Westside Bencher

[Andalite]

I went from 195 to 205 just over thanksgiving. Talk about bloatation lol...

[Clifford Gillmore]

Get some rest big guy, and if you read this message - GET THE HELL OFF THE COMPUTER!

[cphafner]

kick some butt Travis.

[vdizenzo]

Can't wait to hear the good news.

[Lones Green]

Here's how Travis did at the meet, he asked me to share since he won't be on the computer until later. He's making a 7 hour drive currently.

1st- 740, smoked
2nd- 770, smoked, 5 lb PR
3rd- 800, no lift.

Pulled out a 5 lb PR, but was having a few problems. I'm sure he'll elaborate when he gets a chance.

Great job buddy, and thanks for your help. Always good hanging out with you.

[vdizenzo]

That's good news. A 5lb pr is awesome at this top level. I know you want that 800 Travis, it will happen. Just keep doing what you are doing.

[cphafner]

congrats on the pr Travis!

[Brian Hopper]

Awesome work travis, congrats on the PR!!!

[lil' power]

Good to see you again Travis, congrats on the 770! Just love the black eyes!

[jbrin0tk]

Great job at the meet, Travis. Getting so close to 800. With your dedication, you'll be there in no time.

[Donnajo]

Nice job and PR yesterday! Was cool to see you and some awesome lifting yesterday! Hope the drive home was not too bad.

[Coke]

Congrats Travis.

[slashkills]

That's good news. A 5lb pr is awesome at this top level. I know you want that 800 Travis, it will happen. Just keep doing what you are doing.

agreed

congrats on the PR

[Travis Bell]

Thanks guys! I was happy with the 770. It was easy enough, I really thought I was good for the jump to 800, but no such luck.

I will admit, I was a little ticked, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I may have developed a little disrespect for the accomplishment. 800, no matter how many people have already benched it, is still a hard thing to do. With all the guys out there who have hit 800 and more, it's easy to think that it's not a big deal.

As far as my program, Vincent is right, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. For the next two weeks though, no ME stuff. I haven't taken a true deload in over 6months and it shows. I have tendionitis in both my pecs right now so I am just going to let things rest and heal and go from there. I really need to get a new shirt too. The one I'm in is over a year and a half old and it's just stretched out. Thing just doesn't have the pop it used to.

800 will come barring anything drastic or stupid on my part. I may hold off on competing at the Lexen depending on how things go with finding a new shirt and healing my pecs up. Time will tell. I think they will bounce back pretty quick (I ice them 4 times a day, 15min each) but there is no reason to push it. Might wait for the IronHouse meet in March.

Thanks for all your support.

[LuNa]

Thanks guys! I was happy with the 770. It was easy enough, I really thought I was good for the jump to 800, but no such luck.

I will admit, I was a little ticked, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I may have developed a little disrespect for the accomplishment. 800, no matter how many people have already benched it, is still a hard thing to do. With all the guys out there who have hit 800 and more, it's easy to think that it's not a big deal.

As far as my program, Vincent is right, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. For the next two weeks though, no ME stuff. I haven't taken a true deload in over 6months and it shows. I have tendionitis in both my pecs right now so I am just going to let things rest and heal and go from there. I really need to get a new shirt too. The one I'm in is over a year and a half old and it's just stretched out. Thing just doesn't have the pop it used to.

800 will come barring anything drastic or stupid on my part. I may hold off on competing at the Lexen depending on how things go with finding a new shirt and healing my pecs up. Time will tell. I think they will bounce back pretty quick (I ice them 4 times a day, 15min each) but there is no reason to push it. Might wait for the IronHouse meet in March.

Thanks for all your support.

I know my opinion probably doesnt count much, i only have a 150 bench at the moment, but 800 pounds, and 770 even, are huge accomplishments. Seeing as it has taken me almost half a year to even go up slightly on my bench, i can slightly grasp the effort you have put in. I am sure that with time, next year, you will get 800.

Best of luck with the deload and i hope everything heals up.

[Brian C]

Congrats Trav. A PR is a PR. Enjoy the rest bro

[MarcusWild]

I'm sure training at Westside changes your perception of what's normal. There's only 6 275's that have benched 800+ in the last year. 2 of the 6 train at your gym. You're already #7. Congrats on the PR!

[NickAus]

770 is BIG, well done!!

[ScottYard]

Glad to see you go for a PR and not chase 800 right away. I did that for a few meets and I really wasted those oppurtunities for PR's. 800 will come soon enough. Congrats!

[kingkong51]

Great Work Travis at the meet.

[gatorman2k6]

A PR is a PR. Just take the deload and come back strong and I know you'll hit it soon enough. Congrats and keep up the good work!

[Travis Bell]

Pecs are feeling much better today. Almost no pain at all. Took the ankle weights and did a set of chest flyes - 75 reps and that did seem to help. I may throw in a little back work today and tomorrow I'll probably hit the bamboo bar for a couple sets and then just focus on helping everyone else out.

All in all though I feel better than I did leading up to the meet LOL. Still though, I'm letting stuff go for a couple weeks. I'll have to run some ideas by Lou and see what he thinks I should do for DE work.

[Travis Bell]

Launched my website the other day - www.superior-athletics.com

Really happy with the way it turned out. Daniel really helped me a ton with it as well as hooked me up with the designer. You can't find it on google just yet as it takes awhile for google to recognize a site.

I may eventually add in a area for articles and the like, but for now I'm just going to let it sit.

[Tom Mutaffis]

Nice work on the PR at the meet. It sounds like you walked away from the event with a good plan for training and now you know what you have to do to hit 800, and eventually to break past that barrier.

You are right that since we are involved in an elite lifting community here on WBB it can sometimes make you think that an 800 bench is not a huge accomplishment - but when put in perspective I would bet that less than 100 men in history have accomplished that feat, especially at under 275 lbs bodyweight.

Nice job on the website - looks good!

[Lones Green]

Website looks real professional, I checked it out. Building up some traffic through the site will help a bit I'm sure. Heck of a lot easier to tell a parent to check out the website rather than try to explain everything