The Power of Intention and Weight Lifting

So quick background on me, I’m currently 29 years old. I’ve been big into lifting weights ever since I was probably 15 or 16. It’s always been one of the few things I’ve loved and quite frankly been good at. However with age and responsibilities my gym time hasn’t always been consistent in recent years.


At the end of August I quit my job and decided since I didn’t have a lot going on I was going to refocus on my fitness. I’m 5’6” and weighed 123ish when I started again. My first day back in the gym I eased my way into it. It was August 30th and I benched 45lbs 25xs, and 95lbs for 15 and 9 reps. By Oct 3rd I was finally benching 135lbs. However I found myself stuck at this spot. I Stayed stuck at 135lbs doing around 7-5 reps each time until Oct 29th. I was getting frustrated with myself as I should be able to do a lot more. I had platued at such a low amount.


The height of my lifting was a few years ago when I was 26. I got to a point where I was benching 205lbs for about 8 reps while weighing about 135ish. I was starting to think that maybe I should just accept that I’m not a young man anymore and maybe my physical prime has left me. I started thinking back to what I was doing differently from back then and really just came to one conclusion. Back then I didn’t accept not making improvements. I went into the gym every day with the attitude that I was going to lift more than the session before.


On Oct 29th I decided to try and bench 145lbs. I ended up doing 7 reps. The session before I had only done 6 reps at 135lbs. Needless to say I felt pretty good about myself. The next session I was feeling some swagger and decided to try 155lbs. Once again I did 7 reps. Since Oct 29th I’ve added 10lbs to my bench every session and successfully done 7-6 reps. Tonight, Nov 13th, I successfully benched 175lbs for 7 reps. Currently weighing in at 132lbs. In about 3 weeks I’ve added 40lbs to my bench and havent changed anything other than my attitude. It’s fascinating what difference just mindset can play in something as trivial as weightlifting.


TLDR: I started going back to the gym and was stuck benching 135lbs for a few weeks. Got a positive mindset and believed I could lift more and have added 40lbs to my bench in a few weeks.

Something I learned after years of working out from one little stupid book I got that came with a PowerTec rack I bought is if you want power go heavy and less reps.

Whatever amount of weight you can do, only do one set of 3 reps. If you do four next time slightly increase the weight. And only do that exercise after 5-6 days of rest. Give those muscles time to repair.

Very effective for building power if that is your goal. You will get stronger than you ever thought possible.

a reply to: rollinondubs

I have to agree, Ive been weight lifting 5 years now Im benching 6 x 110kg (242 pounds) weighing 97kg (213 pounds)

I visualise my lift before lifting, also dont forget to change your workout routine every 3 months to stop that nasty plateau this has helped me immensely.

i power lift. its funny, my shoulders get banged up anytime i hit 350 on the bench. but thankfully the latest injury is bicep, not shoulders.

my earlier shoulder problems started because i did not do enough back to compensate. i always did back, but you gotta do a TON of back to make up for chest.

the problem is your chest gets stronger, muscles get bigger, and tighter. then they pull your shoulders forward, cause they are getting tighter.

so to avoid that kind of injury, lots of stretching, and tons of back, rear deltoids, and trapezius.


then benching is absolutely simple.

first day heavy day. this is the fun fun day. reps on my heavy day were like this before injury-

1. 10 reps at 135 to warm up
2. 10 reps at 225
3. 5-8 reps at 275
4. 1-3 reps at 315

i was capping it at 315. the last time i benched 350, i was doing 3-4 reps at 335. then injury, so i had to slow down and stay at 315.

then 2-3 days later-
1. THREE sets of 10 at 225

heavy day is fantastic. your only goal, is that last set. so do not waste too much energy on the early reps. ok so for me, my cap was 315. so the entire workout for bench, was how many reps i could get at 315. i did not care about 225, 275, etc. all that counts is 315. you gotta get the heavy weight and reps. if you can get ballsy, you go 6 reps, 4 reps, 1-2 reps heaviest weight. but i usually went 10, 6, 2-3

light day is active recovery day. this is the day you just do 3 sets of 10 at whatever weight is comfy for that. light day is to remind your chest that it is benching, and also to build endurance, because on heavy day, its about weight, not reps.


go on youtube, because there is a way to lock your feet down as you bench that will give you and addition 10-30 pounds of strength. ive been doing it for 20 years now.

then of course, if you increase your triceps and deltoids, that will also help your bench.

give me 100% healthy joints, i can bench 400 in less than 6 months. but right now, im trying to heal a bicep injury, then im going to go for 400 as soon as it is healed.

doing back to compensate is a very important concept in ALL your body parts. because you want to stay balanced on every muscle group.

also, make sure you do legs at least once a week. because quads, hams, and glutes are your biggest muscles, so if you build those up, lots more test and hgh will be rushing thru your blood. more muscle you have, the more hormones you produce.

im a big guy, and after all these years, the 1 heavy 1 light day was by far the easiest and fastest way i ever found to increase my bench.

you can dm me too if you ever want to chat about lifting.

my bench is just average. but if you bench 400, then you are in a special zone. not many people can do it. like in my gym, maybe 25 guys can bench 400. like 400 can bench 300. 300 is cake, even with my injury.

my one claim to fame is my calves. i have the strongest calves around. i post on ig, and no one comes close to what i can do lol. so do not forget your calves on leg day!


last, it will be brutal, but end your leg workout with walking lunges.

a reply to: rollinondubs

Absolutely true, and I think the mind limits what you believe you can do based on its mostly subconscious calculations of what is safe and worthwhile. By worthwhile, I mean it's easier for the mind to justify pushing the limits of safety (injury prevention) if it's for a good reason.

So if your mind thinks 95# is reasonable for something trivial such as lifting weights, then there's your cap, when really maybe you could have been lifting 165 without hurting yourself. In putting increasing importance on lifting more, you changed the calculation. (It's 'x' important to do this, and 'y' chance of injury.... Complex brain calculation formulas based on internal programming and experience calculate it's a worthy endeavor...Therefore proceed!)

Probably much the same way the whole "lifting a car off of a trapped person" thing works. Sure, adrenaline is a component used, but you don't get the adrenaline without the brain choosing to send it.

I got sick of rolling logs from a tree I cut down once from front to backyard, got pissed off enough and decided to be done with it once and for all. I threw the last 15 monster logs over the fence. I have some back problems that normally would have been set off. I was perfectly fine. Went to move them to the wood stack near the fire pit a few days later - couldn't lift it off the ground.

100% True.
When they say the body will only go where the mind pushes it... it's not just some silly fitness cliche'!

I am female and have been heavy lifting for well over a year. I began with Strong Lifts 5x5 as I felt it was the easiest program around to break into the world of basic progressive lifting. I couldn't believe the increase in my gains from week to week. Progressive lifting with heavy weights and low reps is definitely the way to go! Since then I've gotten into a 6-day routine alternating my lifting/cardio/abs. It's wonderful and I know how you feel when you can get an extra 10 LBs!

I always tell my clients.... There is a big difference between what you CAN do, what you "think" you can do, and what you "know" you can do. I also tell them that if they know they can lift 20 LBs, start with a 40!

I firmly believe it is all in the mind. Not just with lifting but with anything fitness related... box jumps! A total mental game! Even weight loss is a mind game. If you've ever heard of the program "think yourself thin". Many people laugh at this concept but it works. Just have to wrap your brain around it!