Lift With Ben Fitness

Consistency doesn't mean rigidity. It means showing up for yourself, even when the plan changes. 🌿✨

This weekend was incredible—over 35,000 steps dancing to some amazing drum and bass at Sunday School and celebrating a friend's birthday. My cup is full, but my legs are completely empty!

If I forced my Week 1 Full Body workout today, I wouldn't be giving it my best. With my current 1RMs sitting at 330 Squat, 220 Bench, 410 Deadlift, and 138 OHP, the load is too heavy to mess around with compromised recovery.

So, I’m taking my Wednesday rest day today.

By making this small adjustment, I can still fit in my full 5 days of training this week, respect my body's need for recovery, and not miss out on the life events that matter.

Fitness should enhance your life, not control it. Take the rest day, enjoy the music, and lift heavy tomorrow. 🖤💪

Sometimes the hardest part of the workout is just showing up. 💯

After taking the weekend off for some heavy rave cardio 🕺, I walked into the gym this morning feeling mentally drained. I wasn't expecting much, but I decided to just load the bar by feel cause my brain definitely wasn't ready to do the KG to LBS math. 🧮❌

Turns out, sometimes your body knows exactly what it’s capable of even when your mind is lagging. I pushed a 330 lb squat without even realizing it was a PR!

It wasn't until Bigitta pointed out that I’d beaten my previous 321 lb record that it actually clicked.

Here is the game plan for the rest of this 3-day training week:

Day 2: Deadlift 1RM test. Time to see where I stand and aim high for that 435 mark. 🎯

Day 3: Official Squat 1RM test (fully intentional this time!). 🦵🔥

Bench Press: Holding off on a 1RM for now. Smart training means checking your ego, and I want to ensure my shoulder is 100% recovered before testing it after my next 10-week block. 🛠️

Listen to your body, trust your training, and celebrate the unexpected wins. 🎉✨

Hit me up at Lift With Ben Fitness - DM me anytime to get started!

Block update: Week 10, Day 1 of the peak phase in the books. 📊

Wrapped up a solid 1h 53m session today with just over 20k lbs of total volume.

The main work called for 3 singles at 305lbs on the squat. RPE was way lower than expected today—definitely had doubles in the tank, which is a massive green flag for top-end strength right now. Bench 3x6 @ 175lbs felt dialed in too.

This is the second to last week of the current strength phase. The plan from here: one more 6-day hypertrophy week to pack on a bit more volume, followed by a full deload week to shed the accumulated fatigue. After that, we test the actual 1RM numbers.

Trusting the programming, it’s clearly working. 📈🏋️‍♂️

Nothing wakes you up quite like heavy deadlifts on an early morning! 😅

Had an AMRAP test today and managed to grind out 370lbs for 6 reps.

​According to the calculator, that puts my estimated 1-rep max around 435lbs—a 23lb jump from where I was! 🎉 It feels incredibly rewarding to see the hard work translating into real numbers.

​The fun really begins in two weeks when I get to actually test that 1RM and see how it feels in my hands. Plus, I’ve got squat and bench AMRAPs coming up over the next couple of weeks, so it's officially testing season. Wish me luck! 🤞

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There’s nothing quite like being back home in Edmonton and getting right back to the grind! 🇨🇦

After being away, getting back to my routine and focusing on the Big 3 lifts feels amazing. As you can see in the photo, I pulled 365 lbs for 3 sets of 5 this morning.

We are officially 8 weeks into this 12-week hypertrophy block, and I am already stoked for the next 10-week strength phase to push these numbers up! 📈

I’m really enjoying the new facility, too. It takes a few programming adjustments to work with the exact equipment they have, but adapting is part of the game. Let’s get to work! 💪

Back at it and moving real weight today! 🏋️‍♂️

Had to handle some critical family health matters in Moose Jaw, so I moved last week's deload to be fully present. But I'm back in Edmonton and ready to put in the work! 🔥

Today was a solid 295 lbs for 4 sets of doubles (8 reps total) on that beautiful Nautilus rack [pointing right at it 👀]. It feels amazing to be home, back at my home gym and back to life and progress.

The focus is sharp! 💪❤️✨