KLEEN - STRONG BODY STRONG MIND!

jimbuick said:
Any ideas on where you'll be for bench in the competition?
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As of last time I maxed on bench I hit 365 with about a second pause.
 
Lol count that PR Kleen! I keep track of my rep PRs at each number of reps up to 8 and also each weight. That way If I feel like taking home a PR, I know which one will be easiest to grab up.
 
Going to Academy for some over the knee socks then heading out to Humble to DL with jimbuick.
 
Yeah, that would be a bit of a drive for a workout.


Anytime you come through Houston though, I'd be more than happy to hit a session.
 
Strong pull Chris. Jealous that I couldn't come.
 
You are one strong dude!! Respect !!
 
I think some deadlift-stance paused legpress if you go to the gym once a week could genuinely help that pop off the floor. That and speed singles w like 405 where it's heavy enough to get some transfer under real weight but light enough to just focus on hammering technique.
 
Hyde said:
I think some deadlift-stance paused legpress if you go to the gym once a week could genuinely help that pop off the floor. That and speed singles w like 405 where it's heavy enough to get some transfer under real weight but light enough to just focus on hammering technique.
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Honestly, given how strong his legs are, just cueing to drive the heels through the floor will help a lot.
 
The_Puma15 said:
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Thanks for posting this!!!!
RegisterJr said:
Strong pull Chris. Jealous that I couldn't come.
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Thanks Thomas!
Rocket3015 said:
You are one strong dude!! Respect !!
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Thanks Rocket!
Hyde said:
I think some deadlift-stance paused legpress if you go to the gym once a week could genuinely help that pop off the floor. That and speed singles w like 405 where it's heavy enough to get some transfer under real weight but light enough to just focus on hammering technique.
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I think it might. On my squat day when I go in to the gym now he has me do 3 sets of wide, 3 sets of close and 3 sets of squat stance leg presses to help with that too. Said it should help with the dead lifts and squat carry over.
jimbuick said:
Honestly, given how strong his legs are, just cueing to drive the heels through the floor will help a lot.
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I definitely still think of it as a "Pull" movement and not so much of a leg press away from my body movement. So I think you are also right that once I get that queue down it will make a pretty big difference actually driving through the heels instead of treating them like they are just a base for me to stand on while lifting.

I will get back on here in a bit and update some of the finer points of recent training. Right now I have a few other priorities I need to address first.

For the quick and dirty, Saturday was a deadlift and accessories day. Sunday Chest & Accessories Day, Monday Squat and Accessories day, Tuesday Full body - Hypertrophy & Metabolic focus, and today is my first day of rest. WooHoo for a rest day!!!! I will pop in with some updates from the other workouts later.

Oh yes as of SUnday my weight was down 3.5 lbs. I ended up eating too many carbs Monday and yesterday but the progress is undeniable.
 
Okay, so here is how the recent workouts went down. I will basically give some highlights.

Saturday I did dead lifts and back with jimbuick and The_Puma15 as you saw from the video.

For part of the warm up he put a little weight on the monolift holders so I could get used to setting up on it. Did a couple quick & light sets then moved on to Dead Lifts.

Dead Lifts - I don't remember all of the weights but we worked up from 135, and my last two sets were singles with 500 and 561. Worked on tightening up on the bar and bringing my hips to the bar closer to engage the glutes more. Everything felt good. I was very happy with the performance after the high rep deads and squats the day before.

Fat Bar Pendlay Rows - 135x8, 185x8, 225x8, 225x8, 225x8, 225x6

Neutral Grip Pull Ups - 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7


Sunday - Bench Day
Flat Bench - 135x8, 185x5, 225x1, 275x6, 275x6, 275x6, 275x5, 225x6, 225x6 - ended up with about 2000lbs more volume here by staying a little lighter and completing more total reps with a heavy weight.

