I finally benched 3 plates. I started lifting 1 year ago after trying to starve myself into losing weight. Then I only stuck with the gym for 2 months before getting lazy and quitting, though I gained some strenght and lost some weight. After a few months of being a lazy bastard I decided to give the gym another shot. It has been 7 months so far.
Before joining the gym, when I quit, before joining again, current.
When I joined 7 months ago my goal was to build muscle as opposed to lose weight, because my metabolism was just too slow to make losing fat feasible. I set a goal to bench 3 plates by my 19th birthday, and I have been killing myself to reach it since then. I turn 19 tommorow, so I just barely got it
I also promised myself that when I hit 3 plates I would try losing weight again… damn.
Oh yea before I forget I’d like to thank this site for most of my progress up to this point, without it I’d probably do legs even less often than I do them now.
Welcome to the world of grown-folk’s weights- congrats! A 315 bench for a 200-300 lb man ain’t nothing throw up in anybody’s face- but it seems to seperate the strong men at most gyms from the rest of the guys.
[quote]Brant_Drake wrote:
Yeah, congrats! I just got 315 the other day also. You wanna have a race to 405?[/quote]
Sure, I plan to focus on weight loss for the next 2-3 months, but I’ll still be aiming to get stronger, so no excuse there. First one to 405 wins…hmmm how about we bet a tub of Surge on it?
Old timer here, but a little story about 315. I remember when I first did it like it was yesterday. It was in Tully gym at FSU, a hole in the ground stinky weightroom under the basketball gym. I had just turned 19. It was a max effort, barely making it, but it was a big thrill.
However, I learned the importance of the mind in bodybuilding one month later. I had kind of stalled at three plates, and one day I walked into Tully draggin my ass wondering when I was going to get my second rep at 315. As I sat down to bench, this blond-headed dude with an incredible physique asked me…“Mind if I join you?” As I looked up, I was shocked to see it was Dave Draper, the legend. I choked out a “yes, sir” and we started our sets.
Four sets later, I did 5 reps with 315, with Draper's hand an inch under the bar for every rep. I was not about to let "The Blond Bomber" throw out his back helping a novice lifter.
I never saw him again, but I always remember that story when I think I am "stuck" at a plateau.
