https://www.instagram.com/p/BuWtEX3lI04/

I was gonna go for a 1 rep max on bench and I failed. I tried to attempt a 155 lbs. bench today and couldn’t do it. At least I can lift 150 lbs. twice, though. I’m thinking to myself, “Why did I miss the 155 lb. bench when I did it lots of times in the past?” Am I getting weaker? Am I plateauing? The answer is no to all those.

I think I just figured out the problem. It’s because I started off the sets pretty heavy. Doing heavy sets and few reps which made me feel fatigue toward the end. That was like training for strength instead of “maxing out”. I felt fatigued is why I couldn’t lift the 155 lbs. again. I was wasting energy is why it continues to happen.

Man, I really need to learn how to properly warm up for my 1 rep max. I need to learn how to warm up to my P.R.. so I won’t feel fatigue and maybe I WILL be able to bench bigger.

To properly warm up for my 1 rep max, I need to do the first couple of sets doing light weights and do the last few sets heavier and few reps for example something like this:

Warm up: Just the bar for 12 reps

Set 1: light weight for 12 reps

Set 2: A little more weight for 10 reps

Set 3: A little more weight for 8 reps

Set 4: heavy weight for 5 reps

Set 5: A heavy single

Set 6: Then you can do your max out/ pr attempt

I know I’ve gotten 155 lbs. and 160 lbs. bench in the past before and now I just figured out why I haven’t been getting those numbers again.

Lessons learned. Got to learn how to properly warm up to my 1 RPM and I got to do the same for squats and deadlifts if I want to smash my best lifts, ya know?

When you want to test out your “personal record” (pr for short), gotta learn how to properly warm up beforehand so you won’t feel fatigued.

I’m pretty new to powerlifting training and I’m learning. I’m gonna make a lot of mistakes and I’m sure all powerlifters make mistakes too. They all have their bad lifting days too and everyone ends up in a “plateau” at some point ’cause it happens. I don’t think I’m “plateauing” at all like I said. Lifting heavy a lot in a workout will make you feel fatigue and all tired. That’s what you don’t want before doing a 1 RPM. I gotta stop lifting heavy a lot if I want to go for a new “pr”.

Actually, I did have a pretty good bench day today if you think about it ’cause I lifted 150 lbs. twice and did 135 lbs. for 4 reps so that’s pretty damn good.

Maybe next week when I give maxing out on bench another try, I’ll get 155 lbs. or more. Just gotta “properly” warm up. My mistake and my bad. I’ll keep this in mind for when I max out on squat and deadlift this week.

Kev