Willbenchforcupcakes Member

@McCloud33 - one of the coaches is pretty much right there. If I were to get stuck in the hole he would rescue me, but I do better without people right around me. As for the safeties - they are actually bench safeties, not meant to save you at the bottom of a squat. I was just too lazy to move them out of the way.

@McCloud33 - it's been a long road for sure! I actually got clearance to reload medically back in mid November, but with commonwealth having been right around the corner, it made zero sense to reload then. Then nationals were a bench only thing, and I was trying for a position on the national team, so it made zero sense to…

That was smooth! A touch slow but looks wise not a grinder at all! @SideSteel

Fairly firmly scheduled. To the point that when I'm running late the interns at the gym ask where I've been.

Nice!!!!! @McCloud33 Post injury pr!!!! Definitely didn't feel like the first time having this weight on my back for 14 months! https://instagram.com/p/BG5GR-AjLyU/

I adore them, because sometimes I want to work the absolute exact percentage and fractionals are the way to get it.

Whatever my coach tells me to do. Which is the best version of what I ask for. It changes month to month, but it's always based around the big three movements

All of this. Mine has improved through thousands of setups and ensuring every single one of them is identical. For me, I get the contraction in my rhomboids before I even get on the bench. Grind my shoulders into the bench, set my feet into position. My hands go onto the uprights and I try to fold my body in half - head…

This. Look through them, find one that piques your interest and run it. Have fun!

Rest day today and tomorrow. I will be chasing my girls around the playground this afternoon.

Adore it! Need to buy another one tomorrow

Thanks! Felt awesome. Not nearly as awesome as today's let's crush my front squat pr. https://instagram.com/p/BGuUjgfjL1A/

Everyday is leg day for me right now. Volume on any given day isn't crazy high, but it's there everyday. Squats, 1 stop squats, conventional deads, glute thrusts, deficit deads, kettlebell swings, ghetto hamstring curls, and front squats spread throughout the week.

It doesn't bother me in the slightest. I usually laugh at the crazy fluctuations I can see depend on point in my cycle, sodium load and trainin volume. The only time that any actual significance is attached to the number on the scale is the last month before a comp big enough that I have to make sure of making weight.…

Conventional stance pr! I quit pulling conventional ages ago but my coach handed it to me this training cycle. I'm dying laughing over the fact that my conventional looks more sumo than my sumo, and my sumo looks more conventional. The good news is that 70% is feeling like a feather in my hands.…

Way to go! Just seriously, simply awesome! The only thing I really see is on the last couple reps is that it doesn't look like you are rebracing before you squat. But mad props on making it through!

Honestly, I just do my prescribed reps and sets at my prescribed percentages. My coach and I have goals for the next two years and everything is building into those goals. We just had the conversation yesterday that sticking with the plan day in day out produces mind blowing results. I can't wait to see where I am in two…

Powerlifting. I know 88 year olds who still compete in full power, and watched a 91 year old do bench only a couple weekends ago. 75 year olds who took the sport up three years ago and are competitive. I have plans to lift until I physically can't anymore.

Yeah no. Wish I could make my legs big from something like that.

:D :D Today is a well earned rest day here. But itchy to get back in and keep training.

Loving the deadlifts! The caption on Instagram says it all - I'm damn proud of this attempt. First actual grind on the platform after a week that included a full day of spotting and loading, three squat days, two pulling days, two bench days, and dropping 3kg in five days. https://instagram.com/p/BGiKYr_jLxw/

Is that your total bench volume for a week? You want a bigger bench, bench more. Yes I'm a bencher with incredibly bench focused training, but that's not even my warmup. Get on a proper program. Pick something and stick with it. Learn how to set up for yourself. Lots of great teaching videos on YouTube, but fundamentally,…

It's just another day. Yes, I find it helps with the cramps, far more than any medication. And considering my last cycle started between my last warmup and my first platform attempt I don't ever let it stop me.

@JoRocka - niiiiice. I had the same thing happen on every single bench set on Friday. So frustrated by the end. Had bench triples at 77.5kg today, probable opener for Saturday. Decent speed considering I spent all day yesterday spotting and loading for the men's flights at a local meet. https://instagram.com/p/BGVEKW2jL3R/

Technically speaking nothing, as gym access is included in my programming. Programming is $150 a month, and more than worth that.

Shoulders are complicated somewhat delicate areas. If it's been hurting for a week, I'd be heading to a physio for an assessment as to what's actually going on. I've done more to my shoulders than I care to remember, and any time they hurt I get it checked out. Depending on what's going on is what I still do, or just rest…

I arch because the combination of my arch, grip width, and touch point maximizes my strength while minimizing the stress placed on my joints. It's an aggressive arch, but by no means is it extreme. How much you can arch is a function of how lax your spinal ligaments are. I just spent a week watching the best raw benchers…

My trainer when I was still in a commercial gym was good. She got me started again with weights, and I only left her when we had a fundamental difference of opinion on how heavy a deadlift should be. My powerlifting coach now is amazing. Pushes me to my limits and then laughs with me when I manage to pull off the…

Meh. Happens a lot.

This. I choose to pay for my programming because I'm at the point where I need something tailored just to me, and I know if I did my own thing I'd play to my strengths and just let everything else be.