Dufisthenics

So today was my heavy bench press day at the gym.  I had felt pretty weak last week, my first time benching since my mom passed. This week on my 1 rep test lift at 225 I didn’t struggle as much so I figured I would bump right on up to 235 pounds, without a spotter.

So I locked in, came down and almost immediately could tell my left side was failing as I tried to push the bar off me.  I immediately started looking for the lower set of safety hooks which I was high enough for on the right side but not on the left.  I already knew this meant an embarrassing situation where I will be psuedo stuck under the bar and have to roll out awkwardly, hoping no one sees me.

Well imagine my surprise when the bar’s downward progress on my left side stopped unexpectedly, short of the floor, leaving me enough room to roll out from under it without making a peep.   When I looked to my left I could hardly believe what I saw.  One of the 45 pound plates was perfectly balanced on top of my water bottle.  I was amazed first at the slim odds of the water bottle being at the right spot at the right time.  Second, I couldn’t believe the bottle supported the weight.  After I lifted the bar off I inspected the bottle closely, not a crack or a dent was to be found. Wow.

After feeling very fortunate at first, I resumed feeling pissed off for not being able to press 235.  I dropped down to 225 and did another rep before doing two more sets at my body weight.  To make sure my chest was well obliterated I threw in some push ups and incline dumbbell chest press action.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 225lbs x 1, 235lbs x fail, 225lbs x 1, 185lbs x 8, 185lbs x 7, 135lbs x 15

25 push ups

Dumbbell incline chest press – 50lb dumbbells x 10, 65lb dumbbells x 8, 70lb dumbbells x 5

3 minutes A2G hold