The road to 500
 

what up. since im still doing rehab work with my legs im not doing anything special with them so i figured hey i just got back in business with my shoulder so why not start a short term journal. i will dedicate this journal strictly to getting up 500. i think i am honestly there but i have to get my shit straight.

so for now here is the vid i took today. 475 and i failed




now take heed that last week was my first time getting heavy on the flat bench in months.

also yesterday i tried 500 twice and i got it up to the same point i got that 475. but i only got a few hours sleep the night before and i really didnt eat to much all day.


so this is the plan. i will be doing other work with OH press, back and leg stuff but i will dedicate this to all bench work. i will post flat bench, incline and push up work in here. i will try to get all freeweight work on camera so you guys can check it out.


normally i would have been upset since i didnt get it up but as you can see im knockin on the door and maybe if i played my cards right i might have even gotten it all the way.

so now i have a reason to post a little more and i hoe you guys enjoy

a monsta has to eat to be a monsta :)

good luck man.

yeah i know lol. i was thinking about that before i did it but i was like fuck it. ill give it a try.

Dang....that looks heavy. Heck If I hit 375 lbs I'd be happy


Good luck w/ your road to 500

Good work with what you were able to do. Same for the other vids. You're gonna get there, man, I know it, and even go beyond it. I couldn't do 225 on bench 6 mos. ago, and I do it 4 times now. You just gotta stick with it. You know how the game goes. Best of luck!

thanks i knwo how it is. the thing is i feel like i can do it now. just not preparing myself right thats all. usually when people want to do shit they get themselves together. i just up and say "hey im gonna do this today". so it will all fall together.

oh and joker im pretty sure you can get it if you worked at it. your a string dude yourself

Thats crazy man. What are your stats?

5'7 290 to 300. i would say my normal weight is lik 270. picked up some weight when i had a few injuries.

have no clue what my squat max is but i know at one point in time i could squat 315 15 to 20 times.

deadlift i have no clue. not where it needs to be by no means, but that was due to not having a gym and going through injuries. i huge one not being my fault and the rest are from me being an asshole :)

EDIT: my OH press is 315 and up. i probably can do more but i havent tried more yet. depending on the day and what i have done suring the week dicttes how many reps i can do

in the avatar pic i am around 280

Those are some big lifts monsta.

It's hard to tell from this angle but you may want to try and tuck your elbows in a bit. This will def help save your shoulders and give you some more power off the lift. Also if you try and keep your weight on your traps that will help give you a bigger arch and a shorter ROM.

I will try and find the Info that was given to me - and it helped.

i feel you on tuckin my elbows more. dont think i can put to much of an arch in my back though. i was benchin for so long with my feet in the air i just got used to my back being completely flat. also my feet barely touch the ground so i would have to push off with my toes if i did that

Arching the back really helps I find but if you think that you can do it with (and it looks like you will real soon!) then all the power to you. I believe it helps because it puts you in a bit more of a "decline" position which is a mechanical advantage to your body. Or at least thats the way I understand it.

IronWorker

awesome. I can't wait to see the vid of 500.

^^^ Agreed. I had no idea you were this fucking large, Monsta. If you get a lot stronger (as I hope you do) maybe you could dabble in Powerlifting :)

What do you mean alot stronger?! He benches more raw then alot of guys bench with shirts already! I think you could be one hell of a powerlifter if you wanted to.

IronWorker

I was referring to squats and deadlifts. For sure his bench is phenomenal.

Gotcha, I'm sure your squat and deadlift would come up fast. You seem to be a *very* naturally strong guy. Not to say that you haven't worked at it!~

IronWorker

lol well if i can stay in the gym at least 3 times a week for a month straight then i think i will be aight lol. i just wind up doing something stupid and injuring myself which sets me back.


and honestly i have worked at getting strong and things of that nature but it just comes. i really dont have a problem making gains and what not when i am actually in the gym the numbers im doing now is not that far off from what i was doing in high school. i did 405 when i was 17. its just i didnt have access to a real gym for years, and by the time i did thats when i started getting injuries which kept me out even more.


all in all im working on getting my legs to recover and once im fully healed i am gonna work on staying that way, so i can get my leg numbers up. thanks for the support fellas.

should i go heavy twice a week and see where that takes me. or one day heavy one day regular weight. im still gonna try to squezze in pushups. thoughts?


remember i do, do other exercises but i wont post it in this journal because im not doing any specific program due to me rehabbing my legs. so this journal is just for shits and giggles and trying to push 5 beans.

you could do a few sets of heavy doubles or triples...and then do some back off sets just to get some reps in....that worked for me. could do that and a speed day.

