Just a couple of progress snapshots, captured from the Strength Standards webtool:
May 2, 2012 
July 2, 2012 
Sadly, the progress I’ve made isn’t really captured by the charts above.
My barbell bench press hasn’t “changed” because I haven’t measured it. Owing to concerns that my arms weren’t developing symmetrically, I switched to an exercise where cross-compensation would be eliminated. Since April, I’ve switched exclusively to dumbbell bench press, and am currently doing 5-10 sets of 5 reps at 59 lbs per hand. I’ll be upping the weight again soon, but just for curiosity’s sake I will do some barbell BPs soon to see how my numbers have climbed. I’m sure they have, as you will see later.
My squat looks less impressive because I haven done any Widowmaker sets recently. If I had logged a 5-rep set back in May, it would have looked less impressive back then and the progress now would be clear. However, given that I’m now nearing the 400 lb mark and I’d already hit Elite status in back May, I’m sure I’m doing just fine there. =) Again, it might be illustrative to do a WM just for interest’s sake.
Heavy deadlifts… I admit I’ve shyed away from them because I’m concerned my form isn’t good enough. Discomfort in my hips prompted me to lower the weight and increase the volume, combining them in trisets with bent-over rows and shrugs. I should really school myself in good form. I had a similar revelation with squats, and significantly revised my technique to reduce strain on my wrists.
Finally, overhead presses. I’d taken a bit of a break from OHPs in order to spend more time maximizing my squat. It was a surprise to me when I achieved a PR on my first try back, but less surprising when I consider what my focus on squats, dips, shrugs and dumbbell presses has done to my arms, shoulders and traps. I’ve read that the best way to break a plateau is to change your routine, then return to an exercise weeks later. This result gives me good grounds to believe that my barbell bench press has improved significantly without my knowledge, given the work I’ve been doing to strengthen my arms individually.
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