I Benched 107.5 kg in Competition 3-16-08

[ripitupbaby]

WOW, reverse grip...Good Lord!   

[ripitupbaby]

Today was Workout #2 on my light week.  Not feeling great today, felt weak and tired in the gym, and I have that sort of heavy feeling on my chest...I hope I am not getting sick. 

-Close grip BP... 1 set 135 x 5, 3 sets 145 x 5.  Second set of 145 needed a do-over...I tried with wrist wraps, did 2 reps, and hated the way the wraps felt on the close grips, so I took them off, rested, and did the set again.
- Cable/rope triceps 4 sets x 12

No spot or lift off again, it totally screws up my form to do it by myself but that's the way it goes.   

I also did calves and abs. 

 

[Luv2Hurt]

Today was Workout #2 on my light week.  Not feeling great today, felt weak and tired in the gym, and I have that sort of heavy feeling on my chest...I hope I am not getting sick. 

-Close grip BP... 1 set 135 x 5, 3 sets 145 x 5.  Second set of 145 needed a do-over...I tried with wrist wraps, did 2 reps, and hated the way the wraps felt on the close grips, so I took them off, rested, and did the set again.
- Cable/rope triceps 4 sets x 12

No spot or lift off again, it totally screws up my form to do it by myself but that's the way it goes.   

I also did calves and abs. 

 

Keep at it rip baby, don't get discouraged, you can do this! 

[ripitupbaby]

Keep at it rip baby, don't get discouraged, you can do this! 

Thanks Luv Baby.  I am not feeling sick yet, so maybe it was just a bad day lol.

I am leaning towards doing a bench meet next Saturday, November 3.  I will be there anyway, and there will only be a couple of women competing...so I kinda figured I might as well jump into it (RAW) and see where my max is at right now.  I can also video my lifts and check my form, etc.  It'll give me a good baseline for the meet I am focusing on in February.

IF I do it (haven't decided yet), I would do it raw, obviously, since the shirt is not broken in yet.  The only thing I am nervous about is not being able to match my lift from my last meet, which would be slightly embarassing...but people don't realize that I dieted down and competed as a BB since the last meet, and I am just re-gaining my off-season momentum now.
 
Last meet was in February of this year, and I got 175 or 180 RAW, I forget.  Not sure if I'll be able to pull that off next Saturday, but I did get 160 for four a couple of weeks ago, so who knows...I may just swallow my pride and go for it, use it as a learning experience.  I can use some of the tips and advice you guys have given me, and see where I am at.   

[Luv2Hurt]

Thanks Luv Baby.  I am not feeling sick yet, so maybe it was just a bad day lol.

I am leaning towards doing a bench meet next Saturday, November 3.  I will be there anyway, and there will only be a couple of women competing...so I kinda figured I might as well jump into it (RAW) and see where my max is at right now.  I can also video my lifts and check my form, etc.  It'll give me a good baseline for the meet I am focusing on in February.

IF I do it (haven't decided yet), I would do it raw, obviously, since the shirt is not broken in yet.  The only thing I am nervous about is not being able to match my lift from my last meet, which would be slightly embarassing...but people don't realize that I dieted down and competed as a BB since the last meet, and I am just re-gaining my off-season momentum now.
 
Last meet was in February of this year, and I got 175 or 180 RAW, I forget.  Not sure if I'll be able to pull that off next Saturday, but I did get 160 for four a couple of weeks ago, so who knows...I may just swallow my pride and go for it, use it as a learning experience.  I can use some of the tips and advice you guys have given me, and see where I am at.   

Yeah you should, then you can implement some of the things you have learned since last meet.  Plus just doing the comp is like practice, making sure you do the lift right and just over all feeling comfortable with the whole event structure.  The more times you do something the better you get at it....usually LOL   

Not that you would not be anyhow, Rip is ice under pressure 

[ripitupbaby]

Last night was Workout #1, moderate week.

