So I got a Bench PR that I'm stoked about but it was a true 1RM. I'm going to deload from the bench and give myself 1-2 weeks off benching. Now what I'm craving is a Squat PR!
Interesting move on the bench deload .. I like it. Though, I personally would probably include some light assistance style work, such as some lighter DB bench - 3x10 type of stuff.
With motivation like this it's only a matter of time:
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOXJM8tJZb0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOXJM8tJZb0</a>]]>
you post lots of American style football related beast/motivation videos lately, which obviously makes sense, these dudes are monsters. But wondering, is it just not the same kind of atmosphere in the rugby style football team environment? like at the pro/semi-pro/developmental level?
The most intense "weight rooms" i've been in are HIGH SCHOOL American football training sessions.. College too, never been to any pro ones. But even at the h.s. level these kids are so dedicated, so much team work in the weight room to push each other, reminds me off that video.
Squat PR comin` 
I'll consider doing some DB Bench. What I've noticed from past experience with the bench is that it's just as much about the CNS as it is about the muscles. Frequent heavy benching = higher bench. My plan now is to get some 2RM and 3RM on the bench before I go for another 1RM. If I can get 117.5x3 I'm confident I'll be able to bench 130.
I've never played rugby league at a professional level but from an amateur/development level the weight room is non-existent. Weights are seen as something you do in your own time. It's a completely different atmosphere compared to the USA, which is why these college football gym workout videos are amazing to me. Plus rugby is an endurance sport so that also plays a part. On the rare occasion that I have been to a weights room in a team environment the emphasis was on circuit training
At the professional level and increasingly at the semi-professional level most clubs now have their own gyms and strength coaches. The weights culture is getting better but it's something that's really individualized.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/muscle-men-nrls-strongest-players-in-the-gym-revealed-for-season-2017/news-story/d2d2b91ec3a5bd64cd948037c9ec877bThe strongest players at most clubs will have lifts of around 550lb deadlift (one player in the article deadlifts 682lbs but he's an exception rather than the norm), 500lb squat, and 405lb bench. The 'average' NRL player probably benches around 300lbs and squats 400lbs, which is obviously weak when you compare it to the average strength of a D1 Football player in the USA.
Edit- There are only a couple of high schools in Australia that focus on lifting and gym for rugby league and they are both specialist sports high schools and in different states. Those schools are Westfields High School in NSW and Keebra Park State School in QLD. I actually posted a video of Keebra Park High School players lifting in the gym a couple of months back because I was pleased that they had incorporated a strength coach and lifting. A couple of the Polyesian boys were benching 4 plates in the video. You're never going to see NRL players squatting 800lbs or benching 600lbs due to the fact it's an endurance sport and it's not like American Football where you have offensive and defensive teams that switch in rugby league unless you're on the bench your playing the full 80 minutes. The average distance covered by a NRL player in a game is around 11kms, that's of course thrown in with getting up and down over 50 times for some players in a match.
