Muscle Gain Forum

Nine months ago I'd literally never touched a barbell. Today I benched my bodyweight (78kg) for the first time and had to post it somewhere. For any total beginners lurking - it's so doable, here's roughly how it went.

Bodyweight bench in 9 months from zero is excellent, well done. That's the payoff of consistent linear progression as a beginner. What got you there - just a basic program run consistently?

Honestly yeah - a simple full body 3x a week, added weight nearly every session for months, ate enough protein. Nothing clever at all.

That's the beauty of it. Beginners overcomplicate everything when 'simple program + add weight + eat protein + don't quit' is the entire formula for the first year. Great example of it working.

This is exactly the motivation I needed today - I'm two months in and bench feels stuck at the bar plus a bit. Knowing you started from literal zero helps.

Two months in is the hardest part because nothing feels like progress yet. Keep adding tiny amounts, it compounds faster than you'd believe. Bodyweight will sneak up on you.

Strong work. Next milestones to chase: 1.25x bodyweight bench and a bodyweight-on-the-bar bench for reps. Having the next target keeps the motivation rolling after a big milestone like this.

Already eyeing 1.25x. Thanks all - posting this so the next nervous beginner knows it really does work if you just keep showing up.