Its Amazing.....

....how much of a difference an extra 1000 calories makes. After my embarrassing display of fitness, or lack thereof, last Friday, I upped my calorie intake and I was a new man yesterday. I felt great.

Backsquat
3x1 @ 365#

Shoulder Press
3x5 @ 146#

Deadlift
2x1 @ 475#

The squats felt better then ever with this much weight. My back angle stayed stationary and my hips rose in good timing with the rest of my body. Although the lift was slow out of the bottom, I was steadily rising the whole time, even on the 3rd rep.

I chose to do light presses in order to keep my shoulders fresh for benching on Friday. A friend from the gym, a former Crossfitter turned power lifter like yours truly and one of the few patrons who doesn't humiliate themselves with their training regimen, showed me how to keep a good arch in my back during bench press. Considering I SUCK at bench press, partially do to the lack of knowledge I have for it, partially because I am not strong (yet), I am looking for any advice I can get. I have tried to arch my back before and only found it becoming flat during my set. I am hoping, if I can figure out how to get this arching down that not only will my bench improve but I will be able to wear a belt (I have tried a belt before and it adds no help to my makeshift bench form) and further progress my lift.

I am going to say that I was not fully healed from my previous 3x1 with 475# on the deadlift. Although the weight went up fairly routinely, I felt my back slightly rounded and my fatigue set in more then last Tuesday. This is why I chose to only do 2 reps instead of 3. That is going to be my last heavy set before the competition.