Dips - 6 sets of BW +90lbs, 4-8 reps RPE 8.5 - dropped a couple reps the last two sets

Standing Military Press - 6 sets of 135lbs, 4-8 reps RPE 8.5 - dropped a couple reps the last two sets

DB Rear Delt Fly - 3 sets of 20lbs, 4-8 reps, Tempo 4-0-1-0, @RPE 8.5 - lit them up!

DB Side Raise - 3 sets of 30lbs, 4-8 reps, Tempo 4-0-1-0, @RPE 8.5 talk about a burn and massive pump!

Super Set 1
EZ Curl Bar Overhead Triceps Extensions - 3 sets of 85lbs, 4-8 reps Tempo 4-0-1-0, @RPE 8.5
EZ Curl Bar Close Grip Curls - 3 sets of 85lbs, 4-8 reps, Tempo 4-0-1-0, @RPE 8.5

Super Set 2
Triceps Cable Extensions - 3 sets of 120lbs, 4-8 reps, Tempo 4-0-1-0, @RPE 8.5
DB Hammer Curls - 3 sets of 35lbs, 4-8 reps Tempo 4-0-1-0, @RPE 8.5

My arms, shoulders and chest were all looking pretty ridiculous by the end of this workout. I just looked massive!


Monday - Squat Day
Squats - 135x10, 225x5, 315x3, 405x6, 405x5, 405x4, 405x1 - lower back started to get a gnarly painfull pump so I moved on to Leg Press work.

Leg Press - Wide Stance - 4pps x8, 6ppsx8, 8pps x8, 8pps x8, 8pps x8

Leg Press - Close Stance - 8pps x7, 7pps x8, 7pps x8

Leg Press - Squat Stance 7pps x8, 7pps x8, 7pps x8 - will try to use 7pps +25 next time.

Leg Extension - 3 sets of 170lbs, 4-8 reps Tempo 4-0-1-0, @RPE 8.5 Burning like a mofo!!!

Lying Leg Curl - Fully Shortened - 3 sets of 85lbs, 4-8 reps Tempo 4-0-1-0, @RPE 8.5 The contraction on these is just ridiculous!

Cybex Rotary Calve machine - 3 sets of 305lbs, 4-8 reps Tempo 4-0-1-0, @RPE 8.5

Draw Bridges / Dragon Flags - 3 sets, 4-8 reps, Tempo 4-0-1-0, @RPE 8.5 - actual reps 8, 4, 4 - First time I have done these in a very long time. Oh how I love them.

Rope Cable Crunches - 3 sets of 170 x8 - will go up next time but was trying to avoid an oncoming ab cramp that the Draw bridges started.



Tuesday - Full Body Hypertrophy and Metabolic training

Close Grip Bench - 2 sets of 125lbs 20-30 reps RPE 7

Sumo Deads - 2 sets of 145lbs 20-30 reps RPE 7

Secondary Squat Stance - Wide - - 2 sets of 165lbs 20-30 reps RPE 7 - go up

Modified K Muscle Round Dips - 6 RP sets of 4 - 90x6, RP, 90x4, RP, 90x4, RP, 90x4, RP, 90x4, RP, 90x4

Modified K Muscle Round Box Squats - 6 RP Sets of 4 - 295x4, RP, 295x4, RP, 295x4, RP, 295x4, RP, 295x4, RP, 295x4,

Modified K Muscle Round Wide Leg Press - 6 RP Sets of 4 - 8PPS x4, PR, 8PPS x4, PR, 8PPS x4, PR, 8PPS x4, PR, 8PPS x4, PR, 8PPS x4

Modified K Muscle Round Draw Bridges / Dragon Flags - 6 RP Sets of 4 -


That Hypertrophy workout really kicks your ass with the 30-45 second rest periods!!!!!

Yesterday was a much needed day off after 8 days of continuous training.

