An Experiment...

Hanley

...I'm throwing my thoughts on my next training cycle down here for two reasons.

1) To get it clear in my own head
2) Hopefully some people might have some suggestions on things I missed

First up is my bench training. It'll be done on Sunday (top end and shirt work) and Wednesday (raw and chest work)

Sunday
ME exercise (3-5 reps above 90% -> press w/ bands, bench off rubber mat, floor press, board press)
Shirt Work (mostly 3x2's with 190-210kg working on groove and touching)
3 Board Press (3x3-5 2.5kg jumps per week, starting with 152.5kg 3x5 this week and dropping reps/sets as neccessary)
Rolling Dumbbell Extenstions 3x12

Wednesday
Bench (5x5 starting with 110, then 115 and adding 2.5kg per week thereafter. I'll go to 3x5, 5x3, 3x3 and 1x3 as neccessary)
Incline Bench (3x10 - I suck at these, good enough reason to do em)
Dumbbell Bench (3x12 and sink them in deep)
Chest Supported Rows or Face Pulls


The explanation:

Workload on Sunday isn't too high volume wise, but it will be high intensity. I haven't barbell benched in a long time, so I need to get good with my groove there again with national champs in 8/9 weeks.

Shirted bench is obviously the number one priority here right now. I think I've got the basic groove down, but I now I need to get more comfortable with the front of the shirt pulled down.

My top end has been a bit neglected recently, tho it has gotten stronger with DC. So board presses are in. Ddi 150 2x5 this week comfortably, so will persist with 3x5 til I hit 160kg.

I wrote a post the other day about bench training and how to get it up (ie small consistent jumps and hard work). And i was gobsmacked at how I hadn't applied it to my own raw bench training. So I'm starting 5x5's and will progress to 3x5, 5x3, 3x3 and 1x3 as the weeks progress on Wednesdays. I'm doing the IDFPA champs on April 19th equipped and the IPO's in May raw, so i'll need a respectable raw bench. Anything under 155kg will be a miserable failure.

I'm hoping all the extra sets will help with my groove too.

Then there's just a sh!t load of volume for my chest because it's ridiculously weak still.

Some upper back and that's the bases covered there I think.

Squat/Deadlift coming later, but first I've got to go buy some chain so I can tie more weight onto the cable stacks in the gym (seriously!).

So, lets hear it!

amazingemmet

I'd stick some bicep work in on sunday as its alot of tricep work and will need some balance.

Also would you not do speed work on wednesday as the way I understand it good speed is more important in shirted benching then in raw.

amazingemmet

I'd stick some bicep work in on sunday as its alot of tricep work and will need some balance.

Also would you not do speed work on wednesday as the way I understand it good speed is more important in shirted benching then in raw.

Also I'd put in more upper back work, external rotators and rhomboids as well

d-gal

Hanley that is a solid lay out. You will get some people saying add this, add that but they probably don't even understand the mechanics of powerlifting. Quick few questions and I can look a little deeper into it

With the band work are they tied to the floor or hanging from above?
Chain work?
Whats your rest periods between sets and how long you training each session?
Whats the weakest part of your bench? (Both raw and equipped)

Best of luck mate

Hanley

Saturday
Squats
-beltless and wide stance (up to a heavy 5 reps)
-knee wraps (gonna do a couple of heavier reps this week to get some weight on my back)
-Suit and wraps (this will come in in about 2 weeks and the previous 2 will be dropped - 3 sets w/ top weight)
Pulls against bands (probably something like 3x6 with moderate weight)
Rack Pulls (2-3 inchs below knees) (2-3 x5 moving up in weight each week)
Pulldown Abs (pushing for PR's in the 8-12 rep range)

Tuesday
Speed pulls (8x2 with about 55-65% of my goal for the comp)
Front Squats (3x5 - moderate, but still pushing)
GM's (3x8 - started this week and will move up 5kg per week)
Kroc Rows (20-30 rep range, started with 42.5kg 'bells this week and will move up each week til I get to 50 and then go for max reps from there probably)
Shrugs (max set of 12 double over hand and strapless, then straps on and 3x8-12)
Pulldown Abs (pushing for PR on weights for 2x12)

K... so theory behind it.