- 4 sets bench 145 x 5
- 3 sets incline DB 55 lbs x 5
- 3 sets DB front raises 15 lbs x 10
- 3 sets Nautilus lateral raise machine x 10

I feel weak this week for whatever reason.  Those incline DBs were a bitch. 

I am gonna try to jump into the bench meet next Saturday, I guess, although I am not thrilled about how my workouts went this week.  I am not doing workout #2 this weekend and will do one bench workout early next week to get ready.

[trab]

Id skip a workout. Ive found, personaly, I can go up to 10 days and not derail a strength run.

Problem is - If somthing comes up THEN  thet prolongs workout longer, I will regress a notch. 

SO, to me, that's the real danger of stretching them out.

If your in 10 days or so of the meet, I bet you could just relax and do stretching and VERY light
form movments and not drop any strength.

Come in super fresh and strong.

Beat down is not strong.
Having that bench groove/ form burnt into the brain and CNS is what counts.

[ripitupbaby]

Id skip a workout. Ive found, personaly, I can go up to 10 days and not derail a strength run.

Problem is - If somthing comes up THEN  thet prolongs workout longer, I will regress a notch. 

SO, to me, that's the real danger of stretching them out.

If your in 10 days or so of the meet, I bet you could just relax and do stretching and VERY light
form movments and not drop any strength.

Come in super fresh and strong.

Beat down is not strong.
Having that bench groove/ form burnt into the brain and CNS is what counts.

I hear ya...I'm gonna have to do a little bit early next week cuz I will go crazy otherwise, and I still don't know exactly what my max is right now.  I don't feel ready for this meet at all, not that I was really preparing for it.
But I have company coming into town tomorrow for the weekend, so it gives me a good excuse to take a few days completely off. 

 

[trab]

Stage fright. Relax. Your stressin'.

Come fresh and find your max.

[ripitupbaby]

Stage fright. Relax. Your stressin'.

Come fresh and find your max.

OK I am stressing a bit lol.  I had an "off week" and didn't feel great in the gym last week.  I went in last night and didn't feel great either...feeling weak.   

I did a brief warmup, and then did some singles with a pause, proper form, etc. to see what I'm dealing with.

-155 got it, no problem
-165 got it, not as easy as I would have liked
-175 did not get it
-170 too tired, did not get it.   
-I also did a handoff with 220 and held it for like 4 seconds...heavy!!

I guess I'm gonna do the meet on Sat, but I'm not feelin' it right now, and I am nervous because I don't have an opportunity to train chest/bench much more before this.  Not really liking those numbers, they are not terribly impressive, but it'll give me a baseline to go with for now, and see what I can do with the shirt for Feb. 08.   

[trab]

http://www.homegymcentral.com/magnum_fitness_bench_press_m678.html

Nice bench here. Tips forward to help unrack.
But also tips back when you liftoff.

[Overload]

You will do fine!

Just have fun, you aren't going for state records just yet! my biggest downfall has been my high anxiety before a meet, just try to have fun. numbers are just numbers at this stage of your game.

Also when you feel run down and weak for more than a week or two, take a FULL week off lifting completely and come back the next week refreshed. train light the first week and move up from there. that is a classic sign of overtraining and even with low volume you can overtrain VERY easily in powerlifting. i take a full 7 days off every 10-12 weeks no matter what protocol i'm doing. it helps alot.

Good luck!

OK I am stressing a bit lol.  I had an "off week" and didn't feel great in the gym last week.  I went in last night and didn't feel great either...feeling weak.   

I did a brief warmup, and then did some singles with a pause, proper form, etc. to see what I'm dealing with.

-155 got it, no problem
-165 got it, not as easy as I would have liked
-175 did not get it
-170 too tired, did not get it.   
-I also did a handoff with 220 and held it for like 4 seconds...heavy!!

I guess I'm gonna do the meet on Sat, but I'm not feelin' it right now, and I am nervous because I don't have an opportunity to train chest/bench much more before this.  Not really liking those numbers, they are not terribly impressive, but it'll give me a baseline to go with for now, and see what I can do with the shirt for Feb. 08.   

