insert witty title here

Back on July 7th I reached a point in my exercise routine that I honestly never thought I'd acheive. It has to do with an exercise called the Bench Press, which is one of several chest exercises I do as part of my weekly routine.

Now normally when people lift weights, they include the barbell itself in the total amount of weight that they are lifting. I don't generally include it in my tally because I figure that you have the lift the bar regardless, so it shouldn't really count. For those who don't know, the bar by itself weighs 45 pounds.

Back in February, I was able to bench press 160 pounds (not including the bar) six times in a row. It took me five and a half months to reach that point and I produced a lot of sweat in the process. I remember being quite impressed with myself that I'd made it that far and I thought that I had probably pretty much reached the limits of my potential.

On July 7th I bench pressed 255 pounds six times in a row - which comes to 300 pounds if you include the weight of the bar.

Now I try not to toot my own horn, but this is something that I never thought I'd be able to do and I think that merits a paragraph or two. I've always been the quintessential 98 pound weakling and even now when I lay on the bench and prepare to lift, a small voice at the back of my mind says "you're not seriously going to try and lift this are you?"

Since then, I've worked up to 275 pounds (bar not included) six times.

It's been a real eye-opener for me to have this sort of hard evidence that there really aren't any limits, other than those you set in your own path.