Chapter Seven: Power
He measured his chest, waist and arm circumferences, all of which had increased. He took a few more pictures, with his body fat continuing to decrease. Although his abs are not yet clearly defined, his overall muscle mass has clearly increased.
He did a few push-ups, which were decidedly easier than before, doing a steady seventy without feeling strung out.
However, he did not continue, but stopped to search for the nearest gym on his mobile phone.
Doing push-ups and such bodyweight exercises could, at the beginning, give an indication of strength improvement, but when a certain baseline strength is reached, measures of progress become harder to calculate, requiring too much time.
By contrast, a gym's equipment allows for a more precise data-based assessment of one's physical strength.
Upon arriving at the gym, Xiang Kun requested a trial for half a week to a month. The young sales person assisting him gave him a three-session trial card, informing him that if he was still undecided after three sessions, he could have another trial card for further sessions before making his decision.
The young salesman personally acquainted Xiang Kun with the equipment, but during his university years, Xiang Kun had been brought to his university gym for two terms by his roommate, a fitness enthusiast. Thus, with his guidance, Xiang Kun became proficient in using most of the equipment, achieving a basic standard in his workout techniques.
After a moment, the young salesman received a call and left Xiang Kun alone to try out the equipment.
Since it wasn't quite three in the afternoon on a weekday, the gym wasn't very busy. After a brief warm-up on the elliptical, Xiang Kun began doing bench presses.
Initially, he used a 15KG weight plate on each side, just to reacquaint himself with the feeling of exertion as it had been some time since he graduated and no longer had access to gym equipment.
Suddenly a personal trainer, a hulking figure nearly 1.9 meters tall, approached Xiang Kun as he was about to add more weight plates. The trainer said, "Your movements are not quite standard. Be careful during the exercise. It's better to have someone watch you, in case you get hurt. Also, if you keep practicing like this, your chest muscles may develop unevenly..."
Xiang Kun was a bit taken aback. If he hadn't undergone a physical mutation caused by an unknown factor, and if he was just there to keep fit and build up his body, he might actually have been intimidated by the trainer's words.
However, the current Xiang Kun was able to subconsciously adjust his bench press movements according to the muscle exertion he felt in various parts of his body. To him, these were the best movements for muscle exertion.
Xiang Kun knew that the trainer's goal was to sell personal training sessions. To directly decline would likely lead to other personal trainers coming over. So he proposed a wager: "How about we make a bet on who can bench press the heaviest weight? If you win, I'll buy 20 sessions from you. If I win, you guarantee that no other personal trainers will approach me while I'm in the gym. How's that sound?"
The trainer looked puzzled at Xiang Kun. Was this guy pretending to be weak while only lifting a 50KG weight with great caution?
However, after estimating Xiang Kun's weight and height (it seemed he wasn't more than 1.8 meters tall and didn't weigh more than 85KG), the trainer, who weighed 97KG and consistently trained, figured he should easily win the strongman competition and accepted the bet.
At the start, Xiang Kun added two 15KG weight plates to each side, totalling 80KG. Under the trainer's supervision, he easily completed one lift. Then it was the trainer's turn. He added a 5KG weight plate to each side, totalling 90KG, and also completed one lift.
When Xiang Kun was up again, the weight was adjusted to 100KG. This is already a heavy weight in the gym. Few people would use this weight for regular exercises, and not many could reach it even for a single maximum lift.
Actually, Xiang Kun himself wasn't even sure of his maximum bench press. But after waking up that day, he clearly felt a significant increase in his strength. At least, he found it straightforward to lift 80KG.
Under the supervision of the trainer, he easily completed the 100KG lift.
The trainer's complexion changed. It became clear that Xiang Kun wasn't a novice and that his strength was considerable.
It got to the point where they added 2.5KG weight plates to each side, starting from 105KG, when the trainer began to struggle noticeably, and Xiang Kun started to spot him.
When it was Xiang Kun's turn to lift 110KG, he looked relaxed enough.
115KG...
120KG...
125KG...
By this time, a few gym members had gathered around, intrigued by the sight of someone competing in weightlifting against a trainer.
After Xiang Kun successfully lifted 130KG, the trainer eyed the barbell adjusted to 135KG with a sullen expression.
His usual maximum was actually more than 135KG, but after consecutively lifting such heavy weights, though there were intervals for rest, his muscles still felt a bit exhausted.
If he had known earlier, he would have attempted his maximum lift right away. But at that time, he had thought he could win easily before they reached 100KG. He had never expected Xiang Kun to be so strong, and clearly lifting those weights with much more ease than him.
Finally, halfway through the 135KG lift, the trainer could no longer muster the strength to continue. Luckily, Xiang Kun was spotting him and helped put away the barbell.
Then it was Xiang Kun's turn. Instead of lifting 135KG, he added 15KG to bring it up to 150KG.
Although the bet was with Xiang Kun, the trainer was still very careful to spot him behind the barbell. If Xiang Kun were to get hurt during the bet, he would definitely bear some responsibility.
Xiang Kun adjusted his grip, lifted the barbell, let it slowly descend until it just touched his chest, and then pushed it up steadily. The whole process seemed effortless.
But once he put the barbell back in position, Xiang Kun let out a long breath.
Even though it seemed stable, he could already feel his strength nearing its limit. He thought that he might be able to lift up to 160KG next time, but his movements would inevitably become distorted, straining his muscles.
After getting up from the bench, the trainer gave him a thumbs-up, admiringly said, "Impressive! You're really a master, your strength isn't insignificant. 150KG, and it didn't look close to your limit at all. Bro, are you a professional weightlifter?" Even though he had managed to lift 150KG before when he was in good condition, compared to Xiang Kun's easy and effortless lift, he was far behind. It was clear from the absolute strength and stamina display that Xiang Kun had completely outperformed him, causing him to wholeheartedly admit his defeat.
"No, I'm just working out to lose weight." Xiang Kun said, and walked towards the squat rack to calculate his maximum squat data.