It was refreshing to be doing bench again, and much to my surprise I was able to top out easily at 275lbs which was almost a shock given how much weight I have lost and how long it has been since I benched last.
I took a similar approach that I have always used, a simple increasing set to my max but with set reps as follows:
14-12-12-12 @ 135 (50 rep / 6750 lb total)
10-10-10-10 @ 185 (40 rep / 7400 lb total )
9-7-7-7 @ 225 (30 rep / 6750 lb total)
5-5-5-5 @ 275 (20 rep / 5500 lb total)
10-10-10-10 @ 135 (40 rep close grip)
I have to admit I was quite pleased with myself but decided that I needed an extra 2 45lb plates in order to make my life easier. Looking back this may seem like a lot of reps or sets but only 16 sets, only 140 reps and a total weight of 26,400lbs. Considering I have topped out at over 100,000 lbs in the past doing 2 body parts, 26,400 seems reasonable at this point. I would like to get a 50,000 lb workout and just see what the reps and sets look like. Maybe once my weights get up a little higher that will be a good daily total. I just don’t want the reps to get too high, going over 15 reps on anything is borderline too high but since my body is used to it, I am not about to stop now. I was never a big fan of 1 – 3 rep sets during training and seemed to gain enough mass and strength without them.
As for the triceps, well, I am not about to fall back into the isolation training from my past. I figure that with the benching, the close grip finishing and the dips I do on other days, my triceps should get the work they need. If not, I will add an extra set or two to close grip since that is what makes my triceps grow the fastest.