Yesterday was the lightest session of my 4-day split. Normally, I do not take a day off before this particular session, but I was curious to see how the bench would react if I did. Results are inconclusive at best; bench does not seem to mind either way.
Intensity bench - 5 sets of 3 at 127 lbs (PR)
I reviewed my warm-up routine, resulting in about half the warm-up tonnage of my previous intensity bench session. That said, I started with 5 minutes of light rowing on my Concept 2 (there is a secondary gym in the basement). This was actually quite nice, especially with the addition of
pretty scenery. A keeper.
The work sets didn't quite happened as stated above. In reality, I ended up doing 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3. During my second set, I had a misgroove incident during rep 2 and this carried on into rep 3 which I had to lower onto the safeties. Good news is that my setup is perfect; I have sent
that video to my mom to rest my case. She is not supportive of my strength training at all, except for the fact that it's made me gain weight. She keeps going on about how "dangerous" it is. She had a bit of a point when I was using the el cheapo squat stand at my old place, but since my move last summer, let's just say that there have been some major upgrades in the safety department.
Anyhow, I didn't get 3 reps on set 2, but I chose to assume it was just a misgroove issue and kept going. Then I decided to do my 15th rep in a 6th set. It went so well that I did a second one which was very tough. Then the little voice said "At this point I might as well at least
try to get that third fucker in". I guess the safety experience gave me some extra courage. I doubt I would have attempted this rep otherwise, and I am glad I did.
Grinding on the bench is a relatively new experience; I better get good at this soon. I would not be surprised if my bench stalled in the foreseeable future. I'm not built for a big bench, I have to use a narrow grip, and my technique is not very good. I don't get the leg-drive thing; I actually tend to lift one foot up when struggling with a rep (odd, isn't it). This is something I need to work on as well. But as much as I'd love to get to a 135 lbs bench, it wouldn't be a tragedy if I didn't. I'm quite content with having 1 X BW bench.