well done man. keep those numbers climbing.

No doubt Dave! :)

DE BENCH: Fantastic day. Instead of speed bench, I worked up to a 1 RM. I did 5 x 3 between 225-275 fast, then acclimated with 315 x 1, 350 x 1 before gunning for 405. BARELY hit 405! Got halfway up prefect and started to stall. Then, and only then, my spotter used two fingers to make sure I made it. He said only about 5 pounds of pressure because he was worried that it may fall back to my chest. This means 395 I'd hit on my own without a spotter touching. Pretty stoked about that!

Strict standing OHP's again for the first time in 3 weeks. 205 for a 3 x 5. Felt a little tough maintaining form. Felt a little off balance. 210 next week which would put my past my old 3 x 5 PR of the 205.

Slight decline DB press with 115 (1 x 10, 1 x 8) ss w/ weighted pullups with a 35 lb DB (2 x 5). Pulldowns for 2 x 10, then chest-supported rows for 3 sets.

Ended the day with arms. This time I did 3 sets of incline curls (45's) ss w/ rolling DB triceps extensions (45's). My arms were so pumped I thought my skin was gonna tear.

Weighed in afterwards at 257 lbs :D

holy fuck. your weight 257 lbs??? FUCK!! dude: FANTASTIC!!!! looks like Matt Reynolds is really paying off, huh?

i am wondering: are u gonna participate in any competitions? like once u feel u have reached sufficient strength to compete? think ur gonna do that?

peace

Sentinel

BTW, last time I tried a 1 RM of DE day I nailed 385 x 1. So I did obviously progress from last time. Another 4-5 weeks and I'll own 405-415 free and clear. I am very happy about being so strong off my chest though! That's a weak point for A LOT of people. My sticking point is halfway up with 405, so that's hardly anything to do with chest, and more delts/TRICEPS.

So what does this mean? This means I'm gonna keep on trucking with 2 - 4 board presses, go heavier/harder on my ME triceps exercise on ME Bench day (4 board, JM Presses, Reverse band work), and floor presses. This ME day I got Incline Barbell for a 1 RM (gotta beat 315 :D), then I need to focus on my sticking point.

I talked with Matt already about this and we think that doing three week cycles RE Bench and DE Bench will be very beneficial to drive the weight up further. So starting next week (for the next 3 weeks), I'm doing RE Bench and ME Bench...Then the following 3 weeks back to DE Bench and ME Bench. I think it'll be fantastic working in some 5 x 5 bench instead of speed bench every 3 weeks. It'll certainly drive up my speed bench numbers with some added size to boot. :weights:

OHP's are gonna be killer though following a 5 x 5! :D

Thanks bro! I'd certainly love to if I can CUT weight!! :D I don't hold a candle to guys at my weight IMO. I still haven't trained in a shirt/suit yet, so I still have quite a long road ahead!

I DO plan to stay 100% natural though. I really cannot see a need getting any bigger, and my continuous strength gains Matt himself has said is "unbelievable". 17 weeks without stalling on a single lift is no small feat, with a lot of credit going to not biting off more than I can chew as well as OVEREATING! He remarked that I'm very good at pacing myself, and there's no deload in sight so long as I keep kicking ass.

^^^wow....

but u havent answered my question: u gonna compete?

I think he said if he can cut weight.

I don't know if you have posted this somewhere, but are you taking any supplements ? I know you eat a shit load.

Anuj, I still have a long way to go before I can compete. I'm too much of a competitor and detest losing. I don't do anything with sports for fun. I only play to win.

- Whey Protein
- Waxy Maize
- CEE
- Primal EAA's

That's all she wrote.

DE SQUAT/DEADLIFT

Banded box squats were super fast. 245 lbs on a box that's about 1-2" below parallel. 8 x 2 TIMED 45 seconds between sets. SLDL's standing on plates I got 295 for 3 x 8 w/out a belt. These were VERY difficult. Next time I'll do 315, but with the fucking belt! My lower back had that awful painfull pump from hell throughout the whole day.

Still got through my DB swings ss w/ weighted hypers. Had to lessen the weight from last time because last week I did banded speed deadlifts vs. what I did today. 90 lb DB's for the swings, and only a 25 lb plate for hypers.

Increased my reps for banded abs pulldowns. 3 sets of 15, 2 sets of 10 reps. I'm starting to hold my crunch a lot longer and elongating my negative for my first three sets.

Calves were the same as previous. DC style for 12 reps.