THURSDAY - BENCH
Treadmill 20 minutes
Warm up
Bench 325x5, 365x3, 410x6 *missed 7, 410x7, 325x15
Bench close grip with shoulder saver pad and legs up 315+4 chains x8

FRIDAY - CONDITIONING
Treadmill 40 minutes
Airdyne 30 minutes

SATURDAY - CONDITIONING
AM
Treadmill 40 minutes
Airdyne 20 minutes hiit
Rolled out on softball
PM
Treadmill 40 minutes
Med ball big circles 3x10
Med ball side wall tosses 3x10

SUNDAY - SQUAT/DEADLIFT
Warm up
Safety Bar Squat 315x5. 365x3. 410x7, 315x15
Trap Bar Deadlift 325x5. 365x3, 410x10, 325x15
Back raise 5x13
Various grip pullups 10x3
Plank and side pland 5x30 seconds
Treadmill 40 minutes

I set myself up for success on Thursday. I accommodated training earlier in the week knowing benching would be a day early. I got plenty of heat on my body and jumped on the treadmill for 20 minutes before warming up. I had a light sweat going by training time and I was feeling good.

All the warm up sets felt light. My top set was 410. Last month I got it for six reps. I am six pounds lighter, but I still wanted that seven. However, it was not to be. I should have been satisfied being lighter, yet still matching reps. Nope, I wasn't buying it this week. I knew I had it in me. After Karsten and Anthony took their sets, I told them 410. There were no questions asked. I was going for it again.

On the first set I hit the safety rack on the way down for the sixth. You know what that means? I wasn't meeting the bar. That's crap. I am better than that. I told Karsten to remind me to meet the bar. Sure enough the big man was in my ear and I nailed 410 for seven. Now that's how you do it. Your not going to read about that in some programming book or online article. That's just pure SFW attitude. Digging deep and doing something that theoretically should not be done.

After, I had to run to meet my Dad for Christmas Mass at church. so I had to cut assistance short. That's ok though, the real work had been done. Man, I am so happy with that rep pr.

Between Thursday's bench and Sunday's squats and deadlifts there was lots of conditioning work. I figure I have the time. Plus I am less active being off from work for break. In addition I stretch here and there as well. I'm going to use this time to just keep getting my body better. That's not going to happen by accident.

Squat and deadlift this morning went great. Last month I hit 400 on the safety squat bar for three with some left in the tank. This time I got it for seven with a few left. Deadlift was five last month and it was ten this week. Considering the back, hip, and biceps issues I have, I don't push these exercises. The RPE is probably around eight to eight and a half. Can you say big rep pr's!

All of the core work with swings, back raises, ab work, med ball tosses, massage, stretching, rolling, etc is clearly working. Of course it's stuff I don't notice day to day, but by increasing my reps by over 100% for the squat and deadlift in a month the proof is there. I could not be happier with the results I am getting.

Hard work pays off people. Train hard and SFW