I have to go to a parents meeting for our Karate School tonight. It is the opening meeting of the Black Belt Summer boot camp Trinity will be in all summer to prepare her physically for the strenuous Black Belt Test. They have some pretty high fitness requirements they have to meet as well as defending against multiple attackers and doing ALL of her Katas from the first one all the way through the Black Belt without really even stopping.

Anyway I digress because I am excited and proud for her. So tonight will be another Dead Lift and accessories night once I finish that up. I am hoping it is only an hour or less so I can get home in time to lift.
 
Impressive sessions. The black belt boot camps sounds like she will have an exhaustive but fun summer. Good luck to Trinity... not that the young warrior needs it!
 
wasme said:
Impressive sessions. The black belt boot camps sounds like she will have an exhaustive but fun summer. Good luck to Trinity... not that the young warrior needs it!
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Yes she is definitely going to be pushed to her limits quite a bit this summer.
 
So last night was almost a wash out. Like literally! It was raining so hard some water got in the garage not enough to damage anything but enough that dead lifting wasn't going to be safe with wet floors until I got it cleaned up. That required it to stop raining. About 8:00 I had all but given up but then the rain stopped about 8:15 and the water started to retreat. So I went out and cleaned up then got started about 9:00.

Dead Lifts - 4 sets of 415x5 then 335x6, 335x5. I am getting better with my form on this. I will shoot some video the next workout. I tried to record it this time but what I leaned the phone up against touched the screen I guess and stopped the recording. So I didn't get any footage at all other than me setting the camera up.

Pendlay Rows - 6 sets of 235x8 - up 10 lbs from last time. Going up next time.

This was all I had time for, and I am will go to the gym tonight and add the rest of the pull movements into some super sets with my push movements tonight after doing straight sets on Bench since it is the main lift.
 
MrKleen73 said:
I have to go to a parents meeting for our Karate School tonight. It is the opening meeting of the Black Belt Summer boot camp Trinity will be in all summer to prepare her physically for the strenuous Black Belt Test. They have some pretty high fitness requirements they have to meet as well as defending against multiple attackers and doing ALL of her Katas from the first one all the way through the Black Belt without really even stopping.

Anyway I digress because I am excited and proud for her.
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Nothing wrong with being a proud papa :D She sounds like am awesome daughter. Hopefully mine will grown up that mentally and physically strong.
 
Sparkss said:
Nothing wrong with being a proud papa :D She sounds like am awesome daughter. Hopefully mine will grown up that mentally and physically strong.
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If you raise her to be strong she will be. Trinity didn't get a choice in the Karate. I mean she was excited to be doing it but she didn't have a choice. She was going to be in Karate until she got a Black Belt at the minimum. Now she will most likely be there until she graduates. She should be a 2nd Degree by that time I think.

I told her before, "I can't keep you from making bad decisions, but I will be damned if a boy will ever be able to physically force you into anything!!!"

She is aware of the predatory nature of this word and some of the sick phucks in it and sees the need for being able to defend herself now. I think next thing is to take her to the shooting range and getting good at it so she can get her CHP when she is old enough to do so.
 
MrKleen73 said:
I told her before, "I can't keep you from making bad decisions, but I will be damned if a boy will ever be able to physically force you into anything!!!"

She is aware of the predatory nature of this word and some of the sick phucks in it and sees the need for being able to defend herself now. I think next thing is to take her to the shooting range and getting good at it so she can get her CHP when she is old enough to do so.
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Awesome, I couldn't agree more with your philosophy.
 
Sparkss said:
Awesome, I couldn't agree more with your philosophy.
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She told me once she wanted to be a Princess. I told her the best Princesses can all kick butt baby. Then played her Shrek with Princess Fiona kicking all of the henchmen's butts with karate.
 