[ripitupbaby]

You will do fine!

Just have fun, you aren't going for state records just yet! my biggest downfall has been my high anxiety before a meet, just try to have fun. numbers are just numbers at this stage of your game.

Also when you feel run down and weak for more than a week or two, take a FULL week off lifting completely and come back the next week refreshed. train light the first week and move up from there. that is a classic sign of overtraining and even with low volume you can overtrain VERY easily in powerlifting. i take a full 7 days off every 10-12 weeks no matter what protocol i'm doing. it helps alot.

Good luck!

Thanks.  I think I'm just nervous because I don't feel that I have prepared very much for this meet.  Of course, I just decided to jump into it last week, so that's the deal.  It'll be fun.   

[ripitupbaby]

Hey Guys

I did the bench meet yesterday, and I was very happy with the way things went, esp since I was kind of nervous and not very optimistic.

I managed to do three successful lifts (raw) at 160, 170, and 175.  No red flags.
I came in second out of four women...the woman who beat me weighed 23 pounds more than me, used a shirt, and got 210.  She got one red flag on the 210 lift, as her butt was BARELY on the bench. 

Good stuff.  I am psyched because I am just about where I was at the end of my last off-season strength-wise, and now I have three months to get stronger and work with the shirt.  The meet in February should kick ass.   

I learned alot too....it was a good experience in terms of just watching the other lifters, practicing my form, and taking it all in.

BIG thanks for your support and advice.

I got a few pics of some of the bigger lifters, which I'll post.

 

[ripitupbaby]

The most impressive lifter of the day IMO was this guy, who benched RAW.  He weighed in at just under 250 (248 I think) and benched 520.   
He also proposed to his girlfriend at the end of the meet, which was really cute!  She competed for the first time and had a lot of fun, so that was cool too.

I didn't get pics of this other kid, but he was about 21 years old and benched 605 at 198 pounds, with a shirt.  very impressive as well.

[Stubborn]

Great work, Rip! Work with that shirt and you'll smoke'em!



Congrats

[ripitupbaby]

Here are a couple of the bigger lifts we saw yesterday.  
One thing I noticed is that most of the guys wore bench shirts that seemed a bit big IMO.  No one struggled to get their shirts on, and alot of them seemed to get them on and be pretty comfortable in them.  You can even see some extra material in the shirt, like they are not tight enough.  

I didn't see any struggles using baby powder and grocery bags LOL.  

[ripitupbaby]

Great work, Rip! Work with that shirt and you'll smoke'em!



Congrats

Thanks Lift!  I was happy with how it went.  This is just the beginning.   

[The Squadfather]

any pics of you lifting, Rip?

[ripitupbaby]

any pics of you lifting, Rip?

No, but I did take video so that I could check my form, etc.   

[trab]

Cool,  good job... Now you got time to figure that shirt out.

So, She had 23lbs on you, a shirt and got 210#.


2 wheels each side is in easy reach for you. Just press it with a spot for forced rep.
Learn to just unrack/support it even.  4,5 boards or pins.

Then just keep loosing a board. 4,3,2,
1 board Aint much different than none.

I keep the screw  gun handy and add skinny 3/4" boards sumtimes also.

Body dont notice little changes like that.

[Overload]

Great job Rip!

That should add a little fuel to the fire.

[Luv2Hurt]

Man rip awesome job, you are the real mammy jamber!

That one dude in black has the bar bending even with that wide grip!!  Those plates look beautiful 

[ripitupbaby]

Thank you guys.   

Yep this definitely added some fuel to the fire, I am totally psyched to get into the shirt and get going on pressing some real big numbers. 



















































Expect a post from me bitching about how much I hate the shirt within the next week or two.   

[tu_holmes]

Expect a post from me bitching about how much I hate the shirt within the next week or two.   

As opposed to the other posts you "bitch" on?