Squat and Bench Press PRs
Test week has come and gone, and I'm delighted to report a 170kg (375lbs/26.7st) Squat PR!
Up from 162.5kg set at the start of March. Over the last year that's 10kg added - I'll take that considering my recent back tweak and being (mostly!) in a calorie deficit.
Nice surprise on the Bench Press, thanks to copious amounts of ibuprofen, wrist wraps, and elbow sleeves that meant the low expectations due to navigating some bicep tendonitis were exceeded with a 105kg (231lbs/16.5st) Bench Press PR!
Only a 2.5kg increase on the previous PR set last year, but happy enough with that considering the discomfort from the bicep tendonitis. Think the new elbow sleeves are making a difference, both by compressing the tendon and keeping it warm, so hope that it's on the road to a full recovery and I can push a bit harder going forward.
But, couldn't break the 202.5kg (446ls/31.8st) Deadlift off the floor, so failed to complete the set, unfortunately. Reinforces that I was right to pull the 200kg 6wks ago - some days you feel it, and some days you don't in these analog bodies of ours.
Been through 2 of these Low Fatigue training cycles now. Increasing strength whilst being in a calorie deficit is still mind-blowing to me, but I still tend towards the "bad" habit of pushing too hard and accumulating more fatigue than necessary, so I'm really gonna try to be more disciplined and keep firmly to the "less is more" adage going forward.
Total for these 3 main lifts has gone from 455kg/1003lbs to 475kg/1047lbs - was delighted to get through the door of the 1000lb-club on the run-up to my birthday last August, so good to consolidate that this year too, but hoping for better returns in this next year as I get more accustomed to this training style.
Really glad test week is over, as it was kind of boring. Completed a grand total of 8 reps and barely broke a sweat - didn't even go a single walk to save everything for these PR attempts. So, really looking forward to getting stuck into a new cycle on Monday that'll test around Halloween.