All posts by Kev Brock

I'm a musician, singer/songwriter, blogger, writer, poet, bodybuilder, movie lover, music lover, video gamer, history/political buff, conservative/republican, etc. I like to do a lot of things.

Bench pressing with your butt off the bench… good idea? I say no, definitely not…

Today, I just started following USAPowerliftingNY instagram. I took a look at it and was a little curious about this one video you see above. A young lady doing bench press as you see in the video above. If you watch her doing bench, you can see that she’s doing it with her butt off the bench. There were instagram users in that post giving her compliments and positive feedback so then I decided to call her out on her awful bench press technique.

Her bench press technique is pretty bad. I said that in that post in the comments (which the comments in the post were deleted and thread is closed) and my comment sparked a huge debate. There were guys in there defending her and they were accusing me of trolling and stuff and I’m like WTF?

Isn’t the name of the game in powerlifting is critiquing a lifters form and technique? Yes, that’s the name of the game. That’s what powerlifting is all about is being realistic about your lift. I was in that thread in that video post saying that benching with your butt off the bench is bad and those guys in that post were acting like butt hurt crybabies. It’s just unreal.

I find it really strange that a powerlifting instagram would repost a benching video with the person’s butt coming off the bench and most powerlifting federations don’t accept that. Why do most and pretty much all powerlifting federations don’t accept the butt coming off the bench? Well, it’s cheating for the most part. The butt coming off the bench maybe able to let you lift more weight but it looks very risky also. You could end up injuring yourself or worse end up killing yourself if you keep benching like that. There could be an accident. If you keep benching like that, you could hurt your shoulders, have strained legs… even worse, you could end up having the fucking bar landing on your neck. I pointed all that out in that post and the next thing you know the sites administrator deleted all the posts and closed the comments.

Looks like I just won the argument and they couldn’t take it.

In the video above, here is that girl’s instagram. Watch her other benching videos on her instagram and you can see she has her butt off the bench on all of them. This is how she benches on a regular basis. This girl looks young too maybe between 15 – 20 years old or something like that.

https://www.instagram.com/q.ueen/

I was just concerned for her safety and that was all but unfortunately, that’s not okay in the powerlifting community.

People bench pressing with their butt off the bench is nothing new. I see it all the time in my local gym at the Battenkill Y. I see guys benching like that all the time. It’s ego lifting for sure and it makes you kinda douchey.

When you bench, your ass needs to be on the bench. Period. Any powerlifter that sees the butt coming off the bench as acceptable is not a real powerlifter. On top of that, benching with your butt coming off the bench doesn’t do anything to your pec muscles to begin with. That’s more of a decline bench and I believe you’re more working the shoulders and triceps and not the chest.

I thought it was pretty crazy that when I called this girl out on her form and those guys in that post defended her. That’s because she’s young and they tried to make it look like I was knocking her when I wasn’t. I was concerned for her safety is all and they thought I was trolling her. They were trying not to make a young girl feel bad and that’s what it was. If there was an older guy benching with his butt off the bench I’m pretty sure they would be ripping him to shreds. lol…

Kev

People with cell phones ruining the excitement of live concerts? I would say so yes…

This video blogger who goes by the name of Vic Dibitetto is an awesome guy and he’s entertaining as hell to watch too. I just love the way he rants. I know how a lot of vloggers love to rant on video but when you want to rant and be angry about something you have to act like it. This Vic Dibitetto does the best job at ranting on video and he’s not afraid to show how pissed off he is. Most vloggers who rant on video are always weak and not angry enough. I guess this is the reason this guy is going viral on the internet ’cause people find his angry ranting entertaining. I’ve only watched a few of his videos on facebook and he nails it every time, though. He’s right on everything he says and that’s another reason this guy is getting popular fast.

Anyhow, I agree with him that cell phones are a huge problem at live shows and music concerts. I haven’t been to a national concert in a long long time. Last time I went to a live concert was before cell phones became a problem. Nowadays, all you see at concerts are people sticking cell phones in the air instead of just enjoying the music.

