Bench Press is Back to a Decent Poundage

Many moons ago I forsaken ed the barbell bench press. I no longer required its benefits and I despise the consequences. A little over four years ago I peaked my bench press around 335lb. Nothing glorious about the amount but for me, a guy with long spider arms, it was a PR breaker. The only downside was the annoying injuries that came with it. No injury was serious but it did force me to abruptly discontinue benching.

My stats for this peak weight:
6'3"
215lb
15% BF

Well, today I just put up 315lb again without any problems. I probably could have repped with the weight if I didn't burn myself out with multiple sets of lighter weights. It felt great and I am back in business. Just 3-4 months ago I was actually struggling with 225lb. I'm not at 335lb but I really don't care, I'm close enough.

My current stats:
almost 6'3" (spinal injury...lost some height)
203lb
13.5% BF

Now, how I got to this point involved a lot of factors. Just to name the primary factor, I do pushups with different hand positions on a daily basis. I average around 60 pushups daily. The pushup is arguably on of the best upper body exercises ever. So I put this primary exercise to work for me. You can check out the loads of pushups I have done and my training to this point on my forum

I have now revisited the bench and will add it by to my devilish exercise toolbox. I have no goal with it anymore, perhaps to be able to rep 315lb like I rep 225lb.

Uphill Trail Running

I have discovered a new hobby for myself. The funny thing is I actually should hate it. Now, when I say "hate it", I mean should really FUCKING hate it!! Interesting enough it actually is growing on me instead. Now I am liking (not to be confused with loving) my new hobby, trail running. I do not like it quite enough to put some serious mileage on my sneakers, but I do like it to continue to do it.



Trail running alone is not what I find likable,it is where the trails are located. I run on some steep ridges overlooking an amazing and tropical valley. I have seen trail running on television but this is unbelievable. An added bonus is the landscape. The landscape changes with hard rains. On this island, a hard rain hits just about every month. The ground is volcanic debris and shifts a good deal with the rain. So just about every month, I have a new trail to run.



My primary running routes are on steep uphill portions of the ridges. When I say steep I don't mean you have to use your hands and feet to get you to the peak. This is a high enough incline that you really need to pull your knees up to make headway. Full out sprints are just about impossible though. This is a bummer for a guy like me that rather deal with max speed than max endurance. However, the great side effects of serious caloric expenditure is good enough for me to overlook the speed issue.

Now, I do not track the runs very closely. I have extremely hard days and very light days. I just use how my body responds as a guide. I do keep track of my body composition and the biggest reason for liking the runs is the fact I stay at 14% body fat or lower. So I'm all for the running that I once hated with a passion.