6-week bench press cure - Day 1

So I have decided to commit myself to the 6-week bench press cure (to overcome my limit on bench press that I mentioned in my last post) by Dave Tate (workout is on page 3) and started today.  In actuality, I started over the weekend when I wanted to remove any barrier I could create for myself when I got to the gym, including packing my gym clothes last night.  It was highly convenient to start over the weekend because while going over the plan, I realized I did not know what ALL of the exercises in the first workout meant.  So, I went ahead and looked them all up:

Floor Press
Dumbbell Extension
Chest-Supported Row
Rear-Delt Lateral Raise

Granted, I have performed couple of these exercises before without knowing what they were called, and one of them not doing them with proper form.  I started with the floor press workout by starting with the 45lbs bar and added 10lbs at a time and doing 8-10 reps.  You can imagine where the problems started coming in when you do not have a spot.  I comfortably finished 75lbs for 8 reps but once I attempted 85lbs, I was having difficulty getting under the bar and lifting it off the floor (I have been using a bench to prop one side up to start for previous sets as I could not go underneath).  Long story short, I almost dropped the bar on face and struggled in holding up the weight long enough to get my head out from under the bar.  I tried stacking plates to make the starting position higher to get my arm underneath, but I already had stacked three plates and it still was not enough to start and I gave up at this point as I was getting tired from moving all these plates around and stealing them all.  I will attempt Day 1 again later this week and try using two benches to prop up the bar to start assuming no one is using them.

I did the other three exercises and completed the sets with relatively lower weights as I was unsure of what weights I was comfortable with.  Used a 40lbs for Dumbbell Extension, 15lbs for the Row, and 8lbs for the Lateral Raise that I dropped to 5lbs for the last set as I could not tell if my form was good or I just have no flexibility.

All in all, a good workout that could have finished faster if I could set up the floor press sets better.  Also, I like how Day 1 didn't even include using the bench press and working on different muscles that are weak for me and different stages of the bench press via the floor press.

4/16

As for my workout, I did some brief research on bench press and was guided towards Dave Tate and a YouTube video of Jennifer Thompson teaching techniques.  I am not going to say my form has been horrendously off, but there was definitely room for improvement, especially in the area of warm-up, back arch, pushing off of heels and having the entire arm under the bar.

After going through the T Nation pages and videos, I distinctly remember him stating that people would come in, he'd fix their form, and they'd bench 50 lbs more by the time they left.  Now, I'm not going to say it's impossible, but I am certain those people were already lifting heavy and had all their muscle groups worked out.  Personally, I tried this on Monday, but putting more strain on my back and benching in an uncomfortable position and having to think about all those techniques made it difficult to concentrate and I did not end up putting on any additional weight.  Hopefully going forward, I can build those muscle groups and break through my barriers.