MrKleen73 said:
She told me once she wanted to be a Princess. I told her the best Princesses can all kick butt baby. Then played her Shrek with Princess Fiona kicking all of the henchmen's butts with karate.
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I Love it!!! LOL
 
Oh yeah by the way I got a HUGE compliment from a guy the other day. I was at the gym doing my bench routine and this big guys is staring at me from the other side of the gym. I do a couple sets and then he walks about halfway across the gym really looking at me. I was kind of like WTH??? It was getting a little odd. Seeing that I noticed him, he stops half laughs, and walks up to me looking kind of embarrassed. He was like Hey Man, do you know who Stan Efferding is? I told yeah of course I know who he is. He's a beast. Then he says " I thought you were him from over there, I had to walk up to make sure. I told him no, that he is much bigger / taller than me. He was like "Well from over there you look like him and are built just like him I just couldn't tell how tall you were. So I had to come over to check and that is when you saw me."

He told me he was sorry for interrupting my workout. I told him "Don't be sorry! You just made my day! I will be riding high off of that for hours!!!!"
 
Hyde said:
You definitely have a bit of Rhino going on!
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Thanks, that man is a BEAST! I am hoping to get some more of that look going by taking more of the power building / PL route. I seem to respond really well to the lower reps and heavy weights. I always did best in the 4-8 range when young. It wasn't until I educated myself on what the normal hypertrophy training was that I switched up to more moderate weights and high volume. However I always felt I grew better with heavier more intense training.

The added volume right now I am expecting an explosion of strength and new muscle once we start pushing calories back up some and bring in the PED's. We are working on planning out what will be optimal for me now. I had a pretty generic idea that would work well no matter what. However waiting to see the Coach has in mind for me.
 
Last night I tore the gym up for a few hours. I needed to make up for the pulling stuff I missed Thursday. I ended up getting tied up with some family duties and didn't make it to the gym until about 11:15 PM. I was determined to get caught back up with the programming. I just took pics of what I printed out to take with me. Keep it easy! Yes it is 2 pages worth. :)

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Here is me chilling in the sauna. Well not exactly chillin but getting my relax on after a long workout.
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Now for more of the stuff everyone likes to see.

When I started working with my coach and actually counting things again 2 weeks ago I was 213.5 lbs. This past Saturday I was 210lbs, and as of this morning I am 208 lbs! I am a bit depleted in these progress pics since yesterday was a lower carb day. Plus, I had that huge workout! Pictures aren't taken at ideal times because the wife was in a hurry to get to a morning appointment when I asked her. So I don't have everything tight for all of my poses. Often the abs and legs not locked all the way in yet but I am obviously leaner! I have comfortably dropped another belt hole and I am much slimmer front to back in the waist. My skin is also beginning to loosen up at the bottom of my abs which happens when I start to get lean from having been heavy before.

These first 2 were "relaxed shots" AKA tensed but not flexed
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These 2 are completely relaxed shots
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And these are obviously Flexed shots. Need to get those legs tight but like I said the wife was in a rush. I didn't want her to miss her appointment either.
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Even though the change is obvious here these pics don't even come close to what I am seeing. I am sure this next 3 weeks of cutting I should be looking pretty lean by the time I start my blast and it will only go from there.
 
Sweet progress buddy!! Distant pics never show the detail that we see with our own eyes. The small changes, the new veins and striations.

PS the Kleen shave took a few years off of you!!
 
That is how I wanna look like in a year from now! Great work, buddy!
 
Dma378 said:
Sweet progress buddy!! Distant pics never show the detail that we see with our own eyes. The small changes, the new veins and striations.

PS the Kleen shave took a few years off of you!!
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So much this.

Especially the shave haha
 
nice work
 
Looking good my friend!!
 
Dma378 said:
Sweet progress buddy!! Distant pics never show the detail that we see with our own eyes. The small changes, the new veins and striations.

PS the Kleen shave took a few years off of you!!
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Thanks Daniel! I agree the pics almost never show everything. Yeah I decided to change it up and go with something I used to rock back in the day. When I shaved it I was like Wow I look younger. I am keeping this for a while. :)
hairygrandpa said:
That is how I wanna look like in a year from now! Great work, buddy!
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Thanks HGP!
booneman77 said:
So much this.

