2% now available again

I'll take 0.5% more.

Hi, have $4.5k dollars available at spot. Would need to collect around London. Please pm if interested.

Pressing seems to be really strong at the moment. Bench accessory day yesterday and got 3 x 7 speed bench press at 95kg then 3 x 7 narrow grip paused at 90kg.

It all seemed really easy, almost too easy, and I'm wondering if it was a lighter bar than normal as it was a bit narrow and felt a touch flimsy.

Assuming the bar was standard I think I'll be up to 100kg on both of these pretty soon which I'd be really pleased with.

Awesome numbers. Out of interest, what are the benefits of the speed press for it to work effectively as an accessory to the primary movement?

'Speed kills sticking points'

It helps develop power, plus its a good psychological break as well as you get to go a bit lighter/less reps and really 'manhandle' the weight.

Interesting, thanks.

Was looking forward to my leg session after the highs of last week but sadly it ended up being anti-climatic. I got jelly legs at my first 110kg squat set and didn't feel strong enough to progress further. Ended up doing 3x5 at 110kg (and not the strongest/deepest reps by any means) before calling it a day. Racked up 120 and tried but it felt super uncomfortable on my shoulders and i didn't trust my legs to do it. I've never failed a squat and i'm not comfortable doing so for the first time with that much weight on.

Deadlifts were similar. I got 120kg up with ease but 130kg didn't even move an inch this time.  

It felt like a bit of a waste. I always train legs on weekends but this time i'd left my session for the evening which was after i'd been out of my feet for much of the day. Probably didn't eat enough/close enough to my session either. Haven't lost heart but will be preparing better in future.

Pressing seems to be really strong at the moment. Bench accessory day yesterday and got 3 x 7 speed bench press at 95kg then 3 x 7 narrow grip paused at 90kg.

It all seemed really easy, almost too easy, and I'm wondering if it was a lighter bar than normal as it was a bit narrow and felt a touch flimsy.

Assuming the bar was standard I think I'll be up to 100kg on both of these pretty soon which I'd be really pleased with.

Awesome numbers. Out of interest, what are the benefits of the speed press for it to work effectively as an accessory to the primary movement?

I have to drop to 0.5%, so someone can take my other half. Hope that's ok. I'm going to send on Stars this week.

I'll take it

Decent day today (wrote my days out wrong, so repeated the squats from last week)

3x5 Squats 120 (felt like there was a 6th on every set)
4x8 Lunges 60kg (didn't feel as good as last time)
3x8 DB Press 40kg (actually felt quite strong but each rep was tough at the end)
4x10 LPD (one of those days where every rep I feel it in the lats. Probably had about 4/5 of those days in my life)
3x8e Cable OAR (really nice contraction with this one)
4x12 Cable Flye

Very impressive stuff. Heavy lunges after squats sounds like hell.

How long does a session like that take you? I struggle to spend more than 45mins in the gym before I'm hating life.

Unfortunately I left my session late today so was more rushed than I'd have liked. Hit some good numbers though

Got to 5 reps of 120kg on the squat rack and felt much, much better than last week. Having already done 120kg made a big difference mentally despite being a big weight for me as I knew I could do it. Just the 1 set at that level, I probably would have attempted at least one more if I'd had I had the time.

Then 2 reps of 125kg on deadlift which is a new PB for me. It flew up as well, again just didn't have time to try heavier though! I did 5 reps at 105kg prior but if I go heavy then I find it hard to get more than 2 reps in. I'd love to get 1 DL rep at around 145kg by the end of the year, new target for me.

Glad to see everyone is smashing it, great vibes in this thread right now

Good start to the week training wise, and been on a walk both days and should get one in today too.

3x5 Lunge 85kg actually felt the best out of the lot in terms of this 3x5 series I have done. I don't think I will be at the 100kg this time around but it seems a lot more achievable than it did when I was doing 60kg

4x8 Squats 95kg, again 100kg here seems much more achievable than it did when I was back at 80.

That was Monday, with some accessory work. 4x10 DB press at 36 and 3x6e OAR at 50s

Yesterday was one of the best days Ive had in ages. Wanted to go beltless for rack pull as was going to go for 190 3x5. I did one at 190 and felt so good I went straight into 210. Aimed for 3x5 and got 5/4/3 but that was grip instead of technique. Just completely opened on the last rep of each set.

Chins for BW 4x8 too which was really good and then 4x8 on the leg press at 200.

Definitely felt really strong the last few days and most importantly felt the skill was high. Long way left of the week yet! 

Really incredible stuff lately, awe inspiring.

Having benched 3 weeks in a row my PT kinda insisted we hit dumbbells for chest today, and I didn't want to disrespect him by suggesting otherwise lol. Great session though, he pushed me hard and i peaked at 4 reps of 30kg each side with no assist. Deffo a PB  

Nice work there mate. Did they feel quite stable or are you still a bit wobbly?

I seem to remember not too long ago you were pressing around 20kg and struggling with those as they were all over the place.

Clearly a huge improvement.

