Bench Press Program, Workout #6 of 14
Tonight’s bench press workout was as much a mental challenge as it was a physical one. The gym was very quiet and there was no one there to spot me. Since I had some heavy lifts scheduled plus a negative, I had to resort to setting up for bench press in the power rack. I’ve only done bench press there a couple of times before because I had no choice, and I had trouble getting comfortable under the bar and did not have the best of results. When I get into a habit of doing things a certain way it makes me uncomfortable to change, and the bench press is no different. So facing using the power rack again immediately started to affect my confidence, and my first reaction was that I was going to have a disappointing workout.
But then I started to think about the situation logically. I can use the same form as on the flat bench, all I have to do is take my time and adjust the bench, bar height, and safety pins so that I feel no different than on the regular bench station. I just have to be patient and keep adjusting until I feel just right. And that’s what I did. It took me awhile to get everything just right, and I ended up doing a couple of extra warm-up sets in the process. But finally I was ready to start my working sets and I re-established my confidence level to where it needed to be. I did working sets 215×3, 215×3, 230×2, 230×2 and 255xNeg. The 230 sets were hard, and the last rep on the second set didn’t go as close to my chest as it should have, but I got it back up cleanly so I’ll take it. So I successfully bench pressed at the power rack, and I know I can have success there now any time I need to use it. I’ve proven to myself once again that progress in bodybuilding is about small victories and it’s often just as much about mental attitude, focus and determination as it is about the physical part.
After benching I did a few chest isolaton exercises, nothing too heavy, then I blasted biceps doing palms-down pullups, dumbbell curls, and cable curls, mostly supersets and between sets I jumped rope for my cardio doing 896 reps in all. A record for me, next time I’ll go for 1000!
It was a stressful week at work….knowing that Friday night I could hit the iron and feel the rush that comes from an exhausting but rejuvinating workout, that knowledge made it much easier to get through the stressful days and for me that’s one of the greatest things about bodybuilding and why I love it so much.
January 23, 2009 at 11:53 pm
that’s the way to go bro. adapting situations to suit our needs. your muscles will be thanking you for a much welcomed change. cheers!