In the past before the cell phone craze, people would stand at concerts, dancing and swaying their hands back and forth enjoying the music but now all you see are people with cell phones in the air. Really sad what the world is coming to. I don’t own a cell phone and I’m beginning to be glad I don’t even use a Smart phone or an Iphone. If I want to film something or take a picture of something for my Instagram/FB or whatever I use my Ipod or my Ipad.

This technology stuff is getting unreal for sure.

Kev

Thoughts on the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees of 2019… yes, they are all worthy even Janet Jackson!

Well I’m pretty happy with this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. They did a good job this time. The Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, Roxy Music and the Zombies. I admire and respect ALL of these musical acts.

Yeah, there are gonna be some that are gonna question Janet Jackson and Stevie Nicks being in there but they are both worthy totally. Stevie may be already in the Hall of Fame under Fleetwood Mac but this is her as a solo artist, though. Her as a solo artist is definitely worthy.

I also know that some are gonna bitch and complain about Janet Jackson being in there. The haters are going to make assumptions that Janet is not “rock” and say she’s a pop artist but Janet is rock n’ roll. I know how some out there gets upset that pop artists getting inducted in the Hall of Fame but pop music is rock. Many don’t think so but it really is. Rock n’ roll exists in all styles of music including hip hop. That’s why you are starting to see hip hop artists being inducted too.

With that being said, Janet’s career is pretty legendary and I’m a fan of her stuff. Loved her for a long time and still do. Her induction in the hall of fame was definitely long overdue. I agree with her being in.

Other than that I’m happy with the other inductees too. Even though I never bought any of the Cure’s records, I do like that band and want to start getting their stuff. I’m also a fan of Def Leppard… when I was a kid I used to own “Pyromania” and “Hysteria” albums on CD but got rid of them. Would like to get those two albums back and I plan on it at some point. Radiohead? Fuck yeah, totally worthy for sure. I’m a huge Radiohead fan as I own pretty much all of their albums except for “Ok Computer”, “Hail to The Thief” and “A Moon Shaped Pool” but I plan on getting them soon.

As far as Roxy Music goes, I didn’t listen to them much over the years but the only album I’ve heard of theirs was “For Your Pleasure” which was a great album. Bryan Ferry is a talented singer.

As far as the Zombies goes, I’m glad they’re in finally. This one was long overdue for sure. I never bought their records but I’ve heard plenty of their songs, though. Songs like “Time of the Season”, “She’s Not There”, “Tell Her No”, “This Will Be Our Year”, etc. Oh man, they wrote so many great masterpieces. To hell with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones… you wanna listen to real music, listen to the Zombies.

https://www.rockhall.com/2019-inductees/?fbclid=IwAR0csNV4wvjb49RUe0z28VUjneHEANHIXSyj6qXnkkOGH87M0-Zc2lYZoe0

Here’s a song in the videos below for each inductee… enjoy!

The Cure “Lovesong” 

Def Leppard “Love Bites”

Janet Jackson “That’s the Love Goes”

Stevie Nicks “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”

Radiohead “How to Disappear Completely”

Roxy Music “If There Is Something”

The Zombies “She’s Not There”

Kev

Trump vs. Pelosi/Schumer in the Oval Office was way more entertaining than WWE…

Some of you probably wanna know my thoughts on this… Trump vs. Pelosi/Schumer in the Oval Office over the Border Wall. Well, this was very entertaining to watch. I almost felt like watching a WWE backstage segment except this is in real life.

It’s funny seeing this ’cause Pelosi and Chucky didn’t look comfortable being in the same room as Trump. This also shows how much hatred and disrespect Democrats have toward our president. Democrats are vile and disgusting people.

I loved seeing Trump destroying these two on national TV for the whole world to see and now I see why Chucky wanted this meeting to be private ’cause he didn’t want to be embarrassed by Trump for the whole world to see. Trump humiliating these two on TV is better than WWE and pay per view for sure.

