what many of you dont realize is when you have been lifting since you were 12 years old on the weights in the local highschool football weight house, somewhere along the way you realize that the mind controls the muscles, it all starts in your mind, if you learn how to program and train the mind you can achieve almost anything you want, as long as you are building your skeletal system and muslces and they are big and strong enough to handle the programming done in your mind, then something like benching 225 50 reps can become a regular thing........why........ ....its because you have programmed your mind and trained your muscles to perform the tasks, many of you who dont lift alot or lift alot, if you dont realize that it all begins in the mind, and the mind-muscle connection is the basis for growth and improvement, until you use your mind in the gym, your body will never respond or look like you want it to, thats what pumping iron is about, learning the intricacies and trials it takes to build the body, yeah im 38, my knees hurt from years of heavy squatting, i would be lucky to squat 500 one time, but i still have leg size and still know how to use my mind to build the leg, its not like my upper body, but at the end of the day if your still making progress and strength and size are going up, you are on the right track, i ran into a lady she said her husband is 69, lifetime iron pumper, has beat cancer 4 times, and i told her his mind power and strength from pumping iron all those years probably had something to do with him pulling through 4 times.