Well played, Jacking!
Not only was he Libyan, he did nothing but smoke and drink before going to the gym with you! The character you have invented is a little bit formulaic, though, don't you think?
Excellent of you to "modify" your story, though. For me personally, given a normally fit individual with huge natural strength, 225 is within the realm of possibility, but not 245. Why? Because I have taken plenty of big guys to the gym who have never worked out a day in their life, and the best I have ever seen did 225.
However, it was not done "easily", as you suggest in your hypo.
Your suggestion that your character "works out" with 550 is a good one, too. You know that people can "work out" at their max, right? I myself have done many 1-rep max sets, FYI.
So, we now have a character from an obscure part of the world where there are no records, and which is famed for not only unhealthy youth lifestyles, but for having an abiding interest in physical strength. You try to build credibility in the mind of the reader through the association, but it would have been even better had you picked Turkey or Bulgaria. The claim for this character has gone down from 245 to 225, nearly 10%. The character is claimed to now be doing weights that would put him among the best, yet there is no easily accessible verification thereof. And the best part, he still did it "easily" the "first time" after having done nothing but "smoke and drink" for his youth.
If you want to keep it at 225, scrap the "easily", tell me the guy was 18 yrs or above, tell me that he was huge with big ham hands, and tell me that he in fact did something other than just smoke and drink, I would be willing to come on board. We can even forget his name. But, you especially need to scrap the "easily" part.
Like I said, I personally have seen this scenario. With struggle and horrible form, having done something other than just smoke and drink, from a guy who was absolutely huge--6'1", 285 lbs, naturally. Again, with struggle, the first time. After about 4 workouts, he had an easier time of it. After about 10 workouts, he was repping with 2.5 plates, and after about 2 months he was at a confident 3 plates, rather alarmingly "easily".
Well played, Jacking. I still especially love the "easily" part, very good!