JD_Johannes’s BodyBlog

Did barbell flat bench press with 305 Lbs. today.

I got 10 reps on the first set, which according the rep max calculator puts my max at 407 Lbs.

The line graph shot up this week, but next week when I move up to 315 pounds it zag down.

Now, I doubt I could really do a 405 Lbs. single.  I would probably get the weight off the rack and say, "No thanks."

I don’t think I’ve gained a whole lot of muscle since I started benching again in December. My improvement on the bench is probably 85% muscle memory.  My muscles are learning how to fire in sequence to move that much weight.

But, it is a lot of fun to 10 rep 305 pounds.

The rep-max tracker now has some interesting zig zags after benching today.

305 x 7, x3, x3

Then did machine incline

300 x 5, x3, x2

Next week I’ll stick with 305 Lbs on the barbell flat bench and will get probably 8 or 9 reps.

Back day, which for the past few weeks has meant wrestling with a 150 pound dumbbell for single arm rows.

I haven’t been able to increase the number of reps, so I’m quitting while I’m ahead.

I do this all the time.  If I can’t make progress on an exercise, I toss it and move on.

So now wide grip pull downs will to the front of the line and I’ll randomly pick another back move.

Tomorrow is a day off.

Jules, my gym wife, couldn’t make it to do leg today, so I trained with Sarah, who usually trains with her actual husband, Dan.
My friend Nita Marquez trained Sarah for a figure competition last Summer and we are working on building on that foundation for another show or two this Summer.

Sarah and I have the same genetic blessing–really muscular legs.  We both barely work our legs and now that I’m doing sprints in preparation for next expedition to Iraq/Afghanistan I’m only pretending to work my legs.  Sarah actually lifts heavier on legs than I do.

One of the interesting challenges in training Sarah is her overall athleticism.  She is one of the most athletically talented people I have ever met.  Her body learns exercises really well and she will gain a lot of strength without building much muscle.

We spent the past couple months working on hitting her hypertrophy zone, using a cloth tape measure, bodyfat calipers and the mathematical constant of pi to determine the lean tissue circumference of her upper arm as a gauge of muscle growth.

Today we did smith squats with 185 pounds, leg curls, toe risers and abs.

Now that the Holidays are past, Nita and I working on finding a good base eating plan for her so she can slowly diet down in phases.  The plan for this Summer is to get in near contest shape, then pick some regional shows.

Tomorrow is lats, traps, rear delts with my usual gym wife.

Fit For Combat:  Hypertrophy ZoneThe file attached is about what I call, the Hypertrophy Zone(TM).

A lot of guys ask me in the gym, "Hey JD, what should I do?"  So, instead of explaining it, I just email them my explanation of how to find their Hypertrophy Zone(TM).

The gym wife wanted to do some HIIT but every treadmill had a resolutioneer on it.

I still got in my lifts with her spotting me on bench.

Flat Barbell Bench Pres 295 x 9, x5, x2

Machine Incline 285 x 11, x4, x2

I need to change up something in my flat bench warm up because after that first set–OUCH!  Nothing strained, but it just feels like I’m getting crushed after I rack the weight.

And the zig zag on the rep max chart is starting to move up again.  It currently show my 1 Rep Max at 380, which is down from when I did 275 Lbs. for more reps. Next week I’ll do 300 pounds, so the rep max will be down a bit as I will probably get fewer reps, then it will be back up again.
Tomorrow: Triceps and Biceps