Congrats on the PRs! All your lifts looks great, even at max effort.
Great effort on your squats, nailing those grindy reps is so satisfying.
I don’t have much to say about the bench, as that’s a lift I’m still trying to figure out for myself!
Deads looked perfect. Beltless, max effort work, and no form was sacrificed in the making of your PR. You managed to keep everything tight all the way through the lift, which isn’t easy. I usually start to fall apart as I pass mid shin with a max effort conventional dead.
Also, you’re looking strong and I’m envious of your garage gym.
Thanks man that means a lot. I am happy reall, I know I put in tonight because sitting here now everything is starting to hurt !! I know what you mean about working out bench, I still don’t arch much or use leg drive efficiently. Lots more technique work to come for me.
Gym is in neighbours garage, he runs his PT and triathlon coaching business from there. I get to use it in the evening when he is not working for free. I am a lucky sod!!!
Well done man! Any gain is good gain. And bench is a fickle mistress for me as well. I’m plan to hit it with more volume, with variation lifts ( floor press, incline, dumbbells, football bar, close grip, spoto, board presses, JM presses). I never get sore in the chest. I want to find the bottom of the muscle belly.
Thanks mark, weight hasn’t moved too much but I think there is a little extra of something there. The lighting in my gym must be perfect for calves posing because I’m pretty sure they don’t look that good in real life!! But I’ll deff take the compliment (that will make me feel good for weeks).
You summed up my thoughts exactly when you said add 5kg every 11 weeks. If i can keep doing that and stay healthy then maybe one day i will be a little bit strong!!
Woke at 84.6kg was expecting this to be low after training yesterday. Had a terrible night sleep, was buzzing and sore from training and couldn’t fall asleep. Woke up very very dry this morning. Body feels surprisingly good given the effort last night. I have to travel for work next week so will do a deload next week and the do 1 cycle of 531 BBB before I go to Bali for 2 weeks.
Great lifts! I can understand how you feel with “small” PRs but a personal record is still a record.
We’ve all been exposed to @losthog’s 40+ lb PRs so a 5 or 10 lb jump seems small. You’re making steady progress every time you get to this point and you’re only training twice a week. I say you’re winning!
@littlesleeper@MarkKO@strongmanvinny2@painter27@Koestrizer@Frank_C and everyone else who wants to chime in. Do you think it’s worth adding a belt and seeing what impact that has. I’ve been back on the gym 2 years now and everything has been beltless. I figured I’m not really lifting heavy enough to put it back on. Thoughts / comments ??
Yes it is If you want to maximize performance. A belt is a tool to lift more weight and in some instances be a little safer (although not the main purpose).
So it isn’t something that you have to use but it can help you lift more weight which seems to be your main goal.
Very much depends on the person using it, I guess. For me it helps the most in lifts were the load is axial on me if that makes sense (overhead and squats).
For squats 25-30 kg for overhead 15-20 kg probably. For deadlifts it is a lot less, maybe more like 10 kg but still noticeable.
