Bench: 111 x 1/115 x1/112.5 x 3 x 1
Push Ups: 2 x 20
Inverted Row: 2 x 15
DB Curl: 2 x 15
Band Push Down: 2 x 20
Comments:
I was feeling very good going into this session. After Tuesday's deadlift PR, my confidence was running high. I was aiming to hit 115 for a double, which would have made for a very small PR and given me some confidence to hit 120 at the meet. Instead, I struggled to lock it out for a single.
The reality of the situation is this: my bench has gone nowhere in nearly 12 weeks. It's actually regressed, as there is no way I could rep out 107 x 5 (even TnG). This is profoundly demoralizing for me and not how you want to be heading into a meet. I'll speak to Jordan and see what he says, but right now I'm at a loss. The only thing I can think of is that the my bench should have been based off my paused max and not my TnG max. I asked Jordan about this at the beginning and he said it shouldn't matter too much and if I had to shave a few kgs of here and there then to do it (which I've done the whole time). However, you would think that my bench would at least increase a little after all the volume and then the deload - but the fact is it hasn't.
And the thing is, I've been training long enough to know when I'm getting stronger, you can tell when that adaptation has occurred or is occurring. I could tell with my deadlift the whole time pretty much. And yet, my bench and squat haven't once felt stronger.
I just want to move forward, try to learn something from this (though I'm not sure what that is yet) and resume getting stronger.
Dude, I was just thinking this the other day, same problem, but with different lifts. I can tell when my bench is getting stronger, and now finally squats (hit 157.5KG x2 last week, clappies ) but no bueno for deadlifts. Some days feel strong, some days weak, but no gradual feeling of gaining strength. I have no idea why, and it's not for lack of trying. I keep waiting for some thing to click, some weak link to be made stronger.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I leant from my unsucessfull crack at 5/3/1 is that I can't take a deload on bench or strength drops straight off. Maybe you got the same problem?
Yeah I know what you mean man.
DeleteMy bench is certainly my most stubborn and frustrating (read: pathetic) lift, however I made good progress on it last year while doing TM, specifically while running singles across on the Friday like KSC suggests. Granted that was TnG and I was probably bouncing it slightly as it got heavier, yet my 5x5 was going up COMFORTABLY and I COULD FEEL MY BENCH GETTING STRONGER.
This time with Jordan F's block periodization, I could FEEL my bench and press getting weaker after about the second week of the transmutation block. I told Jordan F this and he said the whole point of that block was to overreach and supercompensate after a deload. Well, that hasn't happened for my bench.
So yeah, it frustrating as all hell. I'm waiting to see what Jordan F has to say and what he would maybe do differently next time. I've already picked another meet to do after this one in November and I'm determined to bench 125 there.