Chapter 25 - Bench Press
"His leg kick motion should be like this when exerting force."
"Faster, but it still seems wrong."
"Is there a problem with the second half of the posture?"
"."
Lu Yuan followed the memories of the fight with the middle-aged man during the consciousness battle, recalling the leg kick sequences that left a deep impression.
Constantly imitating, constantly practicing, constantly correcting.
He felt his leg kicks were getting faster.
Each kick also became more fierce and powerful.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
"Phew -"
Lu Yuan was gasping for air, his chest heaving up and down as he gradually exited the state of Absolute Focus.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, the first thing he did was check his Profession Panel.
[Basic Leg Techniques lv4 (160/800)]
Lu Yuan was surprised, then delighted.
He remembered the experience value for Basic Leg Techniques lv4 was only fifty yesterday. Now it had reached one hundred and sixty already!
His practice session this time increased the experience by a whole one hundred plus!
"Having a benchmark to reference when practicing really speeds up progress. Actual combat is also an important key.
There's no clearer or more explicit teaching method than getting beat up at close range."
Lu Yuan tried a leg kick.
Even after practicing for so long and feeling drained and sore, this kick still made a faint sonic boom and was noticeably faster than before.
"The direction is right."
Lu Yuan's face involuntarily showed a satisfied smile. "Next I just need to keep working hard in this direction."
Lu Yuan looked at his Profession experience gain again, about 10 points added.
Extrapolating from this, his practice session lasted about an hour.
Just as he was about to ask Lu Yue for the time, he turned and realized most of the people in the training hall were watching him.
Their expressions were a bit strange.
Lu Yue's face especially was full of worship.
"Lu Yuan, you're so awesome!"
Lu Yue's round face was slightly flushed. Stars shone from beneath her glasses as she excitedly said, "Your leg kicks just now looked so cool!"
"Oh," Lu Yuan was startled, only then realizing what happened.
So his leg practice session had "shocked" these people.
No wonder.
The martial arts leg techniques he learned from the middle-aged man were honed in actual combat. The moves were fierce.
With 11 points of strength, kicking correctly could still produce a leg wind.
Of course this group of beginners lazily training in the basics profession would be "astonished."
A man in his thirties with glasses smiled as he walked over, phone in hand.
"Little bro, your legwork is really good. Let me add you, we can chat more when free."
"Sorry, I don't have a phone."
Lu Yuan blocked the bespectacled man with those words, sending him away awkwardly. Then he asked Lu Yue,
"How long was I practicing?"
"One hour and seven minutes."
Lu Yue answered without thinking.
At this point, Lu Yuan basically asked her to time his sessions every class. She had already developed the habit of keeping track for him.
It was about what he estimated.
Lu Yuan was puzzled next. "Coach Lin isn't here?"
"He came, took a look at the door and let us practice on our own before leaving again.
You were training so probably didn't see."
Seemed like Coach Lin was skipping class again.
Even with Lu Yuan's easygoing personality, he still felt dissatisfied with Coach Lin's attitude.
But with Lin away, it was convenient for him to do something else.
Thinking of this, Lu Yuan instructed Lu Yue.
"If Coach Lin comes back tell him I had something to do and took half the class off."
"Oh, okay."
Lu Yue nodded obediently.
Just as Lu Yuan was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something and yelled at his departing back, "Water! You haven't drunk water yet! Lu Yuan!"
But Lu Yuan's figure had already flashed out of sight.
Lu Yue held the vitamin energy drink she had carefully chosen and prepared ahead of time. Looking at the doorway Lu Yuan left from, she pouted slightly, disappointed.
After leaving the training hall, Lu Yuan arrived at the martial arts school lobby.
Glancing left and right, his gaze quickly locked onto someone.
It was a girl in her early twenties.
She wore a blue short-sleeved shirt with the Yuan Martial Arts School logo and had a staff badge around her neck.
There were quite a few similar staff at the martial arts school, mainly for reception and guidance.
Most were university students hired from nearby.
Girls were the majority.
"Excuse me, where is the punching power testing device?"
As he walked over, the girl was staring intently at some male students exercising in the strength training area. Lu Yuan's question made her jump in surprise.
"The punching power testing device?"
The girl's face clearly reddened for a moment, then she quickly pointed in a direction.
"Go straight that way, left hand side th-. Nevermind, I'll take you there."
The girl led Lu Yuan quickly to a spacious room furnished with some training equipment.
This was also a training hall, but it looked far more advanced than the one in the main lobby.
"This is our advanced students' training area. The punching power device is over there.
You can use it after they're done."
The girl whispered to Lu Yuan as she discreetly pointed to something that looked like an oversized free-standing punching bag. As if using it would be breaking some rules.
"Thanks."
Lu Yuan thanked the girl, then walked into the training hall.
The punching power device she indicated was surrounded by three or four young men and women.
"Awesome Mingyu, a punch like that could get you up to 4th Rank!"
"Heh, as if I practice every day for nothing."
"Let me try, move over!"
The few chatted and laughed lightly, appearing relaxed. They only glanced at Lu Yuan when he entered, and ignored him otherwise.
"For advanced students only."
Lu Yuan saw the sign posted on the wall and understood why the girl had spoken softly to him earlier.
"Advanced students. Isn't Cheng Peng an advanced student? If asked I'll just say I'm Cheng Peng."
Lu Yuan felt no psychological burden. While the device was occupied, he took the chance to look around.
The training equipment here was indeed more diverse.
There were ones specifically for training arm, wrist, and finger strength. Some Lu Yuan couldn't even figure out how to use.
In the center of the room was also a 100+ inch LCD screen on the wall.
It played instructional videos on basic boxing, kicking, and footwork on loop.
After a lap, Lu Yuan stopped in front of a bench press and tried it. He kept adding weight until 130 kg, and still felt he had strength to spare.
He was instantly relieved.
Generally, punching power tended to be a bit higher than bench press.
The former emphasized explosive power in an instant, while the latter focused more on sustained power output.
By comparison, Lu Yuan felt the latter was actually better for gauging a person's strength.
Because punching power relied too much on technique.
For a totally untrained normal person and an experienced boxer, applying the same strength, the punching power values they could produce could differ tremendously.
"The average bench press for a normal adult male with 9 points of strength is around 60 kg. I've already exceeded that by more than double!"
"The gap from a 2 point strength difference is larger than I imagined!"
Just as Lu Yuan was about to test his limits, the youths surrounding the punching machine finished up and started heading his way.
His eyes flashed. He promptly stood up and walked straight towards the punching power device.