mspuzz
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by mspuzz on Feb 5, 2011 13:49:52 GMT -5
Hello everyone, last May I competed in my first ever single lift/powerlifting meet in the 220 weight class in the 40-44 age group. I did well for my first meet with a 336.2lbs. lift winning my age/weight class as well as setting the New York State record in my age/weight class. On March 19th I plan to compete in my first ever full power meet. I never really squated seriously until about a year ago and I NEVER deadlifted in my life, so my numbers are low, but they've come up nicely for me. I never singled before today and I got 380 in the squat and 380 in the deadlift as well. Like I said, not great numbers in general, but good for me. Anyway, my problem is my bench. I've stagnated and could not get 335 up today. I simulated a meet in the gym and opened with 315, which went up very easily, however, the 335 died on my chest. I couldn't budge it! I rested quite awhile and gave 335 a go again, but could tell it wasn't going to go, so I stopped about 2 inches from my chest and did 2 reps in that fashion. the lockout is no problem, rather easy actually, I just can't get the Duckies weight off my chest. Any suggestions would be great.
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Post by jimsteffen on Feb 5, 2011 19:44:10 GMT -5
mspuzz, I would not worry about it. You probably need a week where you lift about 60-70% of your max doing explosive (fast) reps. I have currently been having the same problem. I think sometimes the lifts are going so well physically we forget the mental prep and the week working at a lower intensity seems to help. Your #'s on the squat and dead are doing just fine. We can't compare our #'s to geared lifters. Their raw totals are way below their equipped totals. Keep up the good work. Jim
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Post by zekester on Feb 6, 2011 13:42:43 GMT -5
Try pauses on the chest for 3-4 sets of 5-6 reps with like 210 lbs and add 20 lbs each week for 4 weeks...
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mspuzz
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by mspuzz on Feb 6, 2011 19:19:55 GMT -5
Thanks guys, I'll give your suggestions a try.
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Post by chancey on Feb 7, 2011 12:11:22 GMT -5
Good comments but remember it’s a lot easier to be good at one thing than it is at three. The bench more than likely will suffer some but it doesn’t mean it’s a hopeless situation. You just need to figure out how to make it work and stay healthy (particularly the shoulders).
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Post by George on Feb 22, 2011 23:41:10 GMT -5
Right on Chancey...the squat will add more to your shoulders wether you realize it or not. In stabilizing the squat bar, you are technically holding a bottom position of a shoulder press throughout the movement.
If you do not think the squat is doing it, I would also recommend working pauses into your routine. I rarely do reps over three or four, so I pause every single rep that I do as if its a meet condition.
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2011 13:07:21 GMT -5
I've found by doing face pulls and plate raises my off the chest weight has went up.
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Post by 5bjohnny on May 8, 2011 19:39:10 GMT -5
I've found by doing face pulls and plate raises my off the chest weight has went up. Oddly enough, those worked for me too! As well as lateral raises with dumb bells. Something about direct shoulder work seemed to just work for me.
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Post by wjkipp on Sept 23, 2011 15:18:58 GMT -5
I work my shoulder once a week. It seems to help my bench a great deal.
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