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

This video is freakin’ awesome! I’m sure that you were told that you can’t get muscle “gains” naturally when lifting weights in the gym. If you’ve heard that, don’t listen to the bullshit. It’s just a misconception going around out there. Some will want to doubt you that you can’t build muscle naturally.

This guy on this video explains that you can build muscle naturally and natural bodybuilding exists. Natural bodybuilding may not be well-known but it is out there.

I’ve been lifting weights in the gym for like 10 – 15 years now, somewhere around that. Over the years I’ve gotten some pretty damn good gains. Before I started bodybuilding, I used to weigh 130 lbs. and now I weigh 144 the last time I stepped on the weight scale.

I’m extremely happy with my physique right now. I have pretty big arms, pretty big shoulders, decent size legs, I have low bodyfat and visible six pack. My back is pretty jacked as well. My pecs are improving now since I’ve been bench pressing in the gym every week. My forearms have gotten noticeably bigger too.

I never juiced on steroids. I also don’t mess with supplements and whey protein like I used to. I got the good physique just by training hard with high intensity, eat really clean most of the time and get lots of resting. Do all those three, you can get “gains”. If it worked for me, it can work for you.

I love natural bodybuilding. Natural bodybuilding isn’t well-known ’cause the mainstream fitness industry are still hung up on roided up bodybuilders. You can still get big naturally, though.

I am proud of how my physique is now but still have lots of work to do, though. I feel that I’m finally starting to look like an actual bodybuilder which was my goal all along.

Kev

Deadlifting is my favorite workout of them all and I love doing it. People say that my form is pretty good but there’s always going to be people telling me to correct a few things which I did. I do a good job lifting bar up and locking my body perfectly straight but I’m having a few issues bringing the bar back down to the floor, though. A lot of times the bar would hit my knee caps when I bring it back down and I’m trying to stop that happening. When I walk up to the bar when it’s on the floor, my setup is perfectly good but I’m still trying to bring the bar up and down in a vertical motion like you’re supposed to.

When you’re new to deadlifting, you aren’t going to be perfect at first. It does take some practice to get the form right. I think my problem is on why the bar sometimes hits my knee caps when bringing it back down is ’cause I keep bending the knees before the bar comes down and I got to stop doing that.

When I want to make sure my form is right or not, I’ll video tape my workout and post it online for all to see. If someone wants to point me out mistakes or if I notice mistakes, I’ll go looking through youtube for video tutorials on how to get the form better. In youtube, there are a bunch of great bodybuilding channels that teaches you good form. I can’t afford a personal trainer so I use youtube as my personal trainer, lmao.

Getting perfect form on the deadlift can be pretty tricky though ’cause there’s so much to learn. I got the form down on the barbell squat finally, just had to use lighter weight on that. I’m not a heavy squatter as of this point as I got tons of work to do on that still.

I think what I need to do in order to stop making the barbell hit the knees when I bring the bar back down is that I need to keep my legs locked and when the bar goes past the knees that’s when you can bend the knees. You want to bend the knees after you bring the bar down, not before. That’s my problem, bending the knees too soon and I gotta stop that. Next time I will.

Kev

It’s been a few months since I’ve decided to get into bench pressing at the gym full time and I’m glad I did. I’ve been noticing more chest development lately because of it. When you see all those so called “experts” claiming benching doesn’t give you chest development… don’t listen to them ’cause they’re full of it. Bench appears to be working for me ’cause I feel my chest getting slightly bigger each time I do it. My chest muscles are feeling sore the day after I do bench so I must be doing something right. When I take my shirt off, I’m noticing that I’m finally starting to look like a bodybuilder a little bit.

I used to never like benching in the past but it really grew on me and I’m loving it now, I think. They don’t call it the king of all workouts for no reason ’cause it really is. They call it that ’cause it’s the best chest developer. You want monster pecs like Arnold had during his Olympia years, the bench press will do that for you.

Yeah, yeah, people always speculate that to get big pecs: “steroids”, “steroids”, “steroids”. *yawn*… I’m tired of so called experts always assuming that steroids gave them that big physique. We live in an age now where every successful bodybuilder gets accused of “steroids” and it’s unfair, in my opinion. You can’t always speculate that. That’s all it is speculation. They’re quick to judge that it’s “steroids” without any proof to back it up. Truthfully, when successful bodybuilders get accused of “steroids”, the person that accused them that is just jealous, in my opinion. They just want the physique that he has so they scream “steroids” ’cause they aren’t happy with their own physique.

I believe it’s definitely possible that you can look like a young Arnold, Lou Ferrigno, Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, Phil Heath and many others naturally.

I’ve got a built physique some and I never juiced up at all. I’ve got a built physique quicker just by training hard with intensity, strict eating and lots of resting. If you do all three, you’ll look like Arnold in no time. To me I don’t think it’s a slow process to get a jacked body, it’s just a myth going on out there. It’s definitely possible to get a jacked physique quickly.

I’m going to keep benching for the rest of my life, I think. Definitely will. I’m not a heavy bencher yet but would like to be. I’m not gonna rush. Just gonna take my time. The more I lift on bench, the stronger I’ll get so I just gotta keep lifting and lifting. I am noticing I’m getting slightly stronger on the bench already so I’m at a good start.

Benching is awesome. Don’t listen to those who are critical of the bench press.

Kev

I think this is a pretty important video that all weight-lifters and gym rats must watch. I see too many lifters in the gym never lifting weights that feels right for them… that’s why you see so many in the gym working out in horrible form. They always lift so heavy aka ego-lifting… lifting weights they can’t handle.