Especially the shave haha
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LOL No doubt and thanks!
HokiePride said:
nice work
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Gracias!
Rocket3015 said:
Looking good my friend!!
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Much Appreciated.

Okay so my squat workout was a bust yesterday... I was a little tired all day but took my preworkout and went to the gym to get ready for some madness. Well my warm ups felt great. I hit 315x3 like it wasn't even on my back. I made the jump to 405 and finished my 2nd rep and could barely get out of the hole. I thought maybe something was wrong with my set up so I rested and got back under and set up again. I lowered the first rep and before I even got all the way down in the bucket I knew I was not coming up with it and was going to have to leave it on the safety pins... So I rest and decide not to give up, I drop the weight to 315, and go to start squatting, but the 3rd rep I felt like I was going to fold up into a taco. I put it back up and just shook my head.

I had a decision to make, go home or try for some stuff that was less CNS, and lower back intensive. I decided to push on even though feeling weak and frustrated.

Leg Press Wide - 8pps x8, 8, 8 - was starting to drain even further but at least this was an improvement in weight.
Close Leg Press 7pps + 25 x8, 8, 8 - the last two sets I began feeling hypo, and a little dizzy. I decided to call it after the 3rd set when I needed to sit and recover for about 5 minutes before even thinking of getting back up.

I went home and hit up the coach and he made some quick changes to my program to drop some volume and give my erectors some time to catch up on the new load of work. So he removed a lot of the accessories and dropped me back down into the 22-24 set range instead of the 32-ish set range.

He just set up my upcoming run, and we are finalizing it now. Looks pretty damn good so far. I won't really go into it much here though.
 
One little step back for some big steps forward. I'm confident you'll acclimate to the workload. It just takes a couple months.
 
herderdude said:
One little step back for some big steps forward. I'm confident you'll acclimate to the workload. It just takes a couple months.
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Yes Sir and we did not take out any of the meat and potatoes. Just focusing it on the high yield movements for now. Took out any extra stress to the erectors so they can recover and catch up. After reading everything coach says we just needed to drop the volume and let the erectors catch back up to the rest of my body since this is the most volume I have ever put it through.

I also get an extra meal tonight for a refeed!!!! Probably going to grab a couple Sushi Rolls after my workout.
 
MrKleen73 said:
Yes Sir and we did not take out any of the meat and potatoes. Just focusing it on the high yield movements for now. Took out any extra stress to the erectors so they can recover and catch up. After reading everything coach says we just needed to drop the volume and let the erectors catch back up to the rest of my body since this is the most volume I have ever put it through.

I also get an extra meal tonight for a refeed!!!! Probably going to grab a couple Sushi Rolls after my workout.
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Cant go wrong with sushi
 
MrKleen73 excellent work buddy- f*cking traps and rears are huuuge- great job and looking good
 
christ83189 said:
Cant go wrong with sushi
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No it was definitely the right choice!
smith_69 said:
MrKleen73 excellent work buddy- f*cking traps and rears are huuuge- great job and looking good
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Thanks Brother!
Hyde said:
Spicy tuna and tuna nigiri never done me wrong!
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Yup that was included
wasme said:
Spicy Salmon... for the win
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That too!
booneman77 said:
love me some eel!
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They didn't have it at the store...

I got two packages, one was a mixed spicy roll pack with spicy tuna, salmon, and crab. The other had a tuna and a salmon rainbow roll, and 6 nigiri/ 3 tuna, 3 salmon, and lots ginger. I woke up this morning and looked full and tight. According to the packaging that was about 380 grams of carbs 24 fats 80g protein.

I feel a lot better this morning!

Yesterdays lift was just 3 sets. They were hard working sets but just for some cell swelling and to get some EPOC going. Since only one set instead of 2 for the exercises I decided to go up in weight. It was supposed to be metabolically challenging but not go near failure. So I basically tried to stop about 3-4 reps out from form failure. Before I was pacing myself on the first set to have some left for the next but this time I felt the need to go heavier and make the most out of the set since it was only one for each.