I obviously need to get some weight on my back for the squats with the comp coming up. I've had good success doing sets of 5 wide stance and beltless before as part of my work up, and the equipped work needs to come in now. Traditionally with the suit on and straps down I work with weights 40-50kg above my best wrapped 5 for sets of 3-5. So all things being equal, and considering my core should be strong enough to handle it, that means 260-270kg, which is a bit of a jump from the weights I have been working with.

The pulls against bands are there to get my deadlift moving up hopefully. My training partner swears by them and speed pulls, and he's pulled 3.5x bw so is worth listening to!

Rack Pulls have to be done on Saturday as I have no where to do em during the week. I don't intend on pushing these to the max initially, just gradually building volume and strength to about 2-3 weeks out when I hopefully hit some PR's.

Core work is the key to a big suited squat in my opinion, so that continues to be pushed.

Speed Pulls on Tuesday are obviously there too improve my speed. I've pushed deadlifting hard for the last 3 months ending up with a PR of about 17.5kg on my 5rm. I'm feeling a bit beat from it now so hopefully with a bit of a back down and build up again I'll get close to 240x5.

Front squats to get some more squat volume in and cos i'm convinced they help with my deadlift.

GM's cos any time I do them my DL goes up and I haven't done them in a while!! I've gone as high as 120kg 2x8 on them before, so I guess the goal this time should be to hit 130-140kg x8.

Kroc Rows and Shrugs are there primarily for upper back and grip. I can't really train too well strapless in TF cos the bars are too slick, and any time I do the two mentioned exercises my grip gets stronger. My grip can never be too strong anyway, so they won't hurt!

Again, thoughts appreciated!

pcworldsucks

Lol no legs or biceps, that workout plan is a FAIL. Legs are the biggest muscles in the body so you have to do them to keep balance. Add in 2x10 leg press and 2x10 hamstring curls/calf raises til you get used to lower body lifting before going to 5x5. And 2x8 dumbbell or barbell curls to increase upper arm size and stabilization on bench press. And maybe do some reading on the net understand why you NEED to work legs.

Hanley

amazingemmet wrote: »

I'd stick some bicep work in on sunday as its alot of tricep work and will need some balance.

Also would you not do speed work on wednesday as the way I understand it good speed is more important in shirted benching then in raw.

Also I'd put in more upper back work, external rotators and rhomboids as well

Speed work's never really done that much for me. All it does is beat the hell out of my triceps. After a week or two of it my arms do be crippled with the pain, so on a risk to reward scale they don't rank!!

This cycle above's only for 9-11 weeks so I don't really care that much about bicep work. I've worked them hard recently with PR's of 50x15 and 62.5 x8 on straight bar curls so they should be plenty strong enough to hold out for a few months!

The upper back work's mostly done on Tuesday. Might be an idea to add in something light like seated dumbbell powercleans at the end of the sunday workout tho now that you mention it.

d-gal wrote: »

Hanley that is a solid lay out. You will get some people saying add this, add that but they probably don't even understand the mechanics of powerlifting. Quick few questions and I can look a little deeper into it

Cheers! I resolved at the start of this when planning not to add anything just for the sake of it being there. Only to put in lifts that will help. And if that means 4 lifts per session, that's what goes in, and the time not spend doing other lifts can be recovery.

With the band work are they tied to the floor or hanging from above?
Chain work?
Whats your rest periods between sets and how long you training each session?
Whats the weakest part of your bench? (Both raw and equipped)

Best of luck mate

Bands on the floor...

Chains - no. We don't have enough in Hercs to bother with. Tho it could be an idea to add them to another exercise, like the presses off the mat or board presses

Rest period - as long as needed. The next 9-11 weeks are all about max strength. I'm not tryna get fit!

Weakest part of the bench;
raw = I missed 150kg about 4 inches off my chest at a raw comp in Dec, might have ground it out but my form was brutal and as soon as it slowed it went to my face
shirted = Probably 3-4 inches from lockout

Hanley

pcworldsucks wrote: »

Lol no legs or biceps, that workout plan is a FAIL. Legs are the biggest muscles in the body so you have to do them to keep balance. Add in 2x10 leg press and 2x10 hamstring curls/calf raises til you get used to lower body lifting before going to 5x5. And 2x8 dumbbell or barbell curls to increase upper arm size and stabilization on bench press. And maybe do some reading on the net understand why you NEED to work legs.

Wahey!! There's always one. You missed the 2nd and 3rd last line of the original post where I stated that portion of the workout was coming later!

