build some muscle

Today I did a one rep maximum bench press of…
drumroll

One hundred and thirty five pounds. Only 11 pounds away from my goal!! After I hit 146 it’s easy to see what my next goal will be—my own body weight, about 155 pounds.

I’ve already annihilated my squat goal, but I have no way of doing cleans at the moment. I am however progressing on my cardio goal.

At least something in my life makes me happy.

Did 1 rep of 126 pounds bench. Movin’ on up.

Yesterday I did 5×308 pounds for the squat (totally annihilating the novice level standard), but doing 114 pounds bench press was just about my one rep max.

Anyway, I’ll just continue my progress as much as possible even if it takes me a while to hit that 146 bench press.

http://exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.htm
I averaged the standards for 148 and 165 pounds to get a standard for my actual weight, ~156 pounds. Here’s what I come up with.

So, I’m definitely able to perform at the “untrained” level for squat and clean. I’m confused why the average person is expected to be able to bench press more than they can squat however. Anyway, I first need to make sure I can bench press 114 pounds, and then work toward that 146. My goal is to be able to perform at the “novice” level for these exercises, within 4 months.

But today for the first time I hit the gym. I feel sore, and good. Hopefully I can keep myself doing it and I’ll finally not look ridiculously skinny.

In BJJ class we start off with jogging, jumping jacks, pushups, and crunches. I’m always the last person to finish the pushups, but not embarassingly so. Hopefully with continued practice as well as some reps at home I’ll increase in strength.

Does anyone think body-weight exercises (such as push ups and pull ups) would be at all effective for this, or would they just help me get better at doing body-weight exercises?

Unfortunately my college does not provide me access to machinery.