Yep definitely. This time i felt significantly more stable and in control. Was pretty wiped afterwards but still managed some incline sets at 24 which used to be the weight i was all over the place at. I bet this improvement is down to accessory work which i barely did before and probably also the recent increase in my squat. Would never have thought the 2 movements were so linked if it wasn't for this thread.

Having benched 3 weeks in a row my PT kinda insisted we hit dumbbells for chest today, and I didn't want to disrespect him by suggesting otherwise lol. Great session though, he pushed me hard and i peaked at 4 reps of 30kg each side with no assist. Deffo a PB  

[I think people really underestimate how full body it is]

Glad I posted that, cheers for the advice! Makes sense that as a beginner I'll gain no matter what I do, but yeah if I want to bench more probably the best thing to do is bench more. Increasing my numbers is def my primary goal atm.

Seeing him today so will let him know what you guys have said. We're doing a back session which I'm starting to think I can probably do on my own. Might be worth the £17 just to get me through the door after work though.

I think bench is one of the hardest technical movements too, outside of OL. I think people really underestimate how full body it is. So practising the motion is going to be huge. But you're right, as a beginner you are just going to grow by going. The problem lies when you become an intermediate/advanced and haven't nailed the movement pattern and you just hit the brick wall.

Completely agree with this, I've seen huge differences now that I'm able to recruit more muscles in to each press.

Currently really working on leg drive which involves glute activation as well. When I get a rep just right it absolutely flies up so I'm determined to groove the movement so that it sticks on every rep.

I have one heavy bench day and one technique day. Technique day actually hurts more as I'm using so many other muscles which aren't used to being activated whilst lying down.

Definitely found this interesting. When i'm struggling to force out a bench rep i tend to find my feet lift off the floor. Gonna have to think about trying to use them which in turn will keep them firmly grounded.

Speaking of bench, we pyramided up then i did 3 reps of 65kg independently plus 2 assisted reps of 70kg. Was very fucking hard but it's progress. 

That's just your body trying to recruit more muscles to help out. If your feet were planted properly they wouldn't move so more muscles would contract and you'd have that little bit of help that you need.

There's loads of great bench press videos on youtube and these are the best in my opinion:







Set half an hour aside and watch them all. Once you've watched them al re-watch the first video about set up and just focus on that and your bench press will improve.

I watch these regularly and particularly before a bench session. I just pick one particular element and focus on that, you can't fix everything in one session so just one or possibly two things per session is fine.

Thank you so much for these vids Matt. I'll be hitting the bench today so will make sure I watch them all before I head in.

Decided to give 120kg squats a go yesterday. Got 2 reps fine but struggled and very nearly toppled forward on the 3rd rep! Scary shit. I got it but regardless going take it a little slower from now on, you won't see me experimenting with 130 next week

My deadlift is also 120kg lol. Tried 130 but it didn't move.. Would love to get 145 out at some point this year, that'd be about 2x body weight for me.

Everyone in the thread seems to be smashing it right now which is sick. Personally I've never looked better or felt stronger than I do right now. PT was one of the best decisions I made this year for sure.

Really good day with DLs today.

4x8 at 150kg. last rep I bowed out at 7, but didn't use the belt at all. I always feel my form can get a bit sloppy with the belt so looking to go beltless for as long as I can.

All the accessory work went up to. Trying to add in two 1h walks a week, but the weather isn't on my side, and Im not about the walking in rain life, I realise how millennial that sounds.

Vegas is looking unlikely now which kinda sucks, but if I cant looking to go away in July for a long weekend, so really looking to push towards then. Not sure how much progression I will get weight wise, but will go for it as long as I can. I think I will finish at 82kg, so the numbers I am putting up now I would absolutely love at that weight. I haven't weighed in this week, so not sure where I am at.

4x8 at 150kg is just phenomenal.

[I think people really underestimate how full body it is]

Glad I posted that, cheers for the advice! Makes sense that as a beginner I'll gain no matter what I do, but yeah if I want to bench more probably the best thing to do is bench more. Increasing my numbers is def my primary goal atm.

Seeing him today so will let him know what you guys have said. We're doing a back session which I'm starting to think I can probably do on my own. Might be worth the £17 just to get me through the door after work though.

I think bench is one of the hardest technical movements too, outside of OL. I think people really underestimate how full body it is. So practising the motion is going to be huge. But you're right, as a beginner you are just going to grow by going. The problem lies when you become an intermediate/advanced and haven't nailed the movement pattern and you just hit the brick wall.

Completely agree with this, I've seen huge differences now that I'm able to recruit more muscles in to each press.

Currently really working on leg drive which involves glute activation as well. When I get a rep just right it absolutely flies up so I'm determined to groove the movement so that it sticks on every rep.

I have one heavy bench day and one technique day. Technique day actually hurts more as I'm using so many other muscles which aren't used to being activated whilst lying down.

Definitely found this interesting. When i'm struggling to force out a bench rep i tend to find my feet lift off the floor. Gonna have to think about trying to use them which in turn will keep them firmly grounded.

Speaking of bench, we pyramided up then i did 3 reps of 65kg independently plus 2 assisted reps of 70kg. Was very fucking hard but it's progress.