And now, onto the things.
I successfully completed a strength block. This block lasted roughly 4-5 weeks, with a retest at the end of it. A strength block means lower volume, heavier lifts. I kept most of my accessory work in the high rep range, but made a conscious effort to push myself on the amount I was pulling/pushing. My bench progress stalled out during strength, which kind of sucks, but to be honest I'm over it. I'm okay with bench press remaining my weakest lift of the three major ones. I'm sure this is partially to the times I've failed lifts and couldn't get the bar off my chest. For me, that's scarier than missing a squat or not being able to pull a deadlift. Being physically under the bar face-up is already daunting. 98% of the time I lift without a spotter. I've learned to leave the clips off the bar when I bench--this way, if I do need to bail, I can easily tilt the bar in one direction to slide the weights off. Haven't had to do that just yet, but it's important to lift smarter before going heavier.
I slowly progressed my weight on squats and deads until I felt ready to retest. A retest means you are intentionally going for a (hopefully new) 1 rep max. Initially I wanted to retest all 3 main lifts, but due to varying circumstances I only retested my squat for this cycle. I've started a new program specifically to increase my deadlift(thanks to megsquats for the free program), so I wanted to wait on that one, and my bench(as noted earlier) is kind of stalled at 100/105. In this cycle I will finally retest my max on that, but for now I'm focusing on slow increases and solid form.
Retest day was super exciting for me. I went to work that morning already in dork-mode, visualizing my warm up and thinking about how much I wanted to shatter my old maximum number of 185 lbs. I ate smart for breakfast and lunch, and even added in an extra poptart with my afternoon coffee before driving to the gym. I ended up taking large jumps with my warm up sets--it's hard to make the body instantly attempt a new max without a climb to it. I started with a few reps of 145 and hopped to 155, then 165, 175, 180, then 185. Then I slid plates on to attempt a new max.
190.
I hit pause on Spotify and slid my armband off, not wanting any distractions. There was a little voice in my head, an annoying one, that said "hey it's okay if you don't hit this. No one will care. No big deal. Shit, don't even try." This thought was tiny but neon in my brain. I am, however, my father's daughter and stubborn might as well be stenciled on my forehead. Having that little voice around made me want it even more. I was going to do more than try. I was going to lift that shit.
So I did. On my back, down and up. 190 pounds. In the moment, I know I could've grinded out 195, but I was so over the moon about 190 that I stopped there. My goal has been 200 for months now, and I'm ten pounds from it. Easy. I was so excited that I immediately texted various friends and my sister. I was grinning for the duration of the drive home.
After my retest, I jumped right back into hypertrophy. I'm not on week 3 of this new cycle. I've moved the chains--doing high reps of heavier weight than my last high volume cycle, which is the point. Progressive overload. I think this one will be 8 weeks, maybe 10. Then another strength block, then another retest. I'm enjoying the hell out of this process. That's what matters above all else. Of course I want to progress, want the numbers to increase, want the gains to continue. But what's the point if it isn't fun? It requires commitment and I try my damnedest to make every session worth the sacrifice of time and effort. So far, so great.
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