I understand the importance of legs. I've squatted 600lb.

There's a reply above explaining why I'm not doing any bicep work too.

pcworldsucks

Hanley wrote: »

I understand the importance of legs. I've squatted 600lb. there's a reply on why I'm not doing any now in the post above)

Yes and im actually mike tyson....looks like this board is as bad as the rest with internet tough guys pulling random numbers out of thin air when in reality they usually theyh are weak as p*ss. if you hadve said 350 u might have fooled some people but no-ones falling for 600 lol.

Jonny303

pcworldsucks wrote: »

Lol no legs or biceps, that workout plan is a FAIL. Legs are the biggest muscles in the body so you have to do them to keep balance. Add in 2x10 leg press and 2x10 hamstring curls/calf raises til you get used to lower body lifting before going to 5x5. And 2x8 dumbbell or barbell curls to increase upper arm size and stabilization on bench press. And maybe do some reading on the net understand why you NEED to work legs.

mate, spend a bit of time reading throught the fitness forum before you start handing out advise. (no offence ment) im not sure now, bt iv an inkling hanley might know how to work his legs....:D

brianthebard

Damn I was going to suggest seated powercleans! the only other 'contribution' I have are questions; Just curious as to whether you think floor presses would benefit you at all (possibly top end of the lift?) and also, haven't you been doing pulldown abs for ages now, are they still going to offer benefits or is there anything that could be used instead? Finally, do pull thrus do anything for you? I just really like them at the minute so thought I'd mention them. Hope you do well at the comps.

Hanley

pcworldsucks wrote: »

Yes and im actually mike tyson....looks like this board is as bad as the rest with internet tough guys pulling random numbers out of thin air when in reality they usually theyh are weak as p*ss. if you hadve said 350 u might have fooled some people but no-ones falling for 600 lol.

Mike... you mean you're not going to believe I've also deadlifted 250kg and currently have the second highest junior total in drug free powerlifting in Ireland, and will have the highest ever total all going to plan on April 19th??

Hanley

brianthebard wrote: »

Damn I was going to suggest seated powercleans! the only other 'contribution' I have are questions; Just curious as to whether you think floor presses would benefit you at all (possibly top end of the lift?) and also, haven't you been doing pulldown abs for ages now, are they still going to offer benefits or is there anything that could be used instead? Finally, do pull thrus do anything for you? I just really like them at the minute so thought I'd mention them. Hope you do well at the comps.

Haha thanks for the kind words Brian, this could rapidly turn into another "in the well" thread...

Anyway, the seated dumbbell powercleans are in, yourself and Emmet are to thank.

Floor presses have been good to me, but right now i want to do as much as possible while on an actual bench to try and get my groove back.

The pulldown abs just continue to get stronger, so something's going right there!! I meant to say I'll be doing weighted decline sit ups on Wednesday too. They're my two favourite ab movements, and when they go up so does everything else, so no need to change imo!

Pullthru's have their place and I do like them, but to add them in now would just be adding for the sake of adding!

mushykeogh

pcworldsucks wrote: »

Yes and im actually mike tyson....looks like this board is as bad as the rest with internet tough guys pulling random numbers out of thin air when in reality they usually theyh are weak as p*ss. if you hadve said 350 u might have fooled some people but no-ones falling for 600 lol.

Theres always one........theres ALWAYs one.........

podge57

looks pretty spot on to me, although most powerlifting logs i read hit a lot more singles where as you just work to a triple, although im sure you are well aware of what works for you

does that ipo comp have a separate raw division, or are you just competing raw?

Sangre

Lads, its fairly obvious the guy is taking the piss in every post. He's giving every gym myth in the book.

rubadub

pcworldsucks wrote: »

Yes and im actually mike tyson..

Get up and ready for round 2!

Hanley

podge57 wrote: »

looks pretty spot on to me, although most powerlifting logs i read hit a lot more singles where as you just work to a triple, although im sure you are well aware of what works for you

does that ipo comp have a separate raw division, or are you just competing raw?

I'd say the majority of the logs you're reading are Westside orientated?

If you look at guys like Ed Coan (who is still the greatest lifter to ever walk the planet!), Mike Tuscherer, Brad Gillingham, Brian Siders and Andrey Belyaev they tend to hit more 3's and 5's with slightly lower percentages.

