Submitted by okbuddy9970 t3_11mjcpq in tifu
I will start off this post by saying I am quite a relatively weak man and cannot bench as much as I please. Today I was in the school weight room and I was benching for the first time in a very long time. I started out by benching 65, which was too easy for me. I then went to 75, that was a little harder. Then I tried 85, I only did 3 reps before giving up. But my confidence was very strong. So I tried 95 pounds. This is where things go south. This is too heavy and I cannot get the barbell off my chest. My buddy sees my struggling and offers to pull the barbell off me before I start suffocating. He was flabbergasted that I did not ask for a spotter. I thanked him many times because he practically saved my life. But I still have something else to worry about. This kid who bullies me saw the whole thing. Now I am prepared for the bullying.
TLDR: I benched too much at the gym, got humiliated, and almost suffocated.
aqlu t1_jbi70ai wrote
Like the other guy said, use a lower weight. By doing more reps at less weight, you can fatigue the muscles more. As you get stronger you can load on more weight, but for testing the upper ends of your strength you really should use a spotter.
If spotters arent available, use a bench with some sort of safety mechanism or sturdy boxes as a failsafe. Even with safety failsafes, if you cant knock out clean reps with good control, it's time to rack it until you have a spotter. I bench in an empty gym and the bench setup doesnt have anything to catch the bar if I miss a rep, so I leave the clamps off if I should ever need to dump the weight.
Strength is a habit, not a moment