During my first week in the gym back in September, Matty the PT wanted to test my ability level with the bench press. It wasn’t great, I could barely hold the barbell steady, let alone move it very far. So he set about working on strength and stability over the following weeks.

Fast forward to the beginning of November and it was time to try the bench press once again. Things had improved, so over the next couple of weeks we incorporated bench press into my weekly upper body session.

On Thursday 23 November I was ready to attempt a personal best of 35kg. This was the third set of 3×8 reps.

37.5kg – my first working set on bench press. The next step is 40kg, hopefully next week.

“Good effort. Decent form that too. Looks like you’re pushing down through your feet with a slight arch in your back. Shoulders pinned to the bench. Looks decent.”

Coach Ken, 23 November