First Powerlifting Comp - Bench

Squats are done and dusted and I am in the middle of warms ups for bench...well me and the other 20 or so in my flight! Despite only a single bench in the warm-up area  its surprisingly  orderly.

I am pretty pumped from the squats but have had time to calm the nerves while the heavy weight boys get their squats in.

As before I am second on the platform but my opener is ridiculously light. I am more nervous re the press command and want to avoid the stupidity of missing my opener as I did on the squat. Out on stage I feel quite relaxed get set and then down to the chest...press command and up it goes.

Everyone appears to get their opener comfortably, at least from our team. Second attempt I have incremented the weight 5kg and again it goes up comfortably. I am still 13kg shy of my best attempt in the gym.

It's clear before my last attempt that I need more work on my bench. I am still not in the groove: each lift feels different bar path set up etc and my strength has certainly suffered from only benching 1 day a week.

Final lift comes up and I am shy 5kg of my previous PB, however worth noting my gym lifts were touch and go so it's pretty evident I am not practicing the pause in training like I should be.

I get the lift of from Paul pause and press...it goes up to the sticking point bout 6-7 inches off my chest and the damn thing is stuck there like stone...I press like a fucker but despite my effort even I can hear the MC in the background calling it over.

Two out of three lifts in the bench but far below what I hit post my last Smolov routine. The one thing about competition you just can't hide and all your little training flaws are magnified on the day.

Couple of things I noted down to improve on are, lots more pause reps on my working sets and my assistance work should be deadstop sets from the sticking point. I also need to get some technique analysis then stick to a pre lift routine and try and stay in the groove.

Time to take a Gatorade, eat a little and rest up before I commence my deadlift warm ups.

Stay Strong
Thomo