Humility and the Bench Press

In my quest to stay fit an healthy, I've gotten back to enjoying working out and improving. I also enjoy presenting and teaching in other parts of my life, so when I found Alan Thrall's Youtube channel, I was very impressed. I was surfing around looking for tips on powerlifting when I came upon his videos. Not only is he a strong guy, he also teaches very well on his videos. I encourage you to check his channel out to learn proper technique on the basic lifts. Here's his Bench Press video that helped me with my technique.

This brings up the topic of humility. When I first decided to write a blog on working out, my purposes were twofold. First, to keep me accountable by sharing my workouts publicly. Second, to share my experiences as a regular guy who is out of shape and trying to get into better shape. At first, I thought to myself this might be embarrassing because I am so weak. However, then I thought about being humble and just being who I am. I am weak, but I can and will get stronger. Humility gives us permission to be who we are - flaws and all. Humility gives us courage too because we know we need help and we can seek it out - even if it is just watching a couple Youtube videos. By the way, writing the blog has been a ton of fun too!

November 3, 2015 Workout

Time of workout: 4:30 PM

Warm-up: 5 minutes of shadowboxing

5 reps x 3 sets of push-ups

Bench Press: 115 x 5, 115, x 5, 115 x 5, 125 x 5, 125 x 5

125 is the most I've benched in a couple years. Here is a video of my 5th set. The Bench Press sets and rest took a total of 15 minutes to complete. I took a minute break before doing the Kettlebell Swings.

Kettlebell Swing: 10 reps on the minute for 5 sets
I was going to do 10 sets, but I stopped it short so I could stretch and pick my kids up from school.

Stretching: 5 minutes

Total Workout time: ~30 minutes

Post-Workout Thoughts

I'm glad I got this workout in. I didn't have much time between work and picking up the kids, and I just went for it. After watching Alan Thrall's videos, I was pumped to try out the new technique tips on my bench press, so I went for 125, and got it! I still have to keep working on the technique, but I hit a new high heading towards my goal of 135 pounds - which I think I can probably hit it soon enough, but I really want to focus on getting the technique down so I can hit new goals after I hit this one.

One important benefit of improved technique is that I feel my shoulders are safer. Before, I always felt I was kind of stretching my shoulders too far on bench press. However, by pulling in my shoulder blades, it lifts my chest a little and my shoulders are at a better angle to bear the weight. In any case, even though my form was not perfect, my shoulders felt very solid throughout the movement.

The kettlebell swings weren't too taxing with the 40 seconds of rest I got in between, but they got me breathing hard and sweating and they were a nice finishing touch from the bench press.