Last heavy workout before Bench Nationals:

Hit the raw work out pretty heavy before going to the shirt. Went
5x315
3x365
2x385 thats a PR
407 (collars weigh 1 lb each)

Put the shirt on and hit 455 easy then went to 485. Hit the rack on the first try. I tightened the shirt up a little then put this one up.

Felt very good about the results. I will do heavy decline on Tuesday and my opener next Sunday and that will be it for training.

Two more work outs until Bench nationals!

Today was the second bench work out since dropping the weight on my chest. I was OK with it but not too impressed with the shirted lifts.

Had to pull some spotters in from the Sunday morning "crowd". This is a pet peeve of mine since I started lifting with gear 5 years ago. I am a regular lifting buddy. This means I show up regularly week in and week out. I help out my lifting partners with advice, spots, and usually some free equipment. So three weeks before a national championship I would think they could return the favor and show up for the work outs. But then I am probably too hard on people and expect too much from them. That is what my boss tells me at work when I complain about the help, of course he says this as he piles more and more work on me from his plate.

Anyway, Sid and Leigh (who are reliable lifting partners)) and I worked shirts on Sunday. Unfortunately the vids of my lifts had problems and were unusable for review. Sid did however get some good vids of Leigh.

Here is a good one of her getting a double at 190

and here is her last lift at 190

Leigh did a total of 6 lifts counting the double @190, this is really good work.

First workout after dropping 225 on my chest!

Very anxious about today's workout after the mishap last Sunday and then how things felt on Tuesday.

I warmed up in the usual manner going to 365 before putting on the shirt. I had Leigh take video of my head to see if and when my head came up.

I started with 435. This went fast and smooth, however just before touching my head came off the bench.


I took about a minute to rest and then tried it again. This time I tilted my head back and looked up and back just like when I am squatting. My head stayed firmly on bench but the bar touched a little low.



Loaded 465 and used the same technique. My head and shoulders raised up a little at the bottom but my head never left the bench. The bar touched well and the weight fired of my chest and locked out easy.

All In all I am very happy with the work out. I am confident that I can lift in Cleveland next month and keep my head on the bench. I am confident that I am capable of lifting enough to take the 55-59 275 class.

My chest was tight and sore this morning but that was to be expected. I am sure that it will recover more every day and my potential will not be diminished.

Notice that I talk about capabilities and potentials. Nothing is ever assured in a contest.

Four more weeks to Bench Press Nationals in Cleveland!!

Training has been going extremely well in the bench press. I have always said that when things look good for a long stretch that you should be careful and keep an eye behind you for a smack in the back of the head. Sunday I smacked my self in the back of the head (figuratively). I was into my second set of warm ups which were close grips at 225. On the third rep I hit the hook on the rack. The bar rolled out of my hand and fell from arms length onto my chest. It hit squarley just above the zyphoid process. It actually hit my chest before I even new I had lost it. I was surprised to say the least and had the wind knocked out of me. I rolled the bar down to my stomach and a couple of gym rats picked it up and put it in the rack. I was quite embarrassed and felt foolish to say the least. I continued on with my work out doing wide grips at 275, 315, and 365.

I put my shirt on at that time and did one at 425. Then I went for two at 425. These went well so I did another double at 425. I bumped the weight up to 455 and tried one. I could not arch and breath at the same time so my head came off the bench and I called it a day.

By Sunday night my chest was very tight and taking deep breaths was difficult. I do not think any ribs were broken or cracked because I could sleep on my sides and back without pain. I figured Monday and Tuesday would be worse. However the soreness has receded each day and my breathing is almost back to normal. I hope I will be able to bench in the shirt again this Sunday.

I have been taking ATP since Sunday. That is adenosine triphosphate which is the substance your body creates when you take creatine and is considered the building block of cell structure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine_triphosphate
Of course my weight jumped up about three pounds to 275 but this will drop when I stop taking the ATP (Same as Creatine)

I also upped the amount of resveratol I normally take.
resveratrol 60 minutes with mike wallace 1 of 2, health benefits
I noted on the supplement store sites that this is a big ingredient in the supplements they market to juicers to repair the damage they have done to themselves while taking anabolic steroids. I figure if it can repair that kind of damage that it ought to be good to go for simple trauma.

Keeping my fingers crossed and hope to still compete in Cleveland, but if I cant I will still go to see and help out my bench pressing family.

I am going to be 60 this January so I cannot make the masters world team with an automatic by winning the ten year class. That is not likely anyway since Brad Klinger is in the 10 year class. So are a bunch of other potentially great lifters. However I am hoping to make a good enough impression to be invited to lift in the 60 to 69 M3 division. I have been training very intensely to give my good friend "Hutch" one last run for the money in the 50 to 59. I put up a bigger weight than he did last year but was red lighted for numerous infractions. 1. Head off bench 2. Rings not covered completely 3. Too sexy and too handsome to be 59 4. Too intelligent 5. Too bald and on and on. I hope "Hutch" is recovered enough to compete after the gall bladder surgery that kept him out of the New Zealand meet.