How Much Do You Bench?

This morning, at around 6:15, I arrived at Gold's to lift weights with my fiance, Claire. I was half-asleep and Claire was getting really annoyed with me because I was really slow. We warmed up - I did the bike on a really challenging setting - 3 - and then we did this chest workout I found in one of the muscle magazines I read (I know they're stupid, but I love them). For the chest workout, you do 10 sets of 5 alternating between a weight that is 50 percent and 75 percent of your max. I gave up trying to impress Claire a long time ago and did weights that were pretty easy for me. After we finished, I met up with a friend, Paul, to finish up with 15 sets of deadlifts. Like most guys, the competetive juices really start flowing when I'm lifting weights with another dude. So, when Paul showed up, I puffed out my chest and allowed the gamemenship to commence. The only problem is Paul is much, much stronger than I am and I barely made it out of the gym with my back intact. This situation was similar to my workout the previous night at Bruce's KO. I got to the gym at 5:00 already worn down, jumped rope for fifteen minutes and tried to push myself too hard during the 5:30 class. Luckily, my partner for the day, Michael, showed pity on me and allowed me a breather while we were slugging each other in the stomach while holding a medicine ball - good times. I know you've got to pace yourself, and know when to stop, but because I'm so competitive, I have a hard time doing that. It is necessary to push yourself to break plateaus and progress, but this must be done wisely. Way too many times in the past, I've pushed myself beyond the limits only to injure myself and severely hamper my progress. Lesson I really need to learn: Sometimes it is necessary to swallow your pride and back off to avoid over-training and injury. You've got to learn to listen to your body and know when to suck it up and forge ahead and when to give your body a break.