I graduated from college the first time in May 2006. I moved back home to Utica and lived with my parents for the next month while I interviewed for jobs. Interestingly enough, my first offer was for a company that also was in the Utica area. I took the opportunity to extend my stay with my parents and save some money (which was really helpful–thanks, Mom and Dad!). Aside from the financial benefit of living with my parents, I would be remiss not to mention the extensive gym my Dad had built in his garage over a couple of decades. And I don’t mean just bought equipment into a room. He actually designed and upholstered a lot of the benches and machines himself (well, ok, with the help of my Mom too). It was a really great setup.
My Dad had been working out for around four decades, and I knew he wouldn’t mind showing his son the ropes. Well over the next three years, my Dad and I turned into really great workout buddies. We knew the drill–get in the gym every other day, work out hard, get out of the gym and rest. Rinse and repeat. If nothing else we were disciplined. by 2009, I was in the best shape of my life. I had benched over 300lbs the prior year, my arms, shoulders, and chest had all grown in size. Even though my Dad was a little bit older than me, he grew quite a bit too. We worked well together.
In March 2009, we decided to go to the Arnold Sports Festival, put on by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. During the Expo, MHP Strong held a contest to see who could bench press their weight 25x. That’s 25 reps of your body weight, not 25x body weight ;-). My Dad encouraged me to try it. I thought, “Why not!?”
So here I am, at the ripe age of 24, weighing in at 173lbs and benching my body weight 25 times.