Hitting goals and setting records

It's a great feeling when you achieve something you haven't done before. At the beginning of this year I was able to crank several sets of singles at 315 on the bench press. That was awesome! Being a few days from turning 48 made it even better.

The most I've ever benched was 325. That was 10 years ago. I've had a number of shoulder/rotator cuff issues since then. I'm happy to say my shoulders have been fairly healthy the last few years and I've been able to push some heavy weights again.

My training weights in the bench press were heavier this year than when I pushed up 325 ten years ago. I was very much looking forward to trying to see what I could do for a one-rep max this year. 340 was not out of the realm of possibilities. Maxing day came and I was sick. I had a head cold and felt awful. Either I could rest and try another day or go ahead and see what happened. 

I knew based on past experience I'm weaker after being sick and I didn't really want risk injury factor by putting off maxing for another weak. My training timing was good and my strength was up, but I had that feeling that it was time to back off the heavy weights for a couple months.

So I went ahead and tried pushing up heavy weight on the day I was sick. I did my normal warm-ups and acclimation sets. 315 still felt pretty good. I wanted to do at least 330 to break my personal best from 2005. The bar went down and it felt good. I got it past my normal stick point a few inches off the chest, but to my surprise I couldn't lock it out. Another attempt was out of the question. It wasn't going to happen that day.

But after "resting" a couple months with lighter weights, I am in the beginning weeks of another power cycle. In about 8 weeks I will be ready to see if 330-340 can be broken. 

Pretty sure I'm gonna do it this time!