It seems to work better for single ply lifters, whereas the heavy ME work stuff seems to work better for multiply lifters....

The IPO doesn't have a raw division but I need to lift to qualify for the world champs in Vegas. The comp's are within 2 weeks of each other so unless i make a total balls of the IDFPA one there'd be no point lifting equipped cos I wouldn't hit PR's.

Mhmm...weetabix

"Hey hey hey!"

podge57

Hanley wrote: »

I'd say the majority of the logs you're reading are Westside orientated?

If you look at guys like Ed Coan (who is still the greatest lifter to ever walk the planet!), Mike Tuscherer, Brad Gillingham, Brian Siders and Andrey Belyaev they tend to hit more 3's and 5's with slightly lower percentages.

It seems to work better for single ply lifters, whereas the heavy ME work stuff seems to work better for multiply lifters....

The IPO doesn't have a raw division but I need to lift to qualify for the world champs in Vegas. The comp's are within 2 weeks of each other so unless i make a total balls of the IDFPA one there'd be no point lifting equipped cos I wouldn't hit PR's.

yeah, mostly the logs at elitefts, majority of the guys there train westside style, i think reading them has warped my training a bit latly, so im switching to a 5x5 to build up more overall stregth

have you any of ed coan's records in sight for the future

kevpants

I heard Ger preaching on the need for speed in pulling alright. Made a note of that one myself, his thoughts on deadlifting are right by default if you ask me so I think the speed pulls are a good choice.

The only thing I could possibly question in that whole routine would be why you chose the rolling dumbell extensions rather than a pressing tricep movement? I'm thinking of JM's and I know you already have board presses in there so it's not like you're neglecting it.

I find the JM's really stretch and make you employ the tendons at the base of the tricep/back of the elbow. Just a different sensation to other tricep movements, seems to tax more of the muscle for me anyway.

cardio,shoot me

just wondering, hanley if u wouldnt mind posting your records now and what u hope to achieve next comp,

Oh, and what made u start power lifting ?

d-gal

Hanley wrote: »

Bands on the floor...

Chains - no. We don't have enough in Hercs to bother with. Tho it could be an idea to add them to another exercise, like the presses off the mat or board presses

Rest period - as long as needed. The next 9-11 weeks are all about max strength. I'm not tryna get fit!

Weakest part of the bench;
raw = I missed 150kg about 4 inches off my chest at a raw comp in Dec, might have ground it out but my form was brutal and as soon as it slowed it went to my face
shirted = Probably 3-4 inches from lockout

Pity about the chains, would be a great benefit for you. I think they are a real key for powerlifters. Wouldn't see them as a huge benefit for board presses (not enough weight off), off the mat they would work nicely.
Hope you don't rest too long because it seems with some of the comps people get a sudden call back for the next attempt and they are fooked for it!
Days for squats and deads look good. Fair play. Great program

Hanley

kevpants wrote: »

I heard Ger preaching on the need for speed in pulling alright. Made a note of that one myself, his thoughts on deadlifting are right by default if you ask me so I think the speed pulls are a good choice.

The only thing I could possibly question in that whole routine would be why you chose the rolling dumbell extensions rather than a pressing tricep movement? I'm thinking of JM's and I know you already have board presses in there so it's not like you're neglecting it.

I find the JM's really stretch and make you employ the tendons at the base of the tricep/back of the elbow. Just a different sensation to other tricep movements, seems to tax more of the muscle for me anyway.

The JM presses might be an idea in the future alright.. I'll get you to show me them later if you're around.

The reason I had the rolling extenstions in is because the ME work, shirt work and board presses will be VERY top end intensive, so I didn't want to put more barbell work in on top of it. THen having the full range raw day means I won't have loads of time to recover ya know?

cardio,shoot me wrote: »

just wondering, hanley if u wouldnt mind posting your records now and what u hope to achieve next comp,

Oh, and what made u start power lifting ?

PR's = 272.5kg/190kg/250kg - squat/bench/deadlift
Goal for April 19th = 317.5kg/210kg/272.5kg - sq/bench/dl

There's a thread titled "....is in the well" that has my story in it.

d-gal wrote: »

Pity about the chains, would be a great benefit for you. I think they are a real key for powerlifters. Wouldn't see them as a huge benefit for board presses (not enough weight off), off the mat they would work nicely.
Hope you don't rest too long because it seems with some of the comps people get a sudden call back for the next attempt and they are fooked for it!
Days for squats and deads look good. Fair play. Great program

Thanks!

