In most powerlifting meets requires you to wear a singlet with a plain t-shirt under it. A lot of powerlifting federations out there are different. At the Albany Stregnth powerlifting meet, you have to wear a singlet and plain t-shirt but at the powerlifting meet at Wilton Branch YMCA this Saturday? I believe you can wear what you want at the Wilton Branch YMCA powerlifting meet either regular gym clothes or a singlet but I’m going to be wearing a singlet at this meet.

I got this singlet off the Maxbarbell company: https://www.maxbarbell.com/

I was trying to find an affordable singlet so I found this one that I’m wearing in the pic now. It was originally priced at $50 but it was on sale for $30. I got it ’cause I liked the color and wanted to look cool at the meets. This singlet fits me perfectly and it feels comfortable too.

Sometime in the future I’m going to buy weightlifting shoes. I’m going to have to find weightlifting shoes that will go with the color of the singlet.  In other words,  I’ll have to find weightlifting shoes that are colored black and red. I found a pair on that site but it’s $104.99. I’m still gonna buy them sometime in the future, though. I really need weightlifting shoes ’cause I shouldn’t be wearing running shoes when deadlifting and squatting.

This means I’m really going to become a full time powerlifter and taking it seriously. I’m really into it and feel good about it.

Kev

Yeah, there is a new powerlifting meet happening but it’s going to be at the Wilton YMCA Branch. It’s awesome there is a powerlifting competition near me which is only 20 minutes away. I’m definitely going.

https://www.facebook.com/events/705178823188764/

When I say I’m going to be a powerlifter, I mean it and this is serious. This is real.

I did my first powerlifting meet at Albany Strength earlier this year on Aug. 31st and now there’s one in the town of Wilton this coming Saturday. I’m getting myself prepared for it.

For my personal record on dead lift is now 215 lbs. My personal record for bench is 110 lbs which I just hit at the gym today. For squats my personal record on that is just 70 lbs… but gonna try 80 this week.

Ya know, it’s weird that I’m able to deadlift heavy but I’m not yet a super heavy bencher and squatter. I’m working on it, though. I notice I get slightly stronger each time I do those three workouts each week.

I can’t yet bench and squat over 200 lbs. but I definitely would like to get there but taking my slow time.

I’m definitely looking forward to going to that Powerlifting meet on Saturday. It’s gonna be a blast. It’s all for a good cause too… donating money for a charity which is awesome. I’m looking forward to watching other people lift ’cause that’s gonna be a blast and I’ll try to help cheer on everyone else too.

When you go to powerlifting meets, you can’t be an arrogant prick and egomaniac. You gotta stay humble and be friendly with everybody. It’s not just about you, these meets are about helping everyone else too. This isn’t WWE or UFC. Powerlifting may be a competing sport but you can’t act like you’re better than everyone else.

Can’t wait for this Saturday and yeah, of course, I’ll film my lifts at the meet for all to see and there will be pics too.

Kev

Online, you’ve probably seen powerlifters and bodybuilders when they deadlift heavy, sometimes you’ve probably seen them have bloody shins, bloody knees and all sorts of scary injuries. Thing is I don’t want to get any of that and there are ways to deadlift safer where you won’t get nasty scars on your shins, scraped knees and all that stuff. Now I see why a lot deadlifters have to wear really long knee socks all the time and I think I will each time I deadlift.

The last time I did deadlift, I hit the bar on the shins on the way up once and it kind of hurt a little bit. I’m usually very good at avoiding the bar scraping on the shins but I hit the bar against the shins accidentally. Not sure how. On my shins, both of the lower legs I noticed got a little red so I scraped them a little slightly. Not too bad but I think it’ll heal and go away pretty quick.

I’ll make sure I’ll never scrape the bar on the way up ever again, though ’cause I don’t want to wreck and destroy my shins like a lot of deadlifters did out there. If you look at some of the pro deadlifters out there, their shins are nasty as fuck… all scarred up and banged up like fuck, ya know? That’s what I don’t want to get.

There is a way to avoid the bar sliding against your shins on the way up ’cause it’s not good to do that. It’s just a matter of good form and good technique. There is also a way to avoid the bar hitting your knees on the way down. Hitting your knees on the way down can be dangerous ’cause you can destroy your joints or worse knock your knee caps off. Good form and good technique is crucial on deadlift. A lot of deadlifters out there think you have to slide the bar up against your shins but no it’s not good. I don’t want to destroy my shins like a lot of deadlifters out there did so I’m being careful with my form.

There is a way to avoid the bar sliding against your shins on the way up and avoid hitting your knees on the way down, you just gotta know how to place your feet under the bar at the startup and I’m learning. I’m still trying to get the deadlift form right and just about got it perfect.

Kev

Earlier this morning at the gym, I hit a new personal record on the deadlift. I hit 215 lbs. this time. The last couple of times I attempted 215 lbs. I couldn’t even lift it off the damn floor but this time I got it! Lifting a 215 lbs. deadlift was a bit brutal for me but I was still able to raise the bar and lock it out so it was still a successful lift. Now I know what lifting heavy deadlift is all about.

Yeah, like I said in the past before, the more you lift, the stronger you get and the more your personal records will go up. That’s what powerlifting is all about. I’m getting slightly better at bench and squats too. You just gotta keep lifting and lifting. The more you lift the better you get.

