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Finally bench pressing my body weight

This is a very exciting day for me! I can finally bench press my body weight for 3 sets of 5 reps. I weigh just 120 lbs. And there are probably 99.99% people who can bench press as much weight very easily. But for an ectomorph at my weight, it is an awesome feat. By it self 120 lb seems a very light weight and 99.99% makes me feel like I am nobody. But think again. How many people can bench press their own weight? The percentage is not 99.99% any more now is it?

Add to it the fact that I can do 35 push ups after a 3 set bench press. This is going well :). However I am still considered average. To become good I have to lift 1.5 times my body weight, which is 180 lbs if I stay at the same weight, even more if I gain weight! The progress has been very very slow, but at least I have come a long way. I am adding about 5 lbs every month or so to most of my exercises. So in about 3 months I should be able to bench 135 lbs, which has always been my dream. I have never used the 45 lb plates yet for my bench press. Here is the graph so far.


Initially I was able to add weights quickly, but then as I started leaning and had a big dip. Then I started bulking again and started to add weights, but hit a plateau at 115 lbs. Until I hit the plateau, I used to do fast tempo reps and if I could do a total of 15 reps in 3 sets I used to add more weight for the next time. Then I switched to slow tempo (which is when the last dip happened) trying to do 3 sets of 5 reps. Once I could do 3x5 I would add more weight. That is how I reached 120 lbs.

My squats are still not where I want them to be at, yet, but I am very close. I want to squat 1.5 times my weight which is 180 lbs and I am at 175 right now. Deadlifts are in even worse state. I want to deadlift 2 times my weight. So I should really be lifting 240 lbs, but right now I am at 195 lbs.

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  1. SS GuyMarch 28, 2010 at 6:54 PM

    Awesome Chandan! Congrats!!! I know what a great feeling such a thing is. One thing Anthony Ellis says in his book is to not try to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time - he says it will never happen and technically, it sounds right. Since you make good progress when you are bulking but lose strength quickly when you go on a leaning phase, I would say you go all the way (becoming chubby in the process like anybody will) and then lose fat later when you have reached your muscle goals. I really admire your progress and consistency - something I am always working on. While I am still far from where you are, I am beginning to make better progress since I switched to a 1-liter-milk-a-day diet - Thanks to you for inspiration!

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  2. Re-yndMarch 29, 2010 at 8:23 AM

    Thank you :). Yeah you and Anthony are right in that I cannot gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. However I get very uncomfortable as soon as I go past 12% BF mark. My goal has always been to bulk until I am 12% BF and then lean until I am 7%. Now the second part is where I am having trouble. I have never achieved 7% BF no matter what I do. I can lose fat moderately quickly until I get to around 10% BF. And then I lose muscle quicker than fat. So there is no way I can lean until I am 7% unless I lose all the hard earned muscle. I still don't understand how I can coax my body to let go of the fat beyond 10%. Any advice? Perhaps I just have to clean up my diet. Which is kind of hard given my Indian taste buds ;).

    I will see if I can gain muscle and slow the fat gain, so I get most muscle and least amount of fat. But the progress is so very slow. I never understand how some people even ectomorphs like Anthony gain so much muscle so quickly. Whether I eat a ton of calories or just the right amount I still can only grow 1 lb of musle a month. That is very slow :(.

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