Sunday 9th March 2008. I had a quite fabulous day at the 2008 BWLA British Bench Press Championships in Solihull. Not only did I retain my Over 50s title, I also broke the Over 50s British record TWICE, and achieved the magical 200 kilo bench press with my third and final lift.
200 has been my long term goal for as long as I can remember. Sometimes it was so far away that it probably made people chuckle at me behind my back when I told them. Well now I've done it, and who's chuckling now?!
At my first British Bench in 2004, I lifted 135 and came 12th out of 14 in the Masters 1 90 Kilos class. In 2005, I failed in each of three attempts to press 150 kilos and 'bombed'. In 2006 I won my first ever British title - the Masters 2 100 kilos class - with a lift of 172.5. In 2007, although badly injured, I managed to defend my title with a 165 lift that remains, to this day, the bravest (or daftest) lift of my career.
In 2008 I opened with 165 to ensure winning the title. The British record has stood at 190 kilos since 1999, and to take the record I had to lift 192.5, and I did that with my second lift. Then came the all out attack on 200. It felt scarily heavy, I thought it was going to stick, but it didn't, the whole place erupted, and the long sought 200 was finally in the bag.
A day that will be etched in the memory for as long as I breathe.
The improvement is down to better and smarter training, incorporating bands into my training programme, and the steady progression that comes with a structured training programme. And the tenacity to go to the gym come rain, hail or shine and put the work in. Now 200 is just a number on the road to somewhere else. The quest for improvement continues.
The photos are courtesy of Bryn Evans. The one in the blue shirt is my 165 opener, the black shirt is me with 200 kilos at arms length. And I can tell you, 200 kilos at arms length is bloody heavy!
