5/4/11- DE Bench and what I learned from my first meet.

DE Bench
225# - 8x3, trying to put my feet out in front of me again, this is about the 4th time I have changed my foot placement but multiple people have suggested it so I will give it a try. The weight moved good today.

Floor Press
135 x 8
225 x 8
245 x 8
245 x 8
275 x 5
315 x 5 with slingshot

Fat Bar Tricep Ext.
4 x 8-10

Pull Ups ( first 2 sets against a mini band)
4 x 6-8

Reverse Hypers
4 x 8

Moving forward with training I will be making a few adjustments.

#1- Bench
This is by far my worst lift and I am going to address this in a couple of ways.  The amount of pressing movments that I do need to go up. I will start doing more floor presses, dumbbell work, and board work for accessory movements. I felt that I didn't have nearly enough volume getting ready for the last meet.
Also, I need to learn the shirt. I will be putting it on at least once every 3-4 weeks and I am going to try to do board presses. I havent used boards with the shirt yet, but want to try it to see if it will help me learn the shirt.
Lastly but probably the most important weakness I have is tricep strength. The increased volume will help this but I will also be doing at least one overload type set with the sling shot everytime we do a bench movement to try and handle heavier weights and improve my lockout.

#2- Deadlift
I felt good in the deadlift in te meet and 620 was a 20# PR (I pulled 600 in the gym). I gave 650 a run but just didnt have the starting strength. I will be going back to doing more deficit work off of mats and boxes. I have done this in the past and it really helped my deadlift, I got away rom it training for this meet and I am not really sure why.

#3- Squat
I dont feel I need to change much in my squat training. We will be doing alot more reverse hyper and glute work this time around, adding some sets on our upper body days. This is something AJ Roberts talked about doing for his last meet when he broke the world record. I also may add in more belt squatting for accessory work to increase leg strength. This exercise has always kicked my ass and I feel I need todo alot more of it. I was very happy at how our circa max work went and don't think I will change much.

The one thing that will help all 3 of these lifts get better, is for me to get heavier. I cannot stay at 260 and compete in the 275 class. I need to get as close as I can to275 by August. This doesn't mean eating like shit and becoming a fat ass. I will stay in good shape at the same time. I know this won't come overnight but I need to be concious of this everyday.

Already got goals in mind for the next meet.
800
500
650