Bent press, programing and bench selection
I did my first ever bent press with a 28kg on November 29, on December 16 I did five single with it. That is allot of increase in 17 days, and only 9 sessions! Most people would say "good for you! great progress!"... But when I go over the log (and the way my body feels) I say "mmm... It depends...".
I follow
@Iron Tamer's
Bent & Sinister program form
Taming the Bent Press. Being a (sort of) derivative of S&S I believe it is a park bench program, and this is how I saw it when I started flowing it. This where it-depends doing it's thing. From a park bench point of view I should have progressed at a lower pace.
While I waved intensity and volume during this time (which enabled the progression) I feel that I took the programing into bus bench territory. So am I saying that bus bench programing bad?? Not at all! It's even great when done properly. But it's about bench selection and approach. I wanted to sit on a park bench, and than went to the bus station... The programing did not fit the... program...
When that happens it get hard to asses the program, your progression and where you are regarding your goals...
So, what's next?
First, I'll take a week or two of bent pressing to clear my head.
Than, since I have the tendency to look for parks near the bus station (read: being inpatient) I should probably move to a neighborhood without buses. I need be smart enough to follow a program I trust with as little options as possible, so I can focus only on lifting. What is simpler than Bent & Sinister?? Taking away my decisions of load and reps
I'll flip a page in
Taming... and do
Justafied Singles with 20kg bell. It's 70% of 28kg, and also the not-over-70% for a 32kg as well.
More thoughts
The 500lbs. deadlift thread made me want to go back to deadlifts. I'll use John McKean's
EES program from
Easy Strength. 3-4 times a week, use 70% on the bar with light band, do 5 explosive singles. I'll use 80kg on the bar. I want to remove option and use only 20kg and 10kg plates. So it either 80kg or 100kg, and my 70% is definitely not around 100kg.
Pavel's variation on it was to also add a heavy single or two with higher load (and no band) when things grooved properly. I'll see how that goes. Big plates only.
I'll keep winging and snatching if I can recover from it. Will not use the "challenge" bells for a the first two weeks (will use 24kg for swings and 20kg for snatch). Re-asses in 2 weeks.