Training for Relative Strength

I don't train like a bodybuilder, powerlifter, crossfitter or a strong man.. because I'm none of those things, they are athletes.. I am a gaming, cruising, father to two who trains with a focus on relative strength and its direct correlation to my mental health.

What it means

Training for relative strength means pushing or lifting any weight relative to my bodyweight. When I started lifting (and by this I mean not fluffing around for a couple of days then nothing for a year) my bodyweight was 63kg and I struggled to benchpress 60kg.

I had some friends who trained with different approaches, strongman, bodybuilding and powerlifting. All of them I considered to be strong. Some wanted to look good, some just wanted to be strong.

Why not just copy them?

In a nutshell, because I'm not them, my goals are different and the exercises I enjoy are different, even the amount of reps/sets I wanted to do was different. My goals initially were:

• Be as light as possible

• Benchpress as much as I could at a light weight

• Maintain a positive headspace

I made my own routine that suited me and my goals, I tracked and wrote down everything I did. My friends who trained in their respective disciplines all knocked my approach to training because they couldn't see what I was trying to achieve on paper (and that is ok). I stuck to my plan, and through consistency and tracking, my strength started to present itself.

#benchpress #relativestrength #mentalhealth #lightweight