So far, my personal records for deadlift, squats and bench:

deadlift – 215 lbs.

squats – 70 lbs.

bench – 100 lbs.

On bench day which is gonna be on Monday, I’m going to attempt 110 and 115. See if I can get those.

Yeah, I’m taking powerlifting very seriously and wanna do more meets in the future. I’ve just ordered my own powerlifting singlet which should get dropped off here in the mail next week.

There are so many in the fitness industry that wanna knock powerlifting and criticize the sport and I don’t know why. I think powerlifting is fantastic and I love it. If you want to be real strong, powerlifting is the way to go. Yes, powerlifting definitely does help build you muscle even though many claims it doesn’t. Don’t listen to all the critics and all the bullshitters out there. Powerlifting is great and does work.

There’s actually a powerlifting meet at the Wilton Branch YMCA next weekend and I’m definitely thinking about signing up for that one and compete for it. Probably gonna end up doing it!

Kev

I’ve watched a lot of different benching tutorials in youtube and it’s interesting how a lot of instructors and gurus have different styles of teaching. They all have their own style. They all bench their own way, it seems. Some say you have to arch pretty extensively, some say you should arch slightly and some say you shouldn’t arch at all. What is my opinion on arching when doing the flat bench press?

To me, I don’t like arching and to be honest, I can’t arch on the bench at all due to my Harrington Rod on the back with my scoliosis and all. My spine is completely made of metal so therefor, I can’t bend. Due to my scoliosis and metal rod I have in my spine, I can’t arch at all so what you see is what you get.

On a serious note, though, they say you have to arch on bench and I say you don’t really have to if you don’t want to. It’s a preference. I think arching on the bench is pretty stupid, in my opinion. It looks uncomfortable and I think you have less range of motion that way. Lying flat on the back, you have more range of motion so I prefer to lay flat on the bench.

In powerlifitng, you don’t have to arch. If you don’t arch in a powerlifting meet, that’s not against the rules. As long as your head and your butt is on the bench at all times, that’s all the judges in powerlifting meets care about. They don’t really care if you arch or not, it’s really your choice. I don’t like arch ’cause the way I look at it if you arch doing bench press it makes it looks like you’re doing a decline bench.

As far as arching or no arching goes, you just gotta listen to your body and do what’s best for you. Don’t listen to other people. I have the Harrington Rod in my back so I have to do certain workouts my way since I can’t bend.

Even though I don’t arch at all, I’m still feeling great development in my chest each time I bench every week. I’m feeling slightly stronger on the bench each week I do it too. I love bench pressing now. I used to be a hater of the bench press but not anymore. It grew on me over the years. The flat bench is my favorite workout now. Each time I look in the mirror with my shirt off, I’m finally getting the upper body physique that I’ve always dreamed of getting. Because of the bench press, I’m finally getting chest development. I’m going to post new progress pics pretty soon so I can show that I’m not making it up.

The reason I got into bench press full time is because I’m a powerlifter now so I had to get back into it. Powerlifting made me love the bench press and I’m glad I got into it ’cause it’s working for me.

Kev

If I want to take powerlifting more seriously then I need to think about gaining weight and getting stronger… I don’t want to lose weight. That’s the whole point of powerlifting, you want to keep moving on up to a bigger weight class. If I want to win 1st place someday and get higher in weight scores then I need to think about gaining weight instead of losing. I don’t want to lose weight, I want to gain.

So that probably means I’m going to have boost my calorie intake which I already started doing. Eating more is key to gaining weight and I won’t worry about getting fat ’cause building muscle won’t get me fat. If I want to get big and strong, I need to eat more and not less. Like they say, “you want to get big, you need to eat big” which is true.

That means I’ll have to figure out my calorie intake and macros and all that stuff. I’m doing research on this stuff right now. I want to be the best I can be in powerlifting. My goal in powerlifting is NOT to fail a rep at a meet and I’ll make sure I get 3 white lights in all of my lifts at the meets like I did with my first powerlifting meet.

My goal someday is to be able to lift the real heavy weights. I can deadlift heavy but I want to be able to squat and bench heavy too. I’m working on all that. For deadlift my P.R. is 210 lbs, for bench it’s 100 lbs. and for squat it’s 50 lbs. I’m just taking my time on the squats and don’t want to rush that one. I want to do perfect technique on all three workouts so I can get all three white lights.

Like I said before, I want to be the best I can be. I’m not looking to be better than other people, I just want to do what’s best for me and that’s a good attitude to have. I want to keep moving on up in weight classes and want to keep moving up my personal records.

If I want to get big and get strong, I’m going to change the way I eat and I’m working on that. I’m also going to have to do less cardio ’cause admittedly I’ve been doing a lot of cardio and actually lost a few pounds I’m noticing.

In powerlifting, will I one day do the more bigger powerlifting meets and go national? Like the USPA and the USA Powerlifting at Arnold’s Sports festival? Hopefully. For now, I’m just going to do the smaller and more local powerlifting meets ’cause there are local ones around here.

I’ll never forget that night when I did my first powerlifting meet on Aug. 31st earlier this year in Albany. My trophy for that is still sitting on my computer desk right now. Powerlifting meets are a blast and I hope to do another one pretty soon and I promise you, I will do a lot better next time ’cause I’m just getting started.

It’s funny ’cause I never really wanted to be a powerlifter until now and now I’m all in on it.

Kev