What’s even more funny is that Chucky doesn’t want the government to shutdown, keep in mind this is coming from the same guy who shut down the gov. over DACA.

We finally have a president who doesn’t take any shit from people. You mess with Trump, he’ll mess with you back. That’s how it goes. We all love Trump ’cause he isn’t afraid to speak his mind and doesn’t give a shit if it pisses people off. We had too many presidents over the years who were too friendly and weak… finally we have a tough and aggressive president which is why we elected him to begin with.

The wall needs to be built. I voted Trump for the Wall like everyone else. When will Democrats wake up and realize that illegals are not our friends? If Democrats think there is nothing wrong with illegals and finds them harmless then why don’t they invite illegals into their homes? I’m betting they won’t, though.

I’m glad this debate was aired publicly on national TV ’cause it was glorious to watch. This makes me love Trump even more. Trump is trying to get Democrat support on the wall but it’ll never happen, though. Dems will always have one-sided opinions against Trump. So sad.

Kev

New bodybuilding progress pics…

This is my latest bodybuilding progress. Honestly, I still have a little flab to get rid of but I like what I see. As you can see, I didn’t use any kind of lighting tricks for these photos and just used the sun shining through the window just so you can see that I don’t fake my muscular body.

I’ve already gotten a few guys called me a “beast” after I posted these pics so I guess I am getting bigger in size. Just got to shred away some more bodyfat so I can get even leaner and I can easily do that by eating less and doing more cardio. I’ll have to lessen my calorie intake some ’cause I guess eating more calories is not gonna help. This is my next goal for 2019, though. Try to get lower bodyfat and become leaner. I just got to make my nutrition a lot more strict and I’ve already started doing that. No more eating large meals during dinner ’cause that’ll help. I’ll have to eat lesser egg whites in the morning too. I’ll figure it out.

I already do a lot of cardio, though and will do a lot more of it in 2019. I’ll keep doing cardio everyday throughout the Winter too. I’ve been jump roping a lot more and have been doing burpees more too.

My chest is really improving as you can see, though. That’s because I’ve been doing a lot of dumbbell flies, cable crossovers and more bench pressing. That really helped.

This is what a true natural bodybuilding physique would look like, y’all. All that heavy lifting I’ve been doing really pays off. Like I said, don’t listen to those idiots out there that claim that heavy lifting don’t give you gains.

Kev

 

This video explains nicely on why I have a pure dislike toward personal trainers and why I refuse to hire one!

This video is a perfect explanation of why I have a pure dislike toward personal trainers. Between the 10 – 15 years that I’ve been working out in the gym, I never hired a personal trainer. Everything you see me do in the gym was all self-taught. I taught myself everything pretty much. How did I teach myself bodybuilding and weightlifting? Well Arnold’s “Modern Bodybuilding” book pretty much did it for me as that book is the king of workout info. I also learned bodybuilding through some great bodybuilding channels in youtube.

I don’t like personal trainers for various reasons. For one, they act like know it alls… just because they’re “certified personal trainers”, they want to act like big shot know it alls. A lot of them are also hard to take seriously when a lot of personal trainers aren’t in the greatest shape themselves. Same reason this guy explained in the video above.

Another reason I dislike personal trainers is that a lot of them are so conceited and ego-driven. Yeah I know both terms mean the same thing but had to make a point. They act like they are better than people who aren’t certified and that’s one thing that is pissing me off about them. Personal trainers think they own the gym and that’s another reason they piss me off. When they need to use a piece of workout equipment or a machine that you’re using, they’ll have no problem jumping in your set whenever they feel like it and I hate that. You’ve probably seen it too when they need to takeover a workout you’re doing. So they’re a licensed trainer, they feel they can do whatever they want in the gym.

Sure, personal trainers maybe an okay workout partner and motivator but you don’t need to spend a lot of money on a personal trainer and workout partner. When you need a workout partner, all you need is a family member or a friend for free.

