The First Step

This blog is dedicated to the average Joe's who believe physical strength is given to the elite and the capability to train yourself was handicapped by doubting yourself.  It may be true that very few have a physique, genetics and the mental capacity to reach Olympic levels, but I want to prove to myself, and to others who think a task such as benching 200+ lbs is a goal that they cannot attain, that it is not only attainable, but can be exceeded.

A little bit about myself, I would like to consider myself an average Joe, but in reality, I am not.  Fortunately, for those looking for encouragement, I am far below average.  I am a 29 year old, 5'4" Asian male that weighs roughly 135 lbs as of today's date.  I have been the shortest in my class since Kindergarten and you can imagine I was not the most athletic either.  If that is not enough, I have had joint problems and chronic pains since I was 12 years old.  This included my neck, back, fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees and ankles.  Though I could have simply remained bitter at my circumstance, I decided to not let my handicap since around high school and tried my best to not only compete against others, but surpass them as well.

I will try to structure this blog as my training/diet/sleep and overall journey, of successes and failures, of reaching 200+ lbs in the bench press.

History to this point:

The main reason I am starting this blog now, is because I had felt like I have reached a cap in bench press.  Literally, almost the only exercise I did was bench press (threw in some other lifts once in awhile) and I knew that possibly I am near a cap doing something as foolish as just bench pressing three days a week.  After starting again at the beginning of the year, I could bench 165 lbs for about 5 reps, but have not been able to pass that as I do not have a spot.  I hope through rigorous training and research, I can break past 165 lbs and lift my mental block in going even further.  My training up to this point, for anyone that wants to get started, is actually to do pushups.  Before I got into benching, I could probably max around 115 lbs.  After starting the hundred pushups plan, I increased my bench to around 135-145 lbs within 4 weeks.  I never finished the plan as I started getting shoulder injuries between Weeks 4-5, it definitely defined my triceps more than I have ever seen before.

Some Psychology:

Though it may seem silly to just bench press, I have been going to the gym either during or after work at a gym located in our building...in my work clothes.  I never enjoyed exercising so I wanted to remove all psychological barriers in going so I removed any excuse I could, such as forgetting my gym clothes.  By not doing cardio or too many other lifts, I never really sweated so I could just return to work after my sets.  Since I have been going regularly for the past four months, I have decided to just leave gym clothes at work now, but if that is a deterrent, just check out the gym and do some light workouts (unless your gym has a strict and enforceable clothing policy).