Impromptu Deadlift PR

Today's session was bench press and deadlifts, without anything specific planned for deadlifts.

To bury the lead, benching went well...I worked up to a legitimate pause @ 285 lbs., which I think would have been a good lift in a competition setting.  I followed that up with 205/14, which is a 15 pound increase over my previous 14RM and a 5 pound, 2 rep increase over my previous 12RM.

On to deadlifting....425 felt super easy, so that made me think that I'd pull 500+ today. 465 flew. 505 was solid enough that I decided to load the bar with 535. It went up surprisingly fast. My PR at this point was 546, so I decided to put 555 on the bar.....and it was good for a 9 pound PR!

I had a goal to hit a PR in something by my 46th birthday in late August, so it's awesome that the goal was achieved with a lot of time left.

Maybe a bench PR on the horizon?

Nice Bench 5RM

255/4 (4RM), followed by 255/5 (5RM).  After doing two more sets of 3, I hit 265 for a 4 second pause.  I've been benching essentially every workout these days and my body is continuing to respond. Maybe this is the year I finally hit 300. 

Huge Trap Bar Deadlift PR

Haven't tested this in a while... last PR was 551 in November 2021.

Today, I was good for 590!! That is the most weight these hands have ever held.. pretty cool.

285 Pound Paused Bench Press

The 285 pound paused bench press attempt was successful tonight, good for 9 more pounds than what I managed at the competition two months ago. Not too shabby.

I also hit 350/4 with SSB squats, which represents a modest 4RM.

Two Rep Maxes

Bench: 225/11 (tied 11RM)

SSB Squat: 340/7

Random Things

Bench: I just completed a cycle of Smolov Jr. to get my bench press kick started again.... ended up getting a pretty fast touch and go 280. I'm going to try a paused 285 next week just for fun. I've learned that I respond to high volume,  so I am going to keep it up for a few months and then see if I can maybe get that elusive 300...... 

Deadlift: I've been playing around with hook grip lately and pulled 520 the other night. I like how the reps feel over mixed grip with the exception of how much the thumbs hurt at the top. Multiple rep sets are especially painful. If I am going to quit mixed grip, which I think I am, the happy medium will be doing multi rep sets with straps and singles with hook.

Squats: Hit a SSB PR tonight @ 405.

Planks: been doing a 2:00 minimum plank every day for the last 4 days.... going to "keep it continue", as Sammy Sosa would say, for the foreseeable future.

Goals.... hit a PR in one of the big three by my 46th birthday, which is August 25.

Competitions......considering one in November, but too early to say for sure.

Recent Rep PRs

I've had a few rep PRs on various exercises over the past couple of weeks:

Squats: 365/7

Incline DBs: 70's/20, 95's/6

DB Shoulder Press: 85's/4

Trap Bar Deads: 530/4