actually I did my first bench press set with just the bar.

...

Then I went for the 10lbs right away because wow, that was light xD (I had been doing bodyweight stuff for 2 years and then some already. Push-ups at 200lbs means some decent pressing strength)

For bench? No... I started bench before SL by a couple of weeks so didn't go back to start with the bench, though first couple gym sessions that bar felt pretty heavy. So, day 1 when I decided to go ahead and start things, I had 10 lbs added. I hadn't lifted in years (like almost 10 really for free weights) before starting at the gym not long ago.

OHP, however, I did 1 set today with the tiny 2.5's and yeah, they be little but prove quite the weight in certain circumstances. Then again, I barely can do 5x5 with just the bar for OHP but i'm at 70 for bench so far. *shrugs* But not I just add the 5 each time, we'll see how 75 goes Saturday.

i used them on bench and i probably deadlifted with them at some point. just used them again this past week for the overhead press. sure they look silly, but y'know . . . my shoulders are fragile. i've already gone through a couple of phases where i overreached myself on the squats and ended up harbouring some kind of small injury for a couple of weeks, and then trying to work my way back. there's nothing quite as silly as having to rotate your whole body like a dalek because you've given yourself a neck pinch, for instance. or having to walk like a duck so you can favour one knee.

so to me, yeah i feel silly with the little why-even-bother sized plates on the bar, but hey - 5 pounds is more than 10% of the bar weight alone. in relative terms it's far more impressive to add fractionals to a naked oly bar than when you've already got bigger plates on it. and i think i've decided i feel silliest of all wandering around the gym in those times when i've damaged something, making half-assed tries at various lifts and just giving up.

fractionals are a point i have to go through to get to the next place past them. and in the grand scheme of your life, what's however long it takes you to do 25 reps of some lift? that's pretty short-term mortification really.

yeah, besides . . . 2.5's might be small, but they're not as small as my boobs. size ain't what counts, right? it's how you use it

lol, that was the first time I did Bench Press altogether. I went straight for 10s (wasn't doing stronglift at the time). I've used the fixed bar and the 2.5s alone on the oly bar for OHP though. They do look silly. But not as silly as thoe guys who stack on plates and then can barely move their bar ;P

2.5 plates look pretty big compared to the 1.25 ones I bring to the gym. I'd like to get some .75 plates for OHPs if they exist...

Awesome! Thanks summerdaisy!

Selfishly, I'm kind of glad to hear others aren't going anywhere on OHP either!

I totally rocked those 2.5's. But I agree, after a few weeks, I don't really care. The turning point for me was seeing a woman that was literally stick thin in Target and thinking "I wish I was thin like that", and then I thought "But I can lift heavy stuff, yo." Things are happening, so I don't care if people are judging.