I am competing September 16 at an RPS meet at Rivercity barbell in Newport, Ky. This training cycle I've had a few set backs here and there, lately, I've trained my upper body a little less frequently than I typically would have and I'm starting to feel a lot better. We will have to wait and see if the strength holds up.
For this Max Effort work I was fortunate enough to head to the legendary Westside Barbell to train. I have been a fan of the sport of powerlifting and everything Westside has done for the sport for years, so needless to say I was excited for the opportunity.
We benched with a neutral grip bar to 2 foam "boards". The idea was to let the bar sink to your chest and be explosive off the chest with the weight.
Neutral grip bench:
bar x10
1 plate x10
1 plate/25 x10
2 plates x 5
2 plates/25 x3
3 plates x 2
365 x2
405x1
425x1
I felt really good with this bench and liked benching to the foam boards. I don't know if it was the excitement of training at Westside or what but I felt strong and was probably good for another heavier rep.
We used 275 for a drop set- I ended up doing 25 reps. I am know for not locking my reps out if we're doing more than a couple reps, and I got called on it a few times in this workout, so I made sure to lock out every single rep with a quick pause at the top.
Accessory work:
Tricep pushdowns standing using the lat pulldown 5x20
Chest Supported rows (different grips) 5x20
Pec Deck reverse flys 3x20
It was a great experience to train at Westside. The guys I trained with were all great training partners, I am definitely looking forward to going back again. The only negative is that is 1.5 hours from my house.