Chapter 25: Bench Press

Chapter 25: Bench Press

"He should exert force like this in the leg movement."

"A bit faster, but it still seems off."

"Any issue with the posture in the latter part?"

"."

Following the memories of his battle with the middle-aged man in the consciousness, Lu Yuan recalled those impressive move segments.

Constant imitation, continuous practice, ongoing adjustments—his leg speed seemed to have increased.

Each kick became sharper, more forceful. It felt like he had been at it for quite some time.

"Exhale."

Lu Yuan breathed heavily, chest rising and falling, gradually emerging from the state of 'Absolute Focus.'

Wiping sweat from his forehead, his first instinct was to check his professional panel.

Basic Leg Technique Lv4 (160/800)

Lu Yuan was astonished; just yesterday, the experience points for Basic Leg Technique Lv4 were only fifty, and now it had reached one hundred sixty.

A practice session had earned him over a hundred experience points?!

"Having a benchmark for practice really speeds up progress, and practical combat is also crucial. There's nothing clearer than getting a beating up close for learning."

Lu Yuan attempted a kick.

Despite the prolonged practice, fatigue, and a bit of numbness in the leg muscles, the kick still made a faint sound, noticeably faster than before.

"The direction is right."

A satisfied smile appeared on Lu Yuan's face. "Now, I just need to keep working in this direction."

Checking the increase in professional experience, he gained about 10 points this time, estimating the practice lasted approximately an hour.

About to ask Liu Yue for the time, Lu Yuan turned and noticed most people in the training room were staring at him, some with peculiar expressions.

Beside him, Liu Yue's face was filled with admiration.

"Lu Yuan, you're really amazing!"

Blushing slightly, Liu Yue expressed excitement. "Those kicks you just did were so cool!"

"Eh."

Lu Yuan paused, realizing that his leg practice had captivated everyone.

Thinking about it, the combat leg techniques he learned from the middle-aged man were sharp and honed through real battles.

With an 11-point strength, the kicks could generate a strong wind when executed correctly.

For a group of beginners in the basic class, it was undoubtedly impressive.

A man in his thirties, wearing glasses, approached with a smile, holding a phone. "Young man, your leg techniques are really good. Add me on social media; let's chat sometime."

"Sorry, I didn't bring my phone."

Lu Yuan quickly deflected the glasses-wearing man's request and then asked Liu Yue.

"How long did I practice?"

"One hour and seven minutes."

Liu Yue's response was immediate. Lu Yuan had developed a habit of asking her for the time in almost every class.

It matched his estimation.

Curious, Lu Yuan asked, "Did Coach Lin come?"

"He did, glanced in from the door, and then left us to practice on our own. You were training at that time, probably didn't notice."

Seems like Lin Zhiqin was skipping class again.

Despite Lu Yuan's easygoing nature, dealing with a coach with Lin Zhiqin's attitude was not without grievances.

However, Lin Zhiqin's absence conveniently allowed Lu Yuan to attend to another matter.

Thinking about this, Lu Yuan instructed Liu Yue.

"If Coach Lin comes, tell him I have something to do and ask for half a class off."

"Oh, okay."

Liu Yue obediently nodded.

As Lu Yuan walked to the door, he suddenly remembered something. Turning around, he shouted at Liu Yue's back.

"Water! You haven't drunk water yet, Lu Yuan!"

Unfortunately, Lu Yuan's figure vanished before Liu Yue's reminder reached him.

Liu Yue, holding a prepared vitamin energy drink, looked a bit disappointed, pouting in the direction where Lu Yuan disappeared.

Outside the training room, Lu Yuan entered the martial arts gym's lobby.

Glancing around, he quickly spotted someone—a girl in her early twenties, wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt with the martial arts gym logo and a badge around her neck.

In the gym, several similar individuals were mainly responsible for reception and guidance, often recruited from nearby universities.

There were more female staff members.

"Hello, where is the device for measuring punching power?"

Approaching, Lu Yuan's question startled the girl who was intensely observing several male students exercising in the strength training area.

"The device for measuring punching power? Uh..."

The girl's face reddened visibly, and she quickly pointed in a direction.

"Just go straight and turn left. Forget it; I'll take you there."

Leading Lu Yuan, the girl quickly brought him to a spacious room with various training equipment—a more advanced training area than the lobby.

"This is our advanced trainee's practice area. The device for measuring punching power is over there. You can wait for them to finish."

Pointing discreetly at something resembling a large vertical sandbag, the girl whispered to Lu Yuan, as if it were some kind of secret.

"Thank you."

Lu Yuan thanked the girl and entered the training room.

The punching power testing device was surrounded by three or four people, all young men and women, seemingly in their twenties.

"Impressive, Mingyu, this punch can reach level four!"

"Hehe, do you think I practice for nothing every day?"

"Let me try; let me try!"

As they chatted and laughed, seemingly relaxed, Lu Yuan glanced at them briefly and then ignored them.

"For advanced trainees only."

Seeing the words posted on the wall, Lu Yuan understood why the girl had whispered earlier.

"Advanced trainees. Cheng Peng is an advanced trainee, right? If asked, I'll just say I'm Cheng Peng."

Lu Yuan had no psychological burden, and while the group was occupied with the punching machine, he explored the surroundings.

The training equipment here varied—specifically for arm strength, wrist strength, finger strength. Some of them, Lu Yuan couldn't figure out how to use.

In the middle of the room, a wall-mounted LCD TV over 100 inches played tutorials on basic boxing, leg techniques, and footwork in a loop.

Lu Yuan took a quick tour and finally stopped in front of a bench press machine. Trying it out, he kept adding weight until he reached 130 kilograms, feeling there was still some strength left.

He was relieved.

Generally, punching power would be higher than bench pressing.

The former emphasized instant explosive force, while the latter focused more on sustained output.

Comparatively, Lu Yuan felt the latter was a more suitable standard for measuring a person's strength.

Because punching power relied too much on skill.

A regular person who didn't know how to throw a punch and an experienced boxer with the same strength could have vastly different punching power values.

"A normal adult male's bench press at 9 strength is around 60 kilograms. I've surpassed this value by more than twice. The difference in strength between 2 points is even larger than I imagined!"

Lu Yuan was about to see where his limits lay.

At that moment, the group around the punching machine finished and began walking toward him.

His eyes flickered, and he quickly stood up, heading directly to the punching machine's location.

(End of this chapter)