When you do need workout advice for whatever reason, you don’t need to get it from a personal trainer. You can get workout advice from “anybody” that works out in the gym. There are plenty of experienced lifters in the gym who do know what they’re doing and are pretty knowledgeable and they aren’t certified trainers — you can get info from them if you want to. Bodybuilders and weightlifters who aren’t certified trainers can be way more smarter and knowledgeable than those who are certified trainers.

Bodybuilding and fitness don’t have to cost much. You can even get into great shape for free. The only reason I pay for a gym membership is ’cause I don’t have a home gym yet. I don’t have room for my own gym equipment here so that’s why I go to a public and commercial gym.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money to learn how to workout and learn how to eat right. It doesn’t take much.

I’m my own personal trainer and my own motivator. I’m doing fine doing it all by myself, thank you.

Kev

It is a great feeling getting a lot of compliments on my physique lately… hard work is paying off…

You know you are jacked and have a successful ripped body when you get a lot of people telling you. Not just from family and friends either. You don’t want to get feedback on your physique from family and friends ’cause they’ll be nothing but positive all the time. When you’re getting random compliments from complete strangers out in public like I have been getting lately, you know you’re going somewhere in bodybuilding and weightlifting. A lot lately I’ve been getting a lot of compliments on my physique each time I go to the gym. Usually it’s people I don’t know that come up to me and telling me I look good. One guy told me that I’m looking huge lately, one guy told me I’m getting some big guns and another guy told me that I’m all jacked up. I’ve had a few women at the gym tell me I’m looking real good too.

Yep, hard work is definitely paying off for sure. The compliments just keep coming and coming which feels really good. That is what’s keeping me motivated to keep hitting the gym. The more people tell me I look good, the more it makes me want to go.

Yeah, I really do work hard and I really work my ass off to get the body off my dreams. I want to be a muscle and jacked up dude and I’m doing all I can to get there. I want to look like those guys you see in the action movies and I want to look like a pro wrestler. That’s the kind of look I’m going for. With all these compliments keep coming in, I’ll have to admit that I’m feeling really fucking ripped lately and I’m not afraid to say it. Some of the clothes I wear are starting to feel tight on me ’cause I’m getting bigger.

How did I do it? What is my secret? Well three things… work out hard, eat right and lots of resting. That’s it. Do all three of those things on a consistent basis and you’ll get jacked, trust me. This is not bad coming from someone who is a self taught bodybuilder and weightlifter. I taught it all myself. I refuse to work with a personal trainer ’cause I don’t want to work with one at all. I prefer to do it all myself. I just figured out how to get some gains as a natural bodybuilder. Full range of motion on everything and hitting the full contraction on the muscle.

People say it’s impossible to get jacked quickly without steroids but it is possible to get jacked quickly. Don’t listen to those who claim that muscle building is a slow process ’cause it’s a bunch of bullshit. If I can do it so can you. I got this built physique totally natural. No steroids. No protein powders and no supplements. I get protein from real food. I get protein mostly from eggs, various meats like fish, chicken and steak. I also eat a lot of complex carbs like vegetables and things like that. I also eat whole grains and healthy fats. Just so you know, my nutrition isn’t 100% healthy most of the time ’cause sometimes you gotta have a little junk food to mix it up. I do a good job avoiding junk food most of the time but I still like to have ice cream, pizza and chinese. You gotta have balance ’cause believe it or not cheat meals does help building a great physique. You don’t have to avoid sugars and bad foods completely, just in moderation.

There’s a big myth going around that getting a jacked physique takes years and years but don’t listen to them. From what I’ve experienced, you can build a jacked physique in a few years. If I can do it, you can do it too.

I just love what I do, ya know? I love weightlifting. One of my biggest passions. Too many people just don’t stay committed to weightlifting at all. They just go in and do it for a while then just give up. Slack off from the gym for a long while and then come back to it later. Some even give up weightlifting completely ’cause they find it boring and stuff, ya know? They also give it up ’cause they find themselves struggling to get the body they want. They feel they aren’t going anywhere so they just give it up.

