Fri Feb 25 Shirt Bench
bar x reps
135 x 10
225 x 5
315 x 1
put loose shirt on
405 x miss
Last Friday I injured my right bicep at the elbow trying 510, 515 and 515. I had the rack height set too low and had to work hard twisting the elbow to get the bar in the right position at the hand off. At the end of the session, a cord through my elbow felt like it was on fire like a match was under it. this scared me. I iced it and had it massaged several times. Tried some raw bench Tues and it didn't hurt. Today went raw and it was fine even with the 315, so I felt very relieved for that. But, with the shirt, it was good half way down and then it put the pressure on the tricep and seemed like it pulled the tricep away from the elbow. I felt the burning sensation again, asked the spotters to take and swore out of frustration. Chris and Carmine took the weight off me immediately and saved it from getting worse. So, I was happy that it at least came down half way before hurting and I will ice it and have it worked on as much as possible and will plan to not bench in my shirt next week and just give it two weeks to heal. It is frustrating because I want to bench heavy and can't. So, my goal for next week is two reps with 315 lbs. I am 6 weeks out from doing a full power meet.
Shawna wasn\t planning to put on her bench shirt and was thinking instead to take it easy on her shoulder and let it recover more before going heavy. After her raw work went up so easy we decided to put the shirt on and go up to whatever weight she could until it hurt. As usual for her, as the weights got heavier, her bench looked better and went up easier. So, we loaded 285 and she brought it down slowly, then threw it up like it was 135 lbs. It was a PR for her but also the easiest looking bench at that weight I'd seen her do. With that she wanted to stop there, but I convinced her to go 300 and put it in the books, because it looked like tonight was the night. She brought it down slowly then an inch off the chest she started back up because she felt that spot that would have pushed the shoulder and didn't want to go there. We looked at her shoulder and it was red and swollen again. It's always hard to decide how far to push and when to hold back. She keeps going to the edge to find it and because her head is so strong. And, its really frustrating for her to have to hold back when she wants to go for it. So, next week we will have to hide her bench shirt and take a week of easier bench, maybe.