It was my brother's bench press that fueled my fire for weightlifting.
He went on to compete many times, got a lot of trophies, even against people he knew probably used drug enhancements.
His peak was around 405# that I can remember, and before he tore his rotator cuff.
For me, my best strength has always been in my legs, my brother always vouched for that.
We would leg wrestle and I could hold a solid pin on him every time.
He would tell people, "She might not be able to punch, but don't let her leg lock you." Haha thanks bro, that's really scary.
Anyway, it's not that I never wanted to be strong with my upper body. I just felt I couldn't be.
I could never do pushups or pull ups.
I could never bench more than the bar.
I could never...
When I decided to take my training seriously and hired my own coach, I got up to benching 80# before I got distracted and quit focusing on it for a while.
I got nervous about being under the weight.
I let it affect me mentally.
I let others' chirps affect me.
My brother and I were fighting, which ended up with him sending me a cashapp for $1 with a note that said, "Get yourself a spotter. I care."
Which is fine, he can say what he wants.
But I'm tired of others dragging me down so they can pull themselves up.
They don't want me to do anything my own way.
So, I trust my coaches, otherwise, I wouldn't have hired them.
And when I hire or go to someone, it's because I genuinely believe they are one of THE BEST at what I need them for.
So, I'm beyond grateful for their belief in me and their relentless patience.
They've helped me focus on getting stronger in other ways in and out of the gym.
Here I am, restarting the bench press.
Might not look like much, but we all have to start somewhere, right?
And that's point one: You just have to start.
I'm leaning into the uncomfortable.
I'm sharing the wins and the hards.
Because nobody's life is perfect.
Like my form here probably isn't perfect, but I'll accept my coach's feedback and work on it.
And that's the second point: always be progressing once you do start.
We all need continuous progress. Everyday.
And I have no intention of quitting this time.
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