Benching with my boss
Despite seeming comical this is actually a serious question. I asked my boss last week if I could join him in the gym since I noticed that he frequently leaves early to go and lift. He agreed to lift together, and mentioned that we'd be benching today. My issue is that I can't imagine his bench max being more than around 150 pounds, whereas I typically do sets at over 100 pounds more than that. I'm an intern at the company and he is much more senior than me, so I don't know what to do. Should I just bench whatever he benches and not get a good workout? Or should I bench my weight with him? I am not feeling like there is a very humble way to bench way more than him. I know this shouldn't affect my future at the company, but could it?
Never outshine the master
Assert dominance and refuse to give him a spot, rep his max, then proceed to yell about who’s going to carry the boats
And the logs
how is your username even allowed lmao
Richard Long? At least I’m not Richard Short.
I don't know bro if he took you up on that he might want more from you than lifting those weights
Do what you normally do. Depending on how senior he is, he will either see if as awesome or if he’s insecure he’ll get self conscious. This is actually a great test for him to see how he is with self confidence.
Bench your normal weight. It's another datapoint in his subconscious that you are a person that can excel / do hard things. Just don't come off as boastful
No joke I have a friend at a PE firm who became gymbros with one of the partners when he was a 2nd year ASO, he's a former D1 athlete and the partner was D2 in the same sport (20+ yr age diff). They've been working out together probably 2-3x a week over the past 4 years with my friend becoming a pseudo personal trainer helping the partner plan out meals and lifts (helped the guy lose a good ~40lbs), and during that time he's blown through Sr ASO and is now a VP on track for Principal in the next year or so. If your boss lets you lift with him, you lift with him and be a fucking bro about it. It'll pay dividends. Literally no downsides unless you fail to spot and drop the bar on him.
Well...not necessarily a downside here if you want to get promoted into his seat lol
Well obviously wait till you're a principal first so you're next in line. It's all about the long game.
Give him some of your divine protein at the end of each workout if possible.
Only an insecure shmuck would be upset about someone beneath them in a corporate role outclass them in something completely unrelated, especially if that person is younger/in college and probably noticably bigger.
If he's an adult and not a tool he will be comfortable in his own skin and probably even ask for advice. Dont make him feel bad about it, but definitely provide encouragement and advice when needed
Having a hobby you are legitimately good at is the quickest in with people much more senior than you if they share the same hobby, and every person I've met actually finds you cool to be around in this aspect. I like to do distance running, tri's, and cycling and have bonded with (much slower, and the very very occaisional faster) leaders quite a few times on this. They just want someone they can talk shop with
This is a great opportunity to raise your bench press
Just because he's more senior doesn't mean he's not a normal dude, especially outside of the office setting
If you don’t want to go up in weight, just rep out at his weight. You could also go at your max and have him help you do a drop set when he comes in when his weight hits.
OP I want an update, how did the first session go?
I’d lift your workout weight but unload the rsck for him and reload for your self. Do your workout but make it as seamless as possible. You’ll get to show your skills and be deferential to your boss’s status that way.
I think you are just respectful. Think about it like this, if you were lifting with someone better then you how would you want them to treat you. I think your best bet is to do you but also be supportive as if he is starting his journey with you. If he benches all the reps hit him with a hell yeah man even if it isn’t a lot of weight to you. If he finished three sets of 10 let him know “you moving that weight too easy man you gotta move up” if he doesn’t get as many traps let him know “it’s work, it comes in time” truth be told he is human and you being there just be supportive. Just as you would someone starting new at the gym. Then tomorrow when he comes in and benches 250 for 10 reps like it’s nothing don’t be surprised
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Both you and your boss are both pipsqueeks.
Update from OP here: I lifted with him and it went quite well. Basically we got to the gym and all the benches were taken, so he decided to do shoulders instead. On OHP I just did the same weight and reps as him, I didn't wanna flex on him during the first exercise. He kept saying "this looks too light for you!" and I just said "nah bro, those last few reps were a bit tricky for me." He then complimented my shoulder strength, despite me not even going up in weight. I think this is pretty best case scenario because I'm showing him that I'm strong, but in a humble way: without upping the weight or reps on him. However, a bench eventually opened up and I asked if he wanted to bench to which he replied "nah I'll just stick to shoulders today". However I was itching for a nice bench session so I started benching, and called him over during my topset for a spot. I loaded up 245, but instead of loading two 45s and a 10 on each side, I loaded a 45, 25, and three 10s on each side. My rationale is that this is a less flashy way to load the bar than having two plates and some change. He complemented my strength without knowing how much was on the bar exactly, and then the rest of the workout was smooth sailing. The next day over lunch he told another coworker "OP is super strong!", which makes me think that he thinks its cool, and that his ego is not at all bruised.
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