Getting Stronger = 1 Part Effort + 1 Part Eating + 8 Parts The Right Hormonal Milieu

8.25.2015/Tues
Bench Press, touch and go @ 184 lbs
45 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
245 x 1
255 x 2, 2

Straight Ledge Pull-Up x 5, 5
One-Arm Dumbbell Row 100 x 16
Bench Press, touch and go 245 x 2, 1, 1
Straight Bar Pull-Up x 6, 6

Wow. Didn't see that coming. Two doubles with 255. I thought for sure I'd get only one and that was if I were lucky. My rate of progress seems to be keeping up...maybe even accelerating a bit.

There's no way I can not extend this into at least an 8-week cycle, 12 if my nuts continue to stay the same size.

A 184-lb man (at time of session) benching 255 a few times isn't the stuff of legend. But it is a personal best for me, especially at this age. My best benches ever were 253 paused in competition back in 2010 and maybe as high as 265 touch and go in the LA Fitness in Uptown, Minneapolis back around 2012. It has been very difficult in the ensuing years to build any of my lifts back up to the levels I accomplished 2010-2012. And now here I finally am on the cusp of surpassing my all-time best.

I've already burst through yearlong plateaus in the past six weeks. But I continue to be amazed by the bench progress the most. When I touch and go bench 275 for a double, I will be confident that I could quickly work up to a paused bench of 255, more than I've ever done in competition. But I really want to keep this cycle going with the touch and go and see how far it can take me.

So amazed that I got 255 for two doubles just two days after I only got that weight for a single. I never thought I'd see such rapid improvements in my bench. I'm adding 5 lbs every other session or so and matching reps. I'm actually thinking of going straight to 260 next planned bench day (the third this week). In fact, I'm thinking of "getting used to the weight" by working up to 260 for a quick single before my next squat/deadlift session in a couple of days. Maybe that will prime me for a double with 260 later...which would mean a solid 10-lb jump in one week..!

This all just proves to me that getting stronger is mostly about having the right hormonal mix in one's system. I am trying no harder than I ever before nor am I eating any better. What has sent my lifts soaring close to (and soon beyond) all-time highs at an increasing clip: non-steroidal, oral, selective anabolics. The LGD 4033 I'm taking has given me the equivalent of an 18-year-old body in terms of muscle gaining and healing properties.

In any case, today I did some pull ups with my fingers on the ledge of the cable crossover beam because I hate those angled grips. Then I did some DB rows, but it seems I'm a little burned out on that movement from the 120 and 125 pounders I used a couple days ago. I tried to play tough guy and get some more bench volume with 245, but that wasn't really happening. I finished up with some proper pull ups on a straight bar in one of the smith machine-like cages.

In a best case scenario I will continue to put on 10 lbs on my bench every two weeks so that I add 60 lbs in 12 weeks. That's 315 for doubles, yo. I would dare not have dreamed of such results before. But SARMs are...maaaaaagiiiiiic...