Tommy shakes his head as he watches him struggle under the bar. Then grips it with both hands and almost effortlessly pulls it up from Steve’s chest just as he pushes with all of his strength. The last few inches are a struggle but as they rest the bar down onto the forks Steve stands and looks at him while shaking his head. Then holds up his finger and thinks, as if projecting his thoughts: That’s still my record!

Tommy: I don’t know, you’d still be stuck under there if I wasn’t helping you.

Steve: You? You are me. It counts as my mind doing it.

He walks to the whiteboard and rubs out the previous record number beside the bench press. Then writes in 220kg x 1.