The second annual Testify Benching Bonanza, a competition which is conducted in a "rising bar" format, was held this past Friday, November 22nd. For the women, first place in the open division went to Brianne Holm, first place in the masters division went to Sharon Foster, and the heaviest bench award went to Brianne Holm. For the men, first place in the open division went to Jeremiah Jarecke, first place in the masters division went to Ross Hamilton, and the heaviest bench award went to Jeremiah Jarecke. View full meet results

Jeremiah goes 3-for-3 on the day and benches 305 lb for a PR third attempt at the annual Benching Bonanza at Testify Strength & Conditioning. Jeremiah took first place in the men's open division and the men's heaviest bench category [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

Dave benches 230 lb for a smooth third attempt at this weekend's Testify Benching Bonanza. Dave went 3-for-3 on the evening and will be competing alongside his son and a few other Testify members in the upcoming, team-oriented Testify Barbell Blizzard event on December 14th. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

Some of the competitors, judges, loaders, and spotters from this weekend's Testify Benching Bonanza gather together for a post-meet group photo. [photo courtesy of Phil Meggers]

DRG

I have recently started SS and TRT but I am a little puzzled as to how many calories. Yes I have read the book (on my second read to understand the movements better).

However, it is very brief with regards nutrition so looking for some help?

I am 39M, 185lb, slimarms and legs, little fluffy aroudn the belly area, not much muscle (i believe the non technical term is skinny fat!).. just started so low numbers after a few weeks squat is 55kg, bp 50kg, dl 60kg. I am sure these will go up quite a bit over the next few weeks but i deliberately started slow due to low energy levels.

So, at my age an weight, and low strength what should i be aiming for (calories, carbs, protein & fat breakdown would help). Now most other sources for weight loss would suggest to do a cut at 2200 calories approx, but my primary goal is to get my SS numbers up over weight loss, but also i dont excess flab.

Too soon to see if the TRT is helping, but pretty certain it will as my readings were between 170 and 230.

Thanks in advance!

Robert Santana

Ramp the deadlift up quickly and eat 3k calories. You do not need to cut.

DRG

Even though I am 26% bodyfat? I have just been on the scales this morning and put 1kg on since Saturday eating approx 3k calories. I am not comfortable adding weight which my bodyfat so high

Robert Santana

You are 26% body fat because you only have 136 lb of lean mass and are squatting and deadlifting less weight than you have in lean mass. You are under muscled not over fat. Eat more and get stronger and the rest will sort itself out.

wojciech

As a preface, I will note that I operate on a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday SS schedule. Due to Thanksgiving, I had my last workout on Tuesday. On Sunday, I went back and did the Press/Deadlift workout I last did on a Saturday (8 days break). Since the last squat workout (Tuesday), I had to drop roughly 20lbs in weight, because my knees were caving in hard. Since the last press workout, I had to drop down 10lbs in weight, despite numerous attempts at equal, or 5lbs weight drop.

What was this caused by? I don't think I could have atrophied over a period of 8 days. I don't think it's a mindset issue either, as I tried many times, but the weights were just too heavy to lift with proper form.

What should I do next workout? Try to add more weight? Redo the last workout with the same weights? Or try lighter?

Mark Rippetoe

The First Three Questions

A Clarification

wojciech

I was expecting this type of an answer: I have read both of these articles a long time ago and I'm trying to follow the program rigorously, with appropriate dieting (3.5-4k kcal), sleep (8hrs+) and weight progression (2.5lbs/workout on all the lifts except DL). I usually end up resting 10+ minutes between sets. I do realise taking a week off is NDTP, but there was nothing I could do about that, and my question is mostly about how is that possible that such a short lay off could result in such a drastic loss of strength and what should I do about it, now that the damage is done?

Mark Rippetoe

It's not possible that the layoff caused a huge drop in strength. But you did not tell us your lifts.

wojciech

P/B/S/D in lbs: 128/192/275/305 Power clean: 128

Mark Rippetoe

Like pulling teeth here. Bodyweight?

wojciech

6'2'', 235 lbs, 19yo. I know it's a bad strength/weight ratio, but I'm trying my best here. Started off 2 years ago weighing 130-140, covid made me do the program in 3-month-long chunks followed by 3-month-long lay offs.

Mark Rippetoe

Your bodyweight is not terrible for your level of training advancement, but your lifts are shit because you haven't done the program. Do the program.