Category Archives: Health and Fitness

Health and Fitness

I don’t understand why some don’t like the bench press. It’s a great workout and it’s helping me get more gains!

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Well, I’m so glad that I’ve gotten into bench pressing full time. I’m noticing that the bench press workout is helping me get more gains and I’ve been noticing that my chest is beefing up ’cause of it. So many lifters like to trash the bench press and I don’t know why. In the past, I used to be a critic of the “bench press” exercise but it grew on me and now I love it. I think the barbell flat bench is better than dumbbell press but that’s my opinion. My upper body is starting to look like a bodybuilder ’cause the bench is helping.

Some say that the bench is hard on the shoulders and you could get shoulder injuries ’cause of it. Well, the bench don’t have to be hard on the shoulders. You just got to know where to hold the bar in the air and know where to bring it down. Keeping your elbows tucked in while benching is key to saving your shoulders. There are ways to save your shoulders benching, you just gotta know how to do it.

I’m finding benching pretty addicting. A lot of people say it’s the most dangerous workout but it don’t have to be as long as you know what you’re doing and doing it responsibly. To me, I think it’s a pretty safe  and easy workout. Of course, when you go for the heavy weights on the bench get a spotter whenever you think you’re in need of one.

I’m liking the bench press a lot as it’s helping my chest grow and like I said, I’m starting to look like a bodybuilder finally which I’m very proud about. I’m going to keep benching full time and just ignore the critics. Bench press overrated? Not really.

I think bench press is the best compound workout. The reason I’m getting into bench press, squats and deadlift full time is ’cause I need to do more compound stuff than just isolation stuff. In the past, I’ll admit that I’ve been focusing more on isolation stuff but I need to do more compound exercises which I’ve been doing.

I think the bench press is one workout that deserves more respect. I think some don’t like it out of fear of an accident or an injury or something, that’s probably what it is. I used to avoid the bench press like the plague but now I’m all over it and feel great about it.

Kev

Health and Fitness

It is possible to get big and huge naturally, don’t listen to those who thinks it’s impossible…

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There’s a lot of people out there that believe that getting huge in bodybuilding is a really slow process and takes forever but it don’t have to be! A lot of people want to accuse bodybuilders with huge physiques of using steroids but never judge the book by it’s cover. If you want to get a big physique like Brock Lesnar, Dave Bautista, Jay Cutler, Dwayne Johnson, Hulk Hogan and guys such as those… it is definitely possible to look like those guys without steroids and other drugs that enhances your physique.

I really want to prove that you can get there. Get huge and jacked like those pro bodybuilders, movie stars and wrestlers. Yes, you can look like that naturally. Anybody that says you can’t is a stupid idiot.

You can’t always call every huge bodybuilder a juicehead ’cause it’s completely unfair and wrong, in my opinion. It’s definitely possible to get huge quicker. How? 3 things… 1) Lift hard with intensity and good form 2) Eat a clean nutrition most of the time 3) Get plenty of resting and lots of sleep. That’s pretty much it really. I used to believe that I don’t have good genetics but maybe my genetics are decent after all ’cause I’m getting some pretty good gains all over. I’m feeling bigger the more I hit the gym.

All the feedback I got from my latest progress pics were pretty amazing and I feel humbled with the positive feedback. All the hard work really is paying off. If getting huge in bodybuilding is your goal then don’t be afraid of it and go for it. Don’t listen to all the critics, haters and just do your thing. That’s what I did. If you want to get a big physique, you got to stay consistent and not give up. If you give up and slack off from the gym, you’re not going to reach your goals. That’s why I’ve been hitting the gym 4 times a week for the past year or so and it’s going real good.

My routine used to be 3 days a week but I boosted it up to 4. I go back and forth like that every now and then but now I’m going to keep it 4 days a week permanently. So far, it’s going really good and I haven’t skipped a workout day at all lately. If you keep doing that, stay consistent and don’t give up at all, you’ll get big in no time.

I talk about working out and bodybuilding, not just for myself, I do it also hoping to inspire and motivate others to hit the gym too. It’s not just about me at all.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Why my personal records on bench and squats are behind on the deadlift pr’s… I’ll figure out a way to catch up quickly, though…

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So my personal records on deadlift, squats and bench are these:

Deadlift: 295 lbs.
Squats: 125 lbs.
Bench: 150 lbs.

