I was stuck at 185lb bench for 2 whole years.

But 4 months later, I SMASHED my first 2 plate bench.

This is my story:

Written by Leon Lowe

I benched 2 plates with a 143lb bodyweight.
+40lbs to the bar in under 4 months

The Day I Absolutely SMASHED that 225lb PR

The feeling of my heart POUNDING out of my chest as I loaded up the bar,

Followed by the DOPAMINE
when the whole gym EXPLODED into cheering

Bro no amount of gooning will ever come close to that same feeling

Everyone saw the end result, the magical 225.

But no one saw the pain and humiliation I went through,

when I was HARDSTUCK at 185lb for 2 whole years

May 2021, 17y/o
First Time doing a Bench Press

I started my journey with a somewhat decent 135lb bench,

Probably due to the fact that I could already do 20+ pushups.

I was lowkey malnourished at 132lbs.

But at least I got a “1x bodyweight” bench.

I could call myself a “1 plate beNchEr LOL”

After checking off that milestone of a 1 plate bench,

Something sparked in me,

I got addicted.

I told myself,
“Today is the day I start taking the gym seriously.”

But I did not give a flying F about the squat or deadlift.

When was the last time someone asked you about your deadlift?

It has been always
“How much do you bench bro?”

No one believed in me

So that day I went home and I posted a goal on my ig stories,

225lb, the big 2 plates, in 12 months

The mockery and sarcasm I got in my dms was demoralising af bro

“Bro I think you should aim for 4 plates instead of 2 plates”

“If you manage to bench 2 plates,
I think I can bench your mom”

But I was determined to shut those mfs up once I bench that shii in a year.

Progress was CRAZY at first,
But then I got stuck

I kid you not, each time I entered the gym, I hit a new PR

Every single session I will attempt a new PR, and each time, I smash it.

Just 1 month later, I was that repping 1 plate for 6 reps

June 2021, Attempted another PR, smashed 155lbs. (55lb each side)

The progression was a straight up linear graph bro

I was adding 2.5lbs each and every week.

2 months later in August 2021, smashed yet another PR of 185lb (70lb each side)

I felt invincible.

I thought I was a bench EXPERT

In just 3 months I had put on 50lbs to the bar,

More than halfway to 225lbs,

“I am going to get there in 3 more months!”

I was about to shut all those mfs the hell up when I got to 2 plates in half the time.

But little did I know, that was going to be my last PR for the next 2 years.

The Struggle at 185lb

1 blue, 1 green, each side.

That haunted me for 2 whole years.

I went around bragging that put on 50lbs in just 3 months, and that 225lbs would be a piece of cake

But the moment I got stuck, my ego shattered

Before each session, I would hype myself up,

“Feeling STRONG today! Today is PR day!”

And I would fail miserably.

There were even days that I would fail 175lbs.

After each failure, I would spring up from the bench with absolute rage

Thinking to myself,
“Why tf is my bench worsening day after day??”

I just tried to convince myself to stay delusional,
“The next session will be the one!”

But it was just a painful loop of disappointment.

9 months went by,

It’s now May 2022.

My 1 year was up.

Still stuck at 185lbs

Those mfs took every chance they could to shame me like there was no tomorrow.

It got so bad that I was too embarrassed to show my face at the gym.

I only went to the gym during off peak hours to avoid those mfs

I tried binge watching a youtuber that benches 3 plates,

Since he is so far ahead, he will have some secrets that I don’t know.

I tried his advice, didn’t work.

Binged another youtuber for the latest science to increase my bench,

Tried it for another week, no results.

Each gym session just led to absolute disappointment.

Turned out I wasn’t an expert at all.

I just got lucky with the newbie gains.

I became a mad scientist.

July 2023, 2 years had past since my last PR of 185lbs,

2 years straight, I could not even increase my bench by 5lbs

I knew something had to change.

I refused to believe that 185lbs was my genetic limit.

There are dudes out there benching 4 plates for breakfast

There is no way I can’t even get 2 plates.

I was so determined to get out of this 2 year shithole,

That the next 2 weeks I literally became a mad scientist.

Thank God I aced physics in school, and years of studying didn’t go to waste,

I could finally apply my knowledge in the real world context.

It was time to study the forces of the bench press.

Instead of doing math homework,
I was staying up till 5am geekin out

I was calculating the torque required from my chest to lift 225lbs.

I would dig though research papers to understand the biomechanics of the human body,

Just to perfect the optimal bar path and grip width.

I would go through hundreds of pages of meta-analysis papers,

Just to find out the perfect ratio of training Intensity, Volume, Frequency

I even compared the minor things like amount of warm up sets, resting duration, straight sets vs drop sets you name it.

I became an absolute GEEK lol just to find a way out of this plateau.

I even coded a strength calculator, and a excel tracker to track my progress.
(this was before AI btw)

I was only a 19 y/o student, I am definitely no PHD holder,

But after 2 weeks of random physics scribbles all over my table,

flooding my laptop with thousands of pages of research,

I have crafted what I deemed, the most scientific, the most effective,

and the FASTEST way to increase the bench press.

I was so proud of it I even gave the blueprint its own name

“Road to 2 Plates”

It was time to put the blueprint into action.

It was time to see if my 2 weeks of geekin actually paid off,

My bench was about to sky rocket,

Or was I an actual acoustic mf the whole time.