17 Comments

Oh wow, congratulations!

Mate this is a huge achievement, don't undersell it just because your PT warms up with 160kg. That's why he's a PT and you're an international super author. Different skill sets, never mind skill levels.

I bet in the international super author circles they speak in whispers of your bench press:

"Did you hear that flash bastard JB is benching 100kg now? Fuck me the man is a MACHINE. I'm still trying to lift the hardcover version of War and Peace without slipping a disc."

"Mate why the fuck are you lifting LITERATURE FFS? Get the box set of A Song of Ice and Fire instead, you know Martin's never going to finish the bloody thing."

🤷‍♀️

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And assuming the PT can read, what's he's saying about them books and writing'n'shit and bein' in the presence of an international super author guy?

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EXACTLY

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Well done. I only bench press half of that, but I aim for six repeats without stopping. A few years ago, I was doing 78 kilos eight times in a row, and then I got a new bench, where the bar was placed higher and the bars holding it were narrower, so I had to reach outside them, and that immediately dropped me back to about 65 kilos.

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Yeah, it's galling how a few inches difference in hand placement can completely undo you.

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Fuck yeah, those milestones are something else hey. I remember the first time I benched 100 (like 10 years ago, I definitely couldn't do it now because I stopped (like a dickhead)). I was immensely satisfied with myself. I was working with a PT that used to be both a british firefighter and before that, an army PT. We talked a lot of politics between sets and it was great.

Good times.

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I've just started lifting again after a 30 year hiatus. I love it, and the results are coming quickly. Congrats on the 100kg bench. Don't undersell it, that's pretty heavy for a normal person.

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Yeah, I know. Comparison is odious. But hard when your PT warms up with 160kgs.

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I trained regulalry with a future world champion power lifter a long time ago. Hard on the ego and the body.

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It's a brain bender that it's exercise and movement that helps lower back issues, not rest (so much). Congrats on the lift.

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Mashed a disc bowling a cricket ball when I was 19…but you’re indestructible at that age! At 28 I had to stop playing and have been managing it ever since. I have managed to avoid surgery, so far, but running and core strength exercises keep everything in working order, despite my relatively sedentary job. Still, 100kg on the bench press does seem well out of reach at the moment. That’s very impressive.

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I used to be a fast bowler, but luckily I gave it away before I could trash my back. Unless of coarse that's how I trashed my back... oh damn.

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Yeah…bowling a cricket ball is a stupid thing to do to your body. I mean twisting, jumping, smashing your knees and hips can’t be good. But I had visions of being a professional so I did a really good job on making it worse (apparently) for a couple of years after I did it, before deciding to get on plane to come out here and look for,gold and diamonds. Now I just run in straightness and like a supertanker

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Actually if you want a new challenge could I suggest taking yourself along to a reformer Pilates class? One of my favourite internet anecdote genres is the dainty little Pilates chick taking her hulking gym bro boyfriend to a class and obliterating him 😇

Jokes aside, it'll do wonders for your flexibility and strength, and it's a lot of fun. Exhausting, wishing for death fun, but fun nonetheless.

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Jean-Claude Van Damme took a few years off martial arts and studied ballet (!) instead. Savage, apparently, far harder than any of the fighty stuff he'd done (and done well)

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It wouldn't surprise me. Competitive ballroom dance is also good for fitness.

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Big congrats. It’s all about competing with yourself, not comparing yourself to someone else. A PB is a milestone, regardless of what it is.

I’m slowly getting on top of lower back pain from compressed ribs that pulled both shoulder and hip out of wack, which meant whole right side was shot. Was too sedentary during COVID & lost muscle mass / strength in glutes etc. Had to go to physiologist then physiotherapist to get sorted out. I need both strength & flexibility. Pain goes away when I do my physio exercises, comes back when I lapse.

+1 to Elana’s comment re Pilates. It can augment the weights. Also, I used to go to a PT, & she said that generally men focus on strength over flexibility, while women are the opposite. We all need both.

Thanks for the procrastination book. Still working through it. Hoping to reduce / stop the lapsing in my own exercises & back pain.

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