1 Week out from States

Well here we are 1 week from my first competition GPC state titles. I think I have learned more in the last few days the most of the last few months.

My final bench session was yesterday and after the high of my squat PB the fall was equally as swift. Basically I bombed my 2nd attempt which is 95% of my 1RM. I had 3 decent cracks at it and each time hit my sticking point and then nothing.

Quite concerning at the time was that I couldn't really work out what happened. After taking some time to check my logs its pretty clear all the experimenting I have been doing with foot position and particularly hand spacing has taken effect. When I hit my most recent bench PB my hand-spacing was a minimum 3 inches wider so its not surprising now to hit that dead spot yesterday with the narrower grip.

Interestingly as well on this program I have had less volume on the benching and I think that has been a real eye opener. When I ran the Smolov junior I knocked out a 10kg PB in 5 weeks and the volume felt great. As a result I will in preparation for Nationals  run more volume on the bench, in fact I may run a slightly lower volume Smolov.

Overall I am feeling pretty excited for States. While the strength doesn't feel there for bench my Deadlift and Squat are now running okay. Next Sunday is all about getting the nerves out, experiencing the commands while out on the platform.

The plan for this week is to get some thin lifting shoes for the deadlift and spend time learning to wrap my knees in case there are no teammates free for this during the comp.

The team is going through there openers tomorrow night which should be interesting though I have hit all of mine in the last 3 days.

Lets bring it on!

Stay Strong
Thomo