Press PR, Deload Week, Sunday, August 30, 2015

I was supposed to be taking it easy this week. I was thinking of doing absolutely nothing for a full seven days. I should have known better than that.

For three days, I didn't want anything at all to do with barbells, a sure sign that I needed a few days off. But today I felt the urge building up this morning and by afternoon I was back on the bench.

I swore that I wouldn't squat. Then I decided that I would just squat way below my max for low volume. Just like I was doing for bench. I worked up to a heavy bench (the most I've done in years, actually) and instead of trying to get more singles with it, I just called it a day and mosied on over to the squat rack.

8.30.2015/Sun
Bench Press, touch and go (paused first and maybe second rep up to 225)
45 x 10
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
245 x 1
255 x 1
260 x 1
Back Squat, high bar, squat shoes, sleeves till 315, light wraps at 345 (first rep paused up to 275), NO BELT
135 x 6
225 x 4
275 x 3
315 x 2
345 x 1
STRICT Standing Overhead Barbell Press 155, 165 x 1
Front Squat, squat shoe, light wraps 275 x 2 x 2

Bodyweight: 186 lbs in the afternoon after brunch

The big news is that I very strictly pressed 165 overhead while fatigued from benching and squatting. I'm pretty sure that is a 10-lb personal best. 155 felt heavy but manageable so I upped the weight. It was slow through the sticking point, but I was able to maintain form because I had a lot of speed out of the bottom. It was slow through the sticking point but smooth and there was never a point where I wasn't sure I'd get it if I just stuck with it.

I think it's so very important that anyone reading this note that I don't practice the overhead press at all. I throw it in to test it every two or three weeks. I get all my press volume from the bench. Yet my overhead press keeps going up though I only do 1-3 reps with it every 10-20 days between my back and front squats.

My right shoulder is a little dinged up now in the same way it was before. I'm sure it was because I paused my first bench reps on the warm ups and I lost a bit of tightness at the bottom of those paused reps. I fucking hate paused benches. Despite how much other people praise paused work, pausing has only ever slowed my progress. The stretch reflex is an important component in getting stronger. Pausing is something only very strong people need to bother with. It will just slow down the average bro trying to get his bench from 135 to over 225.

I only bother training the pause at all because if I ever compete again, I'll need to do it for the bench. The fact is I haven't bothered pausing yet my bench has just recently jumped almost 40 lbs. And lo and behold, my paused strength has increased along with my touch and go strength. Fancy that.

I did pause the first rep or two on my squat warmups today, but that was because my quads are still a little sore and I wanted to ease them into the heavier weights. As usual doing squats after benches meant a 5-10% reduction in my squat performance. I suppose it's just as well, though, since I didn't want to go too nuts on the squat today. I just didn't want a whole week to go by without getting 315+ on my shoulders.

Note: back squats are way harder on my quads than front squats.

Anabolic Supplementation Plans 

I've stopped ingesting LGD-4033. This is my second day without taking it. I'm taking TestUp, but I am very curious to see if my strength holds up and continues to improve over the next few days without my anabolic aid. I'll reinitiate ingestion in another 5-7 days. Even then it will take a couple of weeks for the results to show.

I'll be keeping the dosage to just two 4-mg pills per day. It seems I start getting testicular atrophy with three pills. But two pills definitely keep the mass and strength gains coming. I'd like to get to 260 x 2 x 2 on the bench by Friday and maybe even 475 x 2 on the deadlift before I even start up the LGD again.