Well, I never gave it up. My 4 day a week routine is going really good. I haven’t stopped and will keep going. There are even some people who go to the gym on and off but not me. I go to the gym all year round even through the fall and Winter. I’ve been hitting the gym 4 days a week all fall and now I’ll be sticking with it throughout the Winter. Stay in great shape all year round. It’s a lifestyle for me.

There are so many that don’t like working out but I do. I fucking love it. If you want to get a jacked physique, you’ve got to love working out ’cause if you don’t love it, you’re not going to get it.

I’m not afraid to say that I want to get a really jacked physique. It’s why I got into bodybuilding and weightlifting in the first place. In the past, I hated having chicken legs and hated having small arms. I also used to be a junk food addict. I was getting kind of flabby back then too and I had to change my life around. Glad I did. I’m feeling good, feeling really healthy and haven’t felt better. I feel amazing right now actually. Life is real good.

Kev

Is it fair for the bodybuilding industry to call heavy lifters “egos”???

You hear it all the time in the bodybuilding and weightlifting world. People wanting to lift real heavy and get real strong, always gets called all kinds of names. They get criticized by people all the time. They get called conceited. Egotistical. Get called many other things for wanting to lift heavy. Is it fair for heavy lifters to get called egotistical?

No, definitely not. It’s definitely not fair. I think it’s actually a very good and courageous thing for people for wanting to challenge themselves to lift heavy weights. Whether you agree with it or not, it is very brave to find out the heaviest number you can lift and find out what your personal records are. There’s nothing wrong with that. People wanting to lift heavy and train for powerlifting. It’s mostly the bodybuilding industry that likes to make fun of the powerlifting industry. It’s crazy, ya know?

Why do powerlifters and heavylifters always get criticized and get called names? Well, I know I say this word a lot but definitely “jealousy” is a big part of it. Bodybuilders don’t do heavy lifting, they mostly do hypertrophy training. Bodybuilders are always calling powerlifters juiced up egomaniacs but want to know what I think is being an egomaniac in weightlifting? Bodybuilders who say they want to have the best physiques. Bodybuilders who say they want to get big as possible. How come they don’t get called “egos” for wanting to have a big and muscular body? There’s so much ego in bodybuilding ’cause they want to be posing on a stage and hoping to win the biggest trophy. That’s not having an ego, hey? There are egos in bodybuilding too, make no mistake about it.

People always think heavy lifting isn’t healthy, could get you injuries and they think powerlifting is dangerous. Well heavy lifting can be healthy and you could get a lot of great benefits lifting heavy things. Don’t judge the book by it’s cover when people want to lift heavy things. It also doesn’t have to be dangerous if you do good technique and good form. Bodybuilding can give you injuries just like powerlifting can. They don’t want to admit that fact.

In the past, I used to be against lifting heavy but now I’m loving it. I find heavy lifting very addicting. It’s a thrill to realize that you are that strong. I can see why so many strong men out there wanna lift heavy ’cause it’s a blast and such a thrill. It gets you pumped up and excited.

Heavy lifters shouldn’t be badly judged. If you want to do it then do it. Don’t listen to the critics and doubters. My goal is to become very strong and there’s nothing egotistical about that. It’s just something that I want. Strength training is a blast and I’m loving it.

Kev

 

 

Today remembering three music legends: John Lennon, Dimebag Darrell and Jim Morrison…

John_Lennon.jpg

Dimebag.jpg

Jim Morrison.jpg

Dec. 8th is always an important day of the music industry. Why? It’s because this day is the Anniversary Deaths of John Lennon and Dimebag Darrell and the birthday of Jim Morrison.

John Lennon wasn’t my favorite Beatle but he was still a legend and we should never forget what happened to him. We should never forget what happened to Dimebag. We should never forget Jim Morrison either.

I always honor these guys every Dec. 8th and would keep doing it every year. They were very important to music. Always remember that.

Kev