Last week's bench session flat out sucked, but it did turn out to be a valuable day. Here's why:
The last three consecutive weeks have been dedicated to shirt work. I've been trying to decide whether to bench in my Ace, which is slightly small, and my Prototype King, which is a bit big.
So in order to nail down an opener, I decided to get one more day in the Ace (which I was leaning toward) and see what's what.
The day was not off to a great start, because after two back to back weeks in the shirt, and squatting with bands the previous day, my arms were shot to hell. Here's how the whole mess progressed.
Bar x a bunch
95 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 1
225 x 1
275 x 1
315 x 1
Added shirt
405 - 3 board
495 - 2 board
585 - 1 board
635 - miss
635 - miss
So I shat the bed with 635 not once, but twice. The first time I brought the weight too high and had no strength off the chest. The second time, I brought it down ok, but was so beat up from the miss (not to mention just being beat up in general) I couldn't lock it out.
So on one hand, this was not a great way to finish out the cycle with the meet in 3 weeks. On the other, I know that this is not the shirt to compete in. While I can hit big numbers in it when everything is perfect, It's just too hit or miss to take to a meet. Granted, I wasn't feeling 100%, but then again I might not feel 100% at the meet either. Plan for everything!
So I will be using my larger King. While it might not have quite the same top-end, I know I can bench consistently in it. If I get two attempts in it and don't think it has enough pop for a third, I might put the Ace back on, just to take a shot at a big third.
So kind of a crap day, but I was able to take home a valuable piece of information that will hopefully contribute to a good performance in a couple of weeks.