This week has been though with the transition of the weather. It's been raining and the temperatures are 50 F and below in the mornings with harsh wind at night. I live in Southern California, so we expect tolerable weather every day of the year, but Winter still exists - the Earth is still tilted.
Training has been going well. My joints feel better than the previous two weeks. I'm very grateful I turned down the volume. It made a lot of sense, and I don't mind having overtrained a bit at first. Being able to dial back gives you confidence. My Bench Press has finally improved. It's taken me longer to get Bench technique down compared to The Squat and The Deadlift. The Bench Press is so deceivingly simple looking. It's the go-to exercise for the average male, and yet technique is very complicated. I think I had trouble because of my Chest and Triceps were both underdeveloped and not strong enough. I have done thousands upon thousands Push-Ups, and thought it would carry over to The Bench Press, but it wasn't the case. In fact, I was lucky to have not seen more severe injuries from the volume of Push-Ups I was performing.
I used an apparatus for the majority of my Push-Ups, which were basically parallel bars. This probably saved me from a lot of joint pain, because it forces you to tuck your elbows a bit. I had wondered why normal Push-Ups on your palms was so much harder for me back then (it's not the case now), and it was because I wasn't tucking my elbows, and I wasn't relying on leverage enough.
Leverage is something I've recently added to my Bench. Training Handstands and Planks were beneficial for understanding leverage. When leverage is applied, the weight sits less on your muscles and more on your bones. This allows you to lift even more weight, and to hold isolations for a longer duration. I also believe that slowing my tempo on the Bench Press has increased my leverage, enhanced my technique, and has activated more of my Pecs' muscle fibers.
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