My 8 reps has slowly improved as I changed my diet recently (not especially healthy, I still live in the US and am broke af so healthy food is a treat for me) and I’m up to 185 lbs (bar+ Plate and 25 each side), I very rarely do 1 Rep Max because it gets me exhausted for the rest of my exercise unless I drink a shitload of water. Last I checked I’m at 205 (bar+ Plate and 35 each side). Sorry if this is confusing to anyone because of the Lbs to Kilos dilemma. Around 84 kilos for 8 Reps, around 93 kilos for 1RM, what are yall at?
My bench has always been my worst lift of the big four. I've never tested my 8RM, but my 1RM is 280 lbs. and has been for years. Would love to get up to three plates, but I don't know if I ever will at this point. But, I'm also addicted to trying out new programs, maybe if I really sat down and picked a bench focused program like Smolov Jr. or something I would get it moving. I've been program lifting for almost a decade, to at this point the actual workout being fun is more important to me than hitting bigger numbers and I don't know if heavy benching four days a week is all that appealing haha
I couldn’t agree more on the point about lifting for fun, for a few months I struggled with gym motivation and would kinda just not go often enough because I was so caught up in following a regimen to a tee. Once I started exercising for fun primarily, I started going to my gym more often and for longer periods of time
Yeah, there's a lot to be said for optimized training and getting the most out of your time in the gym. But the best program is the one you'll actually do. Especially for those of us that aren't like, professional powerlifters or something and need to hit certain lofty numbers.