Why is it that my bench and squats are lower than my deadlift pr’s? It’s simply because my squats and bench are weaker than deadlift obviously. I’ll get much stronger on bench and squats, I just gotta keep working on them and I have been working on them every week. I figured out why my pr’s haven’t been going up rapidly on squats and bench. I think it’s because for the first two sets on squats and bench, I’ve been doing hypertrophy training for muscle development really. I gotta stop that and gotta start doing a lot more heavy sets and low rep ranges.

For example, I got to do the progressive overload method meaning putting more weight on each set and going lower in reps for each set. I gotta start doing something like this:

Set 1 for 12 reps
Set 2 for 8 reps
Set 3 for 5 reps
Set 4 for 3 reps
Set 5 for 1 rep

I gotta start doing something like that and I will. If I keep doing squats and bench like that, my personal records will definitely go up pretty fast.

Usually for bodybuilding, I would only do 4 sets of each workout for strength training it’s different. In strength training, you gotta do more than 4 sets I hear.

I want to be able to squat and bench over 200 and hopefully catch up to my deadlift numbers too.

Powerlifting training is definitely slightly different than bodybuilding training. Both are not the same ’cause bodybuilding focuses on hypertrophy which is muscle development and powerlifting is all about strength training. I am loving strength training, though and glad I got into it finally.

I want to be really strong and want to be able to lift over 300 lbs. on all three deadlift, squats and bench. I’m already getting close to 300 on deadlift but still got ways to go on squats and bench.

I want to be great at upcoming powerlifting meets and want to be the best I can be so I’m preparing myself to be great. I’m hoping to do another powerlifting meet in the Spring and I think there’s a few of them I want to do in the Spring so during the off season through the Winter, I’m doing my best to prepare and practice. Powerlifting is an awesome sport and I’m glad I got into it.

Kev

Health and Fitness

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

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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

Health and Fitness

New bodybuilding progress pics…

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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

 

Health and Fitness

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

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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

Health and Fitness

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

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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

Health and Fitness

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

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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

 

 

Health and Fitness

Looks like I’ll have to get back into training chest once a week and I’ll start doing that next week…

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I’m going to have to change my 4 day a week workout program the way it was before. For the past couple of weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to train chest twice a week but now I’m thinking it’s not a good idea. I did some benching at the gym today and attempted 160 lbs. and 155 lbs. I was able to hit those numbers last week. I was able to hit 155 lbs. for the past couple of weeks but this week I wasn’t feeling it for some reason. I totally blame that on training chest twice a week and maybe it’s not a good idea after all. Maybe that’s what’s taking the strength away.

Oh well, it was just an experiment but at least I experimented with it for a couple of weeks, though. I just wanted to try it and see what training chest twice a week did. I’m noticing it isn’t good for powerlifting so I’ll go back to training chest once a week starting next week. On chest days, I’ll just do benching first and then I’ll do the other chest exercises after but I think I’m gonna ditch dumbbell presses for good, though.

Even though I couldn’t hit those numbers I wanted, I still am getting stronger on barbell flat bench, though. I’m able to do more reps on the slightly heavier sets.

Ya know, when you’re training for powerlifting and if you can’t hit those numbers you wanted… don’t worry about it. Just move on and forget it. You never feel bad about yourself if you can’t hit certain numbers you want. Just keep practicing and keep lifting, you’ll get that number before you know it.

This weekend, I’ll think about switching my workout program again and write something down. I’m thinking of moving chest days on weekends which is what I’ll probably do. Arm day on Tuesday, leg day on Wednesday, Back day on Friday (including deadlifting) and chest day on Sat. That sounds good. Go back to where I was before.

The reason I’m moving Chest Day on the weekends is ’cause I want to give my chest plenty of resting and healing and maybe I’ll be a lot stronger next week. I don’t regret giving chest training twice a week a try, it was a good try but no more.

I don’t feel bad ’cause I’m feeling freakin’ ripped lately. I had another guy at the gym give me a compliment on my physique and he tells me, “You’re getting all jacked up” and I just told him “Thank you”. It seems I’m getting a lot of compliments on my physique at the gym lately. A random person will come around and tell me I’m looking good. It seems like each time I go to the gym, someone will give me a compliment. Ya know, when you’re getting people complimenting you on your physique then you know you’re going somewhere and you’re doing good. I love getting compliments on my physique, it seems I’ve been getting a lot of them lately.

I’ll post progress pics pretty soon. Probably in a few days.

Kev