

Meh day today. My alarm clock was going off for almost an hour before I woke up and for a bit I thought I was sick but I felt a little better as the day went on. Long day at work, mentally exhausted


Warmup squats:
135x5
135x5
135x5

Deadlift:
up to 350x5

Static hold:
up to 500 momentarily. Was able to pick it up twice in a row but just can't hold i
455x7 seconds

RDLs:
315x8
315x10
315x15

Reverse curls
65x5
85x5

[SaviorSelfJT]

I'm a dumbass. 160mg caffeine around noon. But I didn't start lifting until around midnight, when all the caffeine wore off

Squat:
135x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
315x6
315x6
315x6
315x6
315x6
315x6

Legs felt like wet spaghetti noodles near the end of this

Bench:
135x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x7
275x7 or 8

I lost track of my count on that last set. I'm pretty sure I actually did 8 "just to be sure" but idk. At this point I'm so exhausted I can't even remember my reps during the set so I threw in the towel

[SaviorSelfJT]

The DOMS I had yesterday was really bad. It hurt to just move around. And when I sat down on the couch, I'd have to freefall back because squatting down was too painful

Today its still pretty bad but a lot better. Gonna need to need another rest day. I think its cause it had been a while since I'd done that much squat work in a workout and un-adapted. I've done 365 5x5 before and didn't have this much of a problem

[tobistrength]

Sweet volume on RDLs, squats, bench press, etc. How do your wrists and joints feel? Joe Sullivan the dude in the video is very knowledgable. Brilliant guy

[SaviorSelfJT]

Sweet volume on RDLs, squats, bench press, etc. How do your wrists and joints feel? Joe Sullivan the dude in the video is very knowledgable. Brilliant guy

Right now my joints feel great. My forearm was killing me a few weeks ago, but it seems to be completely better. I think training the 'other side' of my forearm fixed it

But this last week or two I've kind of felt really fatigued. A few times I woke up and thought I was sick and was about to call out of work (and I work from home lol), but I felt a little better as I got up. Just kind of feel burned out, tired, fatigued

And no idea what was up with the soreness from that last squat workout. Cause that workout wasn't that hard, but the soreness for the next two days was so bad it nearly had me on crutches. Maybe I am sick with something


That joe sullivan used to post on a different small forum a long time ago that I was on. Back when he was a teen and new to lifting, crazy to see how strong he is now. There was another lifter on there too, and he now is posting videos on youtube of nearly a 500lb bench, 900 deadlift, 700 squat. Unfortunately I don't have the same drive as either of them lol

[SaviorSelfJT]

Bench Press-
45x5
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
290x5
290x5
290x5
290x4
290x1

Good mornings-
95x5
135x5
185x5
205x5

Rows-
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5

Reverse curl-
45x5
65x5
85x5
105x5

[SaviorSelfJT]

Warm up squats:
135x5
135x5
135x5

Deadlift
135
225
315
375x5

Strict press
45
95
115
135
155
165
175x1

175 felt pretty heavy so stopped there

RDL
315x12

Weak, tired, exhausted

[SaviorSelfJT]

(high) box squat- (intended as a deadlift accessory)
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
315x5
365x5

new exercise for me, so kept it pretty light. ROM is waaay less than a normal squat, but my shins are vertical the whole time so this is almost legal squat depth according to PL rules

Bench-
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x1
315x1
275x6

Didn't train anything to failure today

[SaviorSelfJT]

high box squat-
45x5
135x5
225x5
315x5
375x5
375x5
375x5

Bench
135x5
185x4
225x3
275x2
315x1......felt hard so I stopped here

Press
95x5
135x5
175x5

Row
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5....chitty form

[SaviorSelfJT]

How does this look for a starting position (deadlift):


Warmup squats:
135x5x3 sets. I sort of come up with hips first as if it were good mornings

Deadlift:
135x3
225x3
315x1
365x1
390x4 grip gave out.

Maybe I should get some chalk. Trying not to think about going back to straps. Also I may have had my belt on a notch too tight. Felt like the contents of my stomach were going to come up

Good mornings
135x5
185x5