I benched 415 pounds!

Back in my 20s, I weighed around 155 pounds after cutting down from about 210 over 3-6 months—you know, the classic “get ready for summer” cut. Even though I got really light, I kept my strength up by training with heavy weights. At one point, I was benching 415 pounds for reps regularly. In hindsight, though, I wish I had focused more on longevity—things like conditioning, yoga, and mobility. Now, I deal with all kinds of injuries, constant pain, and mobility issues because of the reckless way I trained when I was younger.

I was in such good shape that I actually considered competing in a bodybuilding show. But when I found out that “natural” shows weren’t really tested or natural, I dropped the idea. I wasn’t about to compete with guys who had an edge I wasn’t willing to take.

These days, I hack squat what used to be my bench press warm-up weight, and I can’t bench at all. My ego’s had to adjust, and I’m really limited in what I can do now. Like I said earlier, hindsight is 20/20.

The point I’m making is this: for anyone doing what I did back then, it’s just not worth it. I’m living in a chronic pain hell now, and it sucks—it was all avoidable. We train for health, but in my case, it had the opposite effect. Don’t make the same mistakes I did.