That was different.

Based upon Paul Carter’s Strong-15 (LRB365)

• Bench Press – cycle goal: 245
  • bar x 5
  • bar x 5
  • 105 x 5
  • 120 x 4
  • 140 x 3
  • 155 x 2
  • 165 x 1
  • 175 x 1
  • 185 x 1
  • 145 x 21
• Incline Press
  • 115 x 10
  • 115 x 10
  • 115 x 7
  • 95 x 10
  • 95 x 9
• Flat Flye
  • 40 x 20
  • 50 x 20
• Pushdowns
  • 50 x 20
  • 50 x 20
  • 50 x 15
  • 40 x 20

I haven’t flat benched in months. Felt a little weird getting back into that saddle, remembering positioning and such.

Regarding my grip width, I tried pinky on the rings. That was better on my elbows, but still something was there. I’m going to go back to ring-finger on rings next week and see how things fare. Meantime, I still kept pinkies just inside the rings on inclines, and that was fine.

The AMRAP set surprised me — 21 reps… and I basically stopped because form was breaking down, not bad, but enough to say “eh… stop here, leave a bunch in the tank”.

All in all, not bad. I didn’t know where weights would be for the assistance work, so I made reasoned guesses. I’d rather get the reps in, even if that means dropping weight on the later sets (vs. straight sets). Keep the rest periods on the assistance work short (minute).

I didn’t do flat flyes. Instead, there’s a “pec deck” type machine at the gym. I figured I would give it a try to see how it worked. Way too light of weight. I did like how it helped ensure a full range of motion and no “cheating” because elbows bend. But one thing I get out of actual supine flies is some stretching and nice upper back adjustment. So who knows… this is just assistance work, not going to sweat it too much.

Anyways, really looking forward to how this Strong-15 cycle pans out as the weeks progress.

Oh… in other news….

My iPhone blew up.

Literally.

I had an old iPhone 3GS. I hadn’t used it in a long time and I guess the battery drained (bad). I tried charging it a few days ago, it got to 50% before the plug was pulled… then overnight went down to 30% despite doing nothing. Odd. Then in the gym on Monday it shut off a few times and I could never record video. I figured maybe the full-drain was the problem. So I figured to do a full-charge before trying again.

Well, yesterday I was charging it for today… then heard this loud POP.

Seems the battery decided to expand… literally “blew up” to almost double the size! So much pressure it popped the case and basically tore the phone apart. Well, that’s the end of that! Ended up dismantling it further, tearing the flash chip apart and cutting up the SIM chip, then dropped it all off at Batteries Plus for disposal (nice service they offer).

Anyways, the point of that phone was to capture video of my lifts. But well… that won’t be happening. Sorry Deb. 😉