What are your weak points? Are you slow? Do you have a sticking point?

uuuummm i dont think i have any week points to be honest. i think my rep speed is cool and normally if i have a weight i want to try i do it then if i cant i do some shit to get stronger then i get it the next go round. later on in the week i will do a pyramid workout so you guys can see my rep speed with different weights

I just looked at the video again. Based on where you got stuck, some pin presses or board presses might help you out. You need to grunt louder also...I could barely hear you. :biglaugh:

hahahahaha. i actually was tryin real hard to sound that loud. i actually never make any noise when i lift but when i seen the video talo posted i started to try and grunt a little bit

Yeah nice one .

I agree with Ross , board should help - and the are cheap. I made 3 sets last year for less than $20. I just leave them at the gym.

I think speed work would help you power through that sticking point. You got the weight off your chest and stalled out half way so that tells me if you could accelerate it a little better off your chest then you would probably have that weight. Just have to keep it moving.

IronWorker

didnt do any benching this week. the day i was gonna bench, my little brother had parent teacher conferences so i went to that so i could see if i had to kick his ass. luckily it wasnt a bad report so he got to live another day :)

i did some pushups on thursday just to get some type of work in. i will bring the cam to the gym next go round. i am debating on whether i should try getting the 475 again. there were a coupel different variables that could have played into me getting it a little over half the way so i may shoot for it again. if i dont do that i may just do a heavy 5x5 with around 365. ill let you guys know and ill bring the cam

I love the way you make them big numbers sound small =D

Can't wait for the vids.

aight. first my dumb ass was so hype i didnt press the button on the cam hard enough when i had it on the self timer so i missed the initial warm up set of 225 for 12. from that point on i got a buddy to press the button for me


so this is the second set which is 275 for 10



this is 315 for 6. you can see i could do more but at at point i felt warm and i didnt want to take away from the initial goal so i stopped


and lest see if i got the 475 this time......................................


afterwards i repped out with 225. well i didnt rep out exactly i just did 20. i felt like i could have done a few more but i felt a headache coming on so i said fuck it



any suggestions on what you feel like i should work on. do my elbows still look to far out? i honestly completely forgot about them while i was doing it. and as you can see i havent really done any work since the last time i tried it. just felt like i didnt prepare myself right thats all.

next time. 5 beans

Haha you should do some board pressing. This video really shows that you would benefit from it. Lookin good :)

I think board pressing would definately help. Looks like your sticking point is like 1/2 way or 2/3 of the way up. Some accessory tricep work like dips maybe or skull crushers.

BTW, awesome work with 475! You make 315 look like baby weight which is ridiculous. lol

IronWorker

you da monsta monsta.

Damn you f'ing beast! :biglaugh:

it is baby weight :) lol just kidding

and thanks fellas. never did the board presses before but i see you guys talk about it. so i might just try it out. i might just try the 500 first just to see if i can get it first. then after that i will try the board presses.

Nice pressing Monsta ! I can see 500 is not far away at all.

I find the elbows are my hardest part to adjust also.

I was talking to one of the guys at the gym and he was telling me that he didn't think that board pressing would be very beneficial if you're not lifting in gear. I thought that was interesting because it seems like it would still help with your sticking point. He said that benching with chains or bands would be more beneficial. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

word. i been thinking about tryign to get some chains for a minute. i think i may work out that being one of my next purchases. and when he is talkin about gear is he refering to the bench suit and all that?

Yep. I actually tried on a bench suit last week and tried lifting the bar. My shoulder comes out of place when I use one...no fun.