[CosmicOsmo]

Alright, as some of you might recall, I've kinda decided on a whim to enter a Bench/Dead competition...I've got about 9 weeks to prepare. I've never really competed in anything like this and I don't plan on making a profession out of it or anything, but it should be fun. Anyway, I've decided to start this log to document my preparation leading up to the competition. My main goal is to increase my bench press to something remotely respectable while maintaining or slightly improving my deadlift.

Current stats:

Bench: 230
Deadlift: 455
Squat: 305 ATG oly style
Clean: 235

@5'10", 166lbs, fully clothed

Goals for competition (July 12th)

Bench: 260
Deadlift: 465

@BW 170lbs (in just shorts). I'm planning on competing in the 165lbs division so this should give me an easy 5lbs cut (I'm not too experienced with cutting weight so I don't want to go crazy with it).

I'm planning on following a bench program recommended in a Ryan Kennelly interview, which basically consists of lots of triples, starting at about 45% of your max and increasing until you hit a new 3 rep max with your old 1 rep max, plus lots of pin presses, skull crushers etc. as assistance work. I'm going to try to keep working with my olympic lifting so I don't get rusty during this brief powerlifting stint.

Anyway, today was the first day of my preparation.

All exercises are listed Lbs, SetsxReps

Bench--105lbs 8x3 (45% of 1rm)

A few sets of split jerks, light weight focusing on form and speed

Pin Press--215lbs 5x5 (about 4-5" off chest)

Skull Crushers--100lbs 3x5

Incline DB press (wide)--60lbs 3x8

Lateral raises--45lbs 3x8

Everything felt good, this is my first time doing pin presses (or any partial bench work) and it felt like it will really help me through my sticking points...I've seriously neglected bench for a long time and hopefully I'll make some progress with it.

[Ascendant]

Incline DB press (wide)--60lbs 3x8

Get these the fuck outta here.

[CosmicOsmo]

Originally Posted by Ascendant

Get these the fuck outta here.

Haha...I'll take your advice 'cause frankly you're a heck of a lot stronger than me, but could I ask why you have no love for the dumbbell press? I'm surprised you let the lateral raises stay but shit on the dumbell press!

[CosmicOsmo]

Day two:

started off with light snatches + overhead squats to warm up

Working sets

snatch:
115lbs 3x3

Hang clean:
135lbsx5
155lbsx5

Power clean:
175lbsx5

Full clean:
185lbx3
205lbsx2
225x1

On that last clean I got so psyched up on it I somehow managed to clock myself in the chin with the bar...it really demonstrates how much I need to work on my front squat, 'cause I can pull the bar up that high but when I drop into the front squat it's pretty heavy...I think any progress I made on my front squat would immediately translate to my full clean because my clean is limited by my front squat right now

next,
Chinups:
bw+60lbs 3x5

pullups:
BW 2x12

Teh DB Curlzorz

50lbs 2x6

I supersetted the last two sets of pullups and the curls with some core work to save time.

Kroc Rows:
85lbsx22 right hand, x18 left hand (first time doing these, might try to go a bit heavier next time)

Weighted hypers:
+45lbs 2x10

For shits and giggles:
One-armed barbell snatch
65lbs 3x3 each arm

[King Kabuki]

For some reason the implication in this thread-title is arousing.

[CosmicOsmo]

Originally Posted by King Kabuki

For some reason the implication in this thread-title is arousing.

Olympic lifts have funny names

Snatch.

Just try saying it without giggling a bit.

[King Kabuki]

It's impossible. Nice quote, Jack Handy was spot-on with that. I actually used it on a dancer here in Vegas, and it's a good pick-up line for a Fighter to a dancer (and not a stripper, an actual showgirl).

Anyhow, carry-on. I'll go back to my Boxing.

[CosmicOsmo]

Originally Posted by King Kabuki

It's impossible. Nice quote, Jack Handy was spot-on with that. I actually used it on a dancer here in Vegas, and it's a good pick-up line for a Fighter to a dancer (and not a stripper, an actual showgirl).

Anyhow, carry-on. I'll go back to my Boxing.

Man, I've got to give you props if you've successfully used Jack Handey as a pickup line. Usually whenever I let a Deep Thought slip out in the presence of the fairer sex, it's met with confused stares. Although, if you find one that laughs, she's a keeper for sure

[Ascendant]

Originally Posted by CosmicOsmo

Haha...I'll take your advice 'cause frankly you're a heck of a lot stronger than me, but could I ask why you have no love for the dumbbell press? I'm surprised you let the lateral raises stay but shit on the dumbell press!

Sorry I haven't responded in a bit; wide incline db presses have one of the highest injury rates of any exercise. And in my opinion, one of the worst carryovers for strength.

I'm not a super big fan of lateral raises, but they at least would have a tough time injuring you. I will say that when I've done them (say I want to focus on appearance for a month or two) I've noticed my bench go up a bit, but I've also noticed distinctly that they didn't help my ohp/jerk AT ALL, which I thought was weird.

Keep in mind this is all anecdotal. But I also don't give opinions unless I think of them as facts. (A HYPER-annoying character trait, according to the opposite sex... haha)

[CosmicOsmo]

Originally Posted by Ascendant

Sorry I haven't responded in a bit; wide incline db presses have one of the highest injury rates of any exercise. And in my opinion, one of the worst carryovers for strength.

I'm not a super big fan of lateral raises, but they at least would have a tough time injuring you. I will say that when I've done them (say I want to focus on appearance for a month or two) I've noticed my bench go up a bit, but I've also noticed distinctly that they didn't help my ohp/jerk AT ALL, which I thought was weird.

Keep in mind this is all anecdotal. But I also don't give opinions unless I think of them as facts. (A HYPER-annoying character trait, according to the opposite sex... haha)

Interesting...I'd honestly never really considered the possibility of injury...I don't have any pain when I do them so I didn't really think about it. What type of injury do you usually see? Some kind of shoulder issue?

The only real reason i will throw in some lateral raises or rear delt flyes is because I've heard from good sources that a common culprit for shoulder injury is strength imbalance throughout the shoulder's entire range of motion. I see Westside in particular do them a lot with the injury prevention in mind.

Anyway, today I did:

Bench:

115lbs 8x3 (50% of max, focusing on speed and form)

Parallel Box Squat/depth jump complexes:

255lbs 4x5 squat

Complexed with 3 depth jumps (drop from 12" box, jump to 45"-ish box)

20 rep box squat:

185lbs

Goodmornings:

185lbs 3x8

supersetted with calf work

My squats suck something fierce, I might have to try something drastic like Smolov once this thing is over.