This guy here gives advice that if you do reps in good form at first and when you get out of your good form, that’s how you can tell that it’s not the right weight you need to lower it a bit. If you work out in bad form then it’s probably too heavy for you.

Most gym-rats and lifters don’t ever want to listen to this advice ’cause everybody wants to lift heavy. There’s nothing wrong with lowering the weights that makes you feel comfortable ’cause I’m starting to do that with all my workouts. I just figured out why my form is bad on some stuff ’cause admittedly, I’m guilty of ego-lifting too but no more of it. Yeah, I’m definitely guilty of ego-lifting but we all are.

I need to work out in good form in all my workouts so I can get a full contraction and hit the right target. You’re not going to get a full contraction by lifting weights you can’t lift in bad form.

I see so many working out in horrible form, it’s crazy. I made a vow a long time ago that I will workout in good form in everything I do.

Good form is important ’cause it’s part of safety and injury prevention. If you lift heavy and in bad form, you’re going to get injured. You could get some nasty strains, pulls, tears and all that stuff. It’s going to hurt bad and depending on how serious the injury is, it could take you out of bodybuilding for a pretty long time.

Admittedly, I’ve had a few injuries in the past before but they weren’t that bad. I’ve gotten some strains here and there but nothing that will get surgery on. If you wanna know why so many lifters in the gym get injured so much it’s ’cause of all the ego-lifting they do. It’s hilarious to me that so many guys that workout in the gym, always lifting heavy and they don’t think an injury will happen.

Lift responsibly and safely which a lot of people never do. It’s okay to lower the weights some if you feel it’s too heavy. I’ve been doing that a lot lately. Leaving your ego at the door is the best thing you could do.

That’s a great video that I think should get a lot of views.

Kev

Yesterday, I went to the Saratoga Springs YMCA just to go to a different gym and see what the main YMCA looks like. Now that the YMCA memberships are good for ALL branches around this area, I decided to finally check out the Saratoga Y.

This building is a much nicer facility than the one in Greenwich. The Saratoga Y is a two floor building with plenty of things to do. Of course, the place has a much larger weight room and much larger cardio machine room. The building also has an indoor swimming pool, an indoor basketball court, an indoor running track which is upstairs, a cafe and all kinds of things. I think I’ll go to the Saratoga Y a lot more often ’cause it’s a really cool place.

As for the indoor swimming pool they have there, I haven’t used yet but will some other time. Only thing, I’m not the best swimmer in the world but I could be better. That’s why I want to go to that Saratoga Y ’cause I’m hoping to learn how to swim better. I want to learn to swim really good so I’ll work on trying to get a swim instructor if they’ll let me hire one there hopefully.

Anyway, here’s me taking a few quick mirror selfies in the big locker room at the Saratoga Y. I’m finally getting some chest development which is nice and got a full six pack going like I’ve been saying. I’m starting to look like a bodybuilder finally. I like what I see now but still got a lot of work to do, though.

I improved my chest by doing both the pushing and squeezing movements. Doing presses and flies will do it. How did I get visible abs? Well good eating for one…. abs are made in the kitchen like they all say. Plus weight training, stretching, planks and yoga got me the abs too.

To get a ripped physique takes three things: train hard, eat right and lots of resting. Do all of that, you’ll get ripped.

Kev

There’s a misconception out there that bodybuilding with scoliosis makes the spine curves even more when doing weightlifting in the gym. Does weightlifting makes the spine a lot worse like a lot of people claim? There’s no scientific proof on whether or not it does and realistically, weightlifting doesn’t damage the spine even more. No matter how heavy you lift, it won’t damage the spine.

Why? Simply because all the muscles on your back that surrounds your spine, helps protect your spine. The more muscle you build, the more it protects the spine. The muscles is kind of like a shield, ya know? A protective shield so that your spine won’t bend even more. I got the Harrington rod fused to the spine so my spine is made of metal — got the major surgery to that done when I was 11 years old, I think.

I understand how people get worried of those with scoliosis lifting weights in the gym but really, there is nothing to worry about. Lifting weights for scoliosis is very good in fact. Weight lifting won’t damage the spine at all.

When I first started lifting, I had doubts, worries and even scares but I’ve been working out for 10 years or a little more and I haven’t had anything bad happen to me yet. I haven’t had my spine bend, snap or even worse break. Nothing like that happened at all and probably will never happen. That’s what the muscles on your back are for. They protect the spine, I think. I don’t see how weightlifting makes the spine a lot worse.

I remember once a long time ago, I went to the doctor to see if weightlifting made the curve a lot worse and he said no, not at all. So there you go.

I’m perfectly good with weightlifting in the gym and I can do all the heavy lifting all I want. Deadlifting is the best exercise for the back so if you have scoliosis, don’t be afraid to deadlift, bench press, squats, etc. In the past, I avoided deadlift, bench press and squats ’cause I was worried if they would worsen my spine more but now I’m seeing that won’t be a problem. I can do all that stuff all I want now.

No matter what you think of people with scoliosis with or without the Harrington Rod, you gotta give them kudos for working out in the gym anyways. People worry about me all the time when I go to the gym. It’s annoying but I’m willing to deal with it and won’t listen to anyone. I just do what I want to do in life and do my own thing.

After all the heavy lifting that I do in the gym after all these years, I feel real good and haven’t felt better. I’ve been lifting for a long time and I’ve got a good enough physique and people still want to worry about me. I haven’t had any serious injuries and never got sent to the hospital over the years. I might have had a few muscles strains here and there once in a while but nothing that will hurt the back. My back is really jacked and wicked strong so I don’t see how it could worsen the spine. I’m okay, really I am.

Kev