My BodyBlog

Last night’s benching went smoothly until I got to the first set of 220×2.  I got through it, but I get an F for form.  I think I had myself so psyched up to push a heavy weight that I put too much drive into the first rep and it was way too fast.  I slowed up for the second rep but by that time I had used too much energy and I struggled badly to get the bar up.  I pushed through and did it though.  During my rest period before the next set I had a good talking to myself (in my head, the gym was crowded so I couldn’t talk out loud this time LOL!) and I basically told myself to settle down and focus on lifting the right way, keep the reps smooth and at a moderate pace.  I said to myself that it is more important to lift the right way and if I fail on the second rep so what?  I decided to get a spotter for the set, just in case I needed help.  I focused and successfully did 220×2 with good form and although I exerted maximum effort to push up the second rep, the bar only slowed a little.  What a difference between the two sets!  I know my form was the key, and having a spotter for the second set helped my confidence.  I finished off the bench workout with a solid negative of 240.  I then did some triceps, biceps, and hamstring work, in a very good mood!

My one rep max starting the program was 220.  Last night I did 4 reps of 220 total, feeling strong at the end.  Proof that the program is working?  Seems so!  Another failure test next workout, which won’t happen until Sunday.  I think that one will be tougher than the first, but I’ll be well rested, so who knows?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 6:15 am and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.