Any reason why you think they're the key? Like have you seen good results with other powerlifters using them?

If I was going to do them off boards, it’d be a 2 board height, so not too high. The last time I did them in between comps in 2007 (about a 3-4 week period), I PR’d on my bench by 5kg, so it has worked in the past!

The only time you’d see lifters getting called back really quickly is if they’re near the end of a flight and they’re taking a 4th attempt (which would only be a record breaker and not counted towards the total), so I’m not really too concerned about that!!

kevpants

Hanley wrote: »

The JM presses might be an idea in the future alright.. I'll get you to show me them later if you're around.

The reason I had the rolling extenstions in is because the ME work, shirt work and board presses will be VERY top end intensive, so I didn't want to put more barbell work in on top of it. THen having the full range raw day means I won't have loads of time to recover ya know?

Yeah I'll be up there tonight. Was planning on doing them anyway.

Your reasoning is dead on. See what you think of the JM's and if they feel too similar to the board & shirt work then forget about them for now. I thought I may as well say something on the only thing that stood out any way. You'd be pretty cheesed off with a thread full of praise for your routine and no ideas!

cardio,shoot me

you squat more than u deadlift? and holy bench press batman

Hanley

cardio,shoot me wrote: »

you squat more than u deadlift? and holy bench press batman

Keep in mind the squat and bench are done in powerlifting equipment. Originally they were there for protection, but in recent years have been used as a means of getting carryover from what you could lift raw.

In just a belt, my squat would be about even with my deadlift.

cardio,shoot me

oh i see, do u use a belt for bench press also or is this a stupid question?

brutusthebarber

Hanley wrote: »

...I'm throwing my thoughts on my next training cycle down here for two reasons.

1) To get it clear in my own head
2) Hopefully some people might have some suggestions on things I missed

First up is my bench training. It'll be done on Sunday (top end and shirt work) and Wednesday (raw and chest work)

Sunday
ME exercise (3-5 reps above 90% -> press w/ bands, bench off rubber mat, floor press, board press)
Shirt Work (mostly 3x2's with 190-210kg working on groove and touching)
3 Board Press (3x3-5 2.5kg jumps per week, starting with 152.5kg 3x5 this week and dropping reps/sets as neccessary)
Rolling Dumbbell Extenstions 3x12

Wednesday
Bench (5x5 starting with 110, then 115 and adding 2.5kg per week thereafter. I'll go to 3x5, 5x3, 3x3 and 1x3 as neccessary)
Incline Bench (3x10 - I suck at these, good enough reason to do em)
Dumbbell Bench (3x12 and sink them in deep)
Chest Supported Rows or Face Pulls


The explanation:

Workload on Sunday isn't too high volume wise, but it will be high intensity. I haven't barbell benched in a long time, so I need to get good with my groove there again with national champs in 8/9 weeks.

Shirted bench is obviously the number one priority here right now. I think I've got the basic groove down, but I now I need to get more comfortable with the front of the shirt pulled down.

My top end has been a bit neglected recently, tho it has gotten stronger with DC. So board presses are in. Ddi 150 2x5 this week comfortably, so will persist with 3x5 til I hit 160kg.

I wrote a post the other day about bench training and how to get it up (ie small consistent jumps and hard work). And i was gobsmacked at how I hadn't applied it to my own raw bench training. So I'm starting 5x5's and will progress to 3x5, 5x3, 3x3 and 1x3 as the weeks progress on Wednesdays. I'm doing the IDFPA champs on April 19th equipped and the IPO's in May raw, so i'll need a respectable raw bench. Anything under 155kg will be a miserable failure.

I'm hoping all the extra sets will help with my groove too.

Then there's just a sh!t load of volume for my chest because it's ridiculously weak still.

Some upper back and that's the bases covered there I think.

Squat/Deadlift coming later, but first I've got to go buy some chain so I can tie more weight onto the cable stacks in the gym (seriously!).

So, lets hear it!

Was lookin for this post re benchin, couldnt find it, been strugglin with the bench so it would be useful,,, cheers

Hanley

brutusthebarber wrote: »

Was lookin for this post re benchin, couldnt find it, been strugglin with the bench so it would be useful,,, cheers

Basically it was do 5x5 with a weight you can manage without pushing too hard.

