Workout Log, 2/6/2010

Well, I was so disappointed in Saturday's workout that I didn't even bother to log it. A week ago I'd tried and failed to bench 420 on the Powertec Workbench. I felt I was close enough that with enough rest and the right nutrition, I could surely do it this week.

I was thoroughly frustrated when I could barely budge it. Not only could I once again not make the lift, but I felt I did even worse on this attempt than the previous. The last time I was just so close to locking out. This time I could barely get the bar off my chest.

The best thing to do here, I thought, was to back off. Instead of going for a new 1-rep max, I opted for exhausting my muscles in another way. I started with a pyramid set on the bench--not the old fashioned pyramid of doing a set at one weight, resting a couple of minutes and then adding 5-10 pounds and performing another set, but adding weight and performing each successive set without resting between sets.

After the pyramid set, I did a drop set, starting at a weight that was heavier than that at which I finished the pyramid. I stripped plates off and performed successive sets without resting between them until I was down to 180 pounds on the bar and could barely perform five reps.

After that I did a different kind of drop set with dumbbells on an inclined bench, dropping the incline with each set and, again, no rest between sets. I also used lighter dumbbells with each successive set to be able to maintain the range of 8-10 reps  per set. I followed the drop set with yet another variation, going from a nearly flat bench to a steep incline, dropping the weight on the last three sets.

For an added twist, I supersetted the dumbbell presses with seated row.

I finished up the workout by supersetting cable flies with just plain old incline dumbbell press.

I'm not sure whether I'll try for 420 again next week or whether I'll go for a higher-rep workout again. Hitting a plateau is a clear sign of a need to shake things up a bit. It's probably time to shuffle the workout line-up and switch to routine B.