Last Monday I felt like a bag of smashed sphincters. My bench numbers for the day were 295 for 3-6 reps per set for 12-24 reps total (using Jim Wendler's take on Prilipin). While warming up for one of the few times in my life I decided to do the smart thing. Jim had mentioned the possibility of going + or - 5% of your numbers, based on how you feel. So I dropped to 275 and just did 4 sets of 3 for the minimum reps. All of which were quality. Live to fight another day.
This Monday I felt infinitely better so I went with the 295 and hit 4 sets of 6 awesome reps for the top end of volume at 24 total reps. I felt so good I figured I'd take some Joker sets. I went to 325 for a perfect single and then to 350 for what was a good single.
I used the word "good" for that last single very purposefully. In my mind a good rep is unquestionable. Actually, I feel confident I could have gotten the 350 for a triple. However, I want my Joker reps to be smoke shows. I don't have the recoverability to be f'ing around.
Being that I used to bench 600 raw I was legitimately used to taking plate jumps at times when warming up. The new me does not always remember that the old me was MUCH stronger. So I think I am going to impose the 5% rule for Joker attempts as well. Taking smaller jumps will never be a bad thing.
As always I am dancing a fine line between training hard, having fun, and managing recovery. Establishing guidelines has been really helpful with that.