Add 2.5kg per week and keep pushing for 5x5.

When you can't do that, drop to 3x5 and keep adding 2.5kg per week and pushing for 3 sets of 5 reps.

When you can't do that, push for one all out set of 5 (if you can do 3 sets, 1 shouldn't be hard). Then add 2.5kg per week until you can't do 5's anymore.

Back off/drop back 5-10kg, the repeat the process going 5x3, 3x3 and 1x3 over the weeks. You should get a good 12-14 weeks out of it by my estimation.

Transform

How long are you resting the bar on the boards for board presses and would it just be better to do them in a power rack on the pins with a 2secs pause at the bottom (pins alowing bar to almost touch the chest) for 3 reps to help with drive out of the bottom of the bench. I know the board presses are for the top but just a consideration.

Also i would add in band pulls with a good and heavy band BEFORE every session just to get those upper back support muscles all fired up for the heavy pressing.

Hanley

Transform wrote: »

How long are you resting the bar on the boards for board presses and would it just be better to do them in a power rack on the pins with a 2secs pause at the bottom (pins alowing bar to almost touch the chest) for 3 reps to help with drive out of the bottom of the bench. I know the board presses are for the top but just a consideration.

Also i would add in band pulls with a good and heavy band BEFORE every session just to get those upper back support muscles all fired up for the heavy pressing.

Heya,

The board presses are just touch and go. There’s 2 schools of thought when it comes to using them for powerlifting, the regular touch and go way, and the Metal Militia drop and heave. The idea behind the MM one is to give you a bit of momentum like the momentum you would have if you were coming off your chest. Presumably this means you’d need to train a bit below your sticking point as that’s where you’d have momentum to.

I guess a case could be made for the MM style below you sticking point, and pause at your sticking point…?

3 board height is a good one for my lockout because when the bar comes off it tends to stick an inch or two up. I think my bench has two sticking points, about 4-5 inches off my chest, and about 8 -9 inches up. The former is my raw, the latter is equipped.

The rack presses could be an idea alright, and it’s something I’d considered before. I don’t know what you experience with rack presses is like, but I’ve found they can be a total bitch to get right. I’ve had sets where I could budge the weight, and then other ones the weight just flew. It was as a result of poor set up and bar position.

I think if I can retrain myself to hit the groove of the bench consistently I’ll get a bigger advantage out of the rack presses down the road because I’ll be able to follow my strongest bar path consistently instead of having hit and miss reps. Does that make sense?

One thing that concerns me about board pressing from that position is going from relaxed to pushing with all I have. I know I obviously wouldn’t be totally soft during the pause, but it’s still something that weighs on my mind a bit. I dunno, thoughts?

What’s the theory behind the band pulls at the start? Just to make sure everything up there is working? That might not be a bad idea considering I found my shoulders slipping abou a bit last night while benching….

Transform

I find them fine really just elbows forward of the bar a little and press after a 2 sec pause.

The band pulls help me get my upper back muscles firing and ready to help when driving the bar/dumbbells up and really are the foundation of all benching work. You can do L-flys, face pulls etc but i have found band pulls done nice and slow are the best.

Will do a vid and post up soon

brianthebard

Hanley wrote: »

One thing that concerns me about board pressing from that position is going from relaxed to pushing with all I have. I know I obviously wouldn’t be totally soft during the pause, but it’s still something that weighs on my mind a bit. I dunno, thoughts?

Could you take a sponge or something to a 1/2 board, or a towel or something else soft, so that you'd still have to be tight to stop the bar sinking into the board? Just thinking out loud.

Hanley

brianthebard wrote: »

Could you take a sponge or something to a 1/2 board, or a towel or something else soft, so that you'd still have to be tight to stop the bar sinking into the board? Just thinking out loud.

I'm not really following... are you saying to do that while in the rack pausing on the pins?

If you mean to do it as a different exercise, that's pretty much what the mat press I referred to earlier does. It's a 90cm square mat which compresses from about 4 inches down to 1.5/2, so you need to stay really tight off it. I actually almost always come off it and go back to raw benching in the same session and press better than usual.

So if that's the sort of thing you were suggesting, give yourself a pat on the back because it was a good one, and one that works!! I might consider doing towel/carpet presses too in between the 2 comps.