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The story
When the thread starter posted that after three months at the gym, their bench press limit was still just 25kg, 5ch users reacted with a flood of astonished comments like “that’s a weight even a grade-schooler could lift” and “there must be some kind of medical issue.” The poster, who is 171cm and 65kg, said they go to the gym three times a week and also walk four times a week, but other participants pointed out that beginners typically see much bigger gains in three months, and some questioned the efficiency of the 10-reps-times-3-sets approach itself. Meanwhile, longtime lifters offered concrete advice, noting that sticking with the same load lets the body adapt and progress stall — turning the thread into more than just mockery.
What people said
Makes me wonder if I'm just weak as a living creature
It's not 'wonder if' — it just is
No way…
I'm gonna cry
No way
Somebody bring me a source on this
Am I disabled or something?
The bar alone is 20kg, you know
I'm doing 10 reps x 3 sets
That approach isn't very efficient
Normally 'bench weight' means the max you can lift for one rep
For reference, if you can do 25kg for 24 reps straight, that works out to roughly enough strength to lift 40kg for one rep
Wow, you really know your stuff
Guess 40kg's out of reach then
25kg is basically just the bar's weight
Never seen anyone do it with just 2.5kg plates on each side
That's literally me
Putting 2.5kg plates on the bar
Can you even do a single push-up?
If you're really at this level, your upper arm probably isn't even 30cm around — sounds like you might actually be sick
You're wasting your money
You're probably just going because you figured 'maybe going to the gym will make me popular,' right? Some kind of horny motive?
I'm doing it for self-improvement
People back in the day used to carry 60kg rice sacks
Get a trainer? That's kind of intimidating
My elbows start hurting
25kg is brutal enough for me as it is
25kg? That's not even middle-schooler level, you'd probably lose to a grade-schooler…
Try doing 5×5 with bench twice a week
That'll get you up to 120kg
If you're serious, are you like nothing but skin and bones?
I'm 171cm and 65kg
First time I tried, I lifted 100kg and the instructor practically begged me to take up combat sports…
My grip strength was already 70kg, which I was kind of proud of
If you really lifted 100kg right off the bat with that build, no wonder they wanted to put you in boxing or something
With bench press, pretty much anyone can hit about 1.5x their bodyweight within half a year
You should seriously change up your routine
Your muscles have probably just adapted to the stimulus
Most beginners would be lifting roughly double that weight after the same amount of time
Right?
No matter how you slice it, you should be at 40kg by now
Go all 7 days
The other 4 days I'm doing 40 minutes of walking for weight loss
Dieting with your height and weight, huh…
You've got 18 free hours a day and you're only doing 40 minutes?
But taking it slow and steady is my style
I'm gonna keep at it until I can breeze through 25kg for 10 reps x 3 sets 👍
That probably won't change no matter how long you keep at it
Your body's adapted to the load, so you won't get any stronger
Once your muscles adapt to the stimulus you'll plateau fast
Better to vary the load instead of sticking with the same weight
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
In bench press terminology, the weight usually refers to the max you can barely lift for a single rep — which is different from a weight you can handle for multiple reps, like 10 reps x 3 sets (this distinction underlies the calculation in comment #59). It’s said that even beginners commonly reach around 1 to 1.5 times their bodyweight within a few months, which is the benchmark behind why commenters saw 25kg as low. Also, as touched on in comments #166 and #168, “plateauing” — where muscles adapt to the same weight and routine, causing progress to stall — is a common phenomenon in strength training, and is said to require changing up form or programming. The comments about “illness” or “being sick” in the thread are less factual claims and more part of the exaggeration-heavy teasing culture of the board; it’s worth noting no actual medical diagnosis was involved.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Nanimo Jikkyo G) thread “I’ve been going to the gym for 3 months and 25kg is my limit on bench press.”
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