Close Grip Bench 135x28 Chest and Triceps were ridiculously pumped!!!!
Secondary DL = StanceSumo Dead Lifts = 225x20 wow, there are parts in my hips that really let me know they were not used to higher reps at this weight.
Secondary Squat Stance = Low Bar Wide Stance Back Squats 215x15 - Since i had to stop before failure I did not make it to 20 reps. My hips were pretty toasty from the 2 wide stances that I typically don't work in that often. These really displayed a weakness that we will crush.

Even though this doesn't look like a lot of work I went straight from Bench to Deads with about 30 seconds rest, then ripped 2 of the 45's off, cleaned it up to the squat j hooks tossed the weight back on and did my squats. So by the end of this I was huffing and puffing like a freight train. We will work the volume back up a little once I am recovered.
 
Wow yesterday was pretty busy not much time to update anything. Tuesdays lift was Dead lifts, I really enjoyed it. I won't go into all the detail there. Just the basics of what was done in an effort to save time.

Dead Lifts - Work sets - 415x6, 415x6, 415x6, 415x5, 346x6, 345x5 - felt pretty good will go to 425 next time I think. Here is a video of the 2nd or 3rd set. Getting my hips lower now and staying closer to the bar. Coach wants me to try and get my hips down just a tiny bit more and he thinks that will make a good bit of difference.
[video=youtube;tQEyVdLDNPg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQEyVdLDNPg[/video]

Hammer Curls 40 x 3 sets 4-8
Overhand BB Shrugs 365x 3 sets 3-6 reps
Weight Ab Crunches 3 sets of 4-8
Leg Raises 3 sets 4-8


Wednesday - Push Day

Bench Press 285x5, 285x6, 285x6, 285x5 - back off sets 230x6, 230x6
Video of the 2nd and 3rd set of bench -
[video=youtube;ExLGuMMadbg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExLGuMMadbg[/video]

Weighted Dips - 90x8, 90x8, 90x8, 90x2, 45x8, 45x8 - shoulder got a little stiff on the 4rth set, so I dropped the weight to finish clean. I will probably shorten the ROM a bit as you can see I am going well below 90 degrees.
Set 2 video clip -
[video=youtube;RvawLLGXB1A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvawLLGXB1A[/video]
Set 3 Video clip
[video=youtube;tYpKaL8VOOk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYpKaL8VOOk[/video]

Standing BB Overhead press - 145x 6 sets 4-8 reps - these got hard and dropped a few reps on last few sets.

Rope Triceps Ext - 8 plates on machine (140ish) x 4-8 reps 4-0-1-0 tempo x 3 sets - My plates on the machine do not have weight indications on them so not sure what the exact weight was.

Also saw this the other day while getting dressed to go outside and work out. No pump, no carbs just so I was really happy to see some new vascularity.

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jimbuick said:
Yeah, you seem to be keeping the bar in much tighter to your body now.


They looked damn good in that video!
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Thanks Jim, going out there and working with you helped a lot!
 
Oh yeah, he also told me we needed to work on my leg drive in bench after seeing these videos. If I am moving 285 for 6 reps in multiple sets with no leg drive I must have a good bit on the table once I get leg drive corrected and locked in. I brace with my legs but apparently don't drive / explode with them. Old Bodybuilding style bench pressing still creeping into my form. Makes me wonder how close to 405 I can get on bench once I get that corrected and start peaking.

Obviously for most everyone who has benched 315 before, 405 is the next logical long term goal. I have wanted to do it for years and years just never trained directly for strength until now.
 
405 is definitely on the table for you at some point, no doubt. Good legdrive can be 10% of your bench.

I don't think your hips are too high as much as you need to focus on flexing your lats tighter and bracing harder as you force your hips into the bar. And if your toes are straight ahead, flaring them ever so slightly will help you engage your glutes better and drive your hips through harder. Still, they looked very easy for you!
 
