Written In Blood - It's a blog: When you go up to come back down

Let me be the first to admit that my bench is terrible. It wasn't until just recently that I even tried to really do the movement utilizing the barbell. I had always saw more capacity for actual strength with the dumbbell method, as you generally have to utilize and isolate all of those little stabilizing muscles to support the effort. So, as it goes, that's what I always did. Then I went through a whole 10 years or so of doing nothing but smoking, drinking and acting in general debauchery. Whilst getting back into it, I find it a little funny that I never cared about the bench as it is what some people call "the lift". I love to tell people things about myself. However, that question, "How much do you lift" is and probably will always be generally related to the bench when coming from people. I never cared to tell anyone, as I don't think I have literally ever maxed the movement out. I never even did the movement in any volume when I was younger. Bench and Bicep bros everywhere are crying right now.

This guy probably benches 405. Squats in the curl rack for irony.

All of these little confessions are certainly showing in the numbers I've been putting up too. As we saw in my previous post here, I started somewhere around a 125 for 5 set. I did the Starting Strength thing for long enough to have to roll of shame out at 170 for 5. Then we had our late in the year direction change to 5/3/1.

So under the 5/3/1 principles, I max rep my last work set. Balls out, high intensity, highest volume I can achieve, one rep shy of killing myself. That's what you do. Looking deeper into it however, I find it to be absolutely amazing how on week 1 of any given cycle I have gained 20% strength, only to see it slip, and slip and slip away. I'll add a couple things here. First, I know I am literally coming off a modified week of "rest" from the deload. Second, I am staying above the grade when it comes to the overall point of the program. That "point" of the program is essentially to achieve slow linear progression with an overall increase in strength. Here's the way it looks on paper. It's really annoying, although it's quite interesting how training in this fashion really hits your body. I am starting this illustration at week 9 overall or Week 3 of cycle 2.

Week 3 - Max effort rep - 190 x 5
Deload - who cares.
Week 1 - Max effort rep - 160 x 15
Week 2 - Max effort rep - 185 x 8

Theoretically 185x8 is better than 190x5, and I know that 160x15 wouldn't of happened 2 months ago.

And, all of those number makes my little graph go like this...

Which, makes my brain hurt, even though we are directionally correct in our strategy to improve the lift, and honestly I feel as though I am much stronger. My issue with the bench now becomes that even though I never cared to have an ego about the bench, the bench started getting Excel files involved.

For those of you that don't know. I fucking love Excel files.