Last weekend included a pretty good squat and bench day.

Sunday was a speed workout with two cool twists.

The first was the elimination of the box. I feel like lately the box squat has not been reinforcing my free squat technique as much as it seemed to in years past. Plus, I have the new canvas suit that I still need work breaking parallel in, of free squat was the plan. The other twist was that rather than choking the bands like we normally do, I doubled an average band under the moonlift frame, kind of like we do for mini bands in the bench. This not only gives me way more tension at the top (probably about 300 with just the average) but also gives me a ton at the bottom of the lift where a choked band tends to give very little.

After warming up, I did a single at 240, a single at 290, then 4 singles at 330.  That was all I needed. this was TOUGH, and it's time to start thinking about getting healthy, rather than just beating the hell out of myself every week.

 

Monday's bench training was something I've done only once, but I liked it when I did it. It was a full-range shirt bench with 5 chains on each side. The chains total around 200lbs, so this lift works the hell out of my lockout.

The last time I did this, I got to 495. This time, I made an even 500 for a 5lb pr before shutting it down.

The craziest thing about this day was that for the first time in my life, I used a false (thumbless) grip with a shirt. The reason I did so is because I've been having a big problem with over flaring my elbows at the top, which has been making me hit the uprights and lose lifts. I thought that the thumbless grip would make it easier to keep my elbows tucked longer.

And you know what? It worked... like, really well. Even with all the chain weight my elbows snapped right into lockout at the top with no trouble at all. It felt a little strange in my hands, but I never felt at risk for a drop.

I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Lesson to be learned here... every once in a while you have to question why you do or don't do certain things. Trying the alternative once in a while may surprise you. I had always felt that a thumb around grip was safer because it would prevent a drop. But when I really think about this, It doesn't hold much water because if 600lbs is coming down on me, it'll just break my thumbs on the way down anyway. I feel like thumbless might be safer because it allows e to maintain a better position under the barbell.

Better late than never, I guess.