I’m still thinking about that night and like I said, it’s a night I’ll never forget! Not bad for someone who just did Power Lifting for the first time.

Some of you may ask, since