Oh, buddy. I hit 345 in late 2012 with good speed and people started mentioning 405. I'm still on that long and lonely road today. Last year I killed 402 in a meet but I violated a rule and racked before I was commanded to. Suffered a pec tear on the lift which set me back many months. I'm finally ready to hit it again, almost one year to the day later. Leg drive is definitely key, post vids next bench day and we'll see where you need to work.

Edit: saw that you posted videos just now. Your deadlifts were strong. Looks like you lined your shoulders up a little bit behind the bar which is what caused you to tip forward and your hips to rise. I like to start out shoulders in front of the bar and pull back. I feel it gets my body heading in the right direction. You can see what I mean in my most recent meet video. If you'd like to see it, I'll link you to it. That and a little more lat tightness and you'll be more efficient.

You've already improved technique greatly in just a few short weeks, these are just small things I'm catching after watching it on a loop for five minutes.

On bench, your leg drive is pretty good, I'd just close your toes to inside of 45 degrees and drive toward your head. The dynamic leg drive is more effective if you pull the bar down into your sternum as you drive your chest up to the bar. Hard to impart let drive force into the bar If it's barely touching you. Your foot positioning reminds me of Casey Williams, a stud 540 bencher at 242. If you can see some of his older videos before he made his leg drive more static, you'll have a better idea of how to execute it.
 
Hyde said:
405 is definitely on the table for you at some point, no doubt. Good legdrive can be 10% of your bench.

I don't think your hips are too high as much as you need to focus on flexing your lats tighter and bracing harder as you force your hips into the bar. And if your toes are straight ahead, flaring them ever so slightly will help you engage your glutes better and drive your hips through harder. Still, they looked very easy for you!
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Thanks, yeah there were no grinders in that set. Just getting the volume in. Will work on the lats, I noticed I wasn't getting quite as tight but since starting from a better position I was still able to keep the bar much closer to me.

herderdude said:
Oh, buddy. I hit 345 in late 2012 with good speed and people started mentioning 405. I'm still on that long and lonely road today. Last year I killed 402 in a meet but I violated a rule and racked before I was commanded to. Suffered a pec tear on the lift which set me back many months. I'm finally ready to hit it again, almost one year to the day later. Leg drive is definitely key, post vids next bench day and we'll see where you need to work.

Edit: saw that you posted videos just now. Your deadlifts were strong. Looks like you lined your shoulders up a little bit behind the bar which is what caused you to tip forward and your hips to rise. I like to start out shoulders in front of the bar and pull back. I feel it gets my body heading in the right direction. You can see what I mean in my most recent meet video. If you'd like to see it, I'll link you to it. That and a little more lat tightness and you'll be more efficient.

You've already improved technique greatly in just a few short weeks, these are just small things I'm catching after watching it on a loop for five minutes.

On bench, your leg drive is pretty good, I'd just close your toes to inside of 45 degrees and drive toward your head. The dynamic leg drive is more effective if you pull the bar down into your sternum as you drive your chest up to the bar. Hard to impart let drive force into the bar If it's barely touching you. Your foot positioning reminds me of Casey Williams, a stud 540 bencher at 242. If you can see some of his older videos before he made his leg drive more static, you'll have a better idea of how to execute it.
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Yeah, I feel like 405 is in reach some time in the near future (12 months). Not sure it will be at this meet but it is a nice goal to work toward. My gym PR for bench with a slight pause is 365 right now and would be pleased with that in my first meet. If I can hit maybe 385 in the meet after the peaking cycle and everything I will be ecstatic. If tweaks to form and a good cycle can take it beyond that even better. However I am not going to stress it and just work for the best I get and be happy with the outcome knowing I did my best.

I am going to go look up Casey Williams and check that out. Oh yeah throw a link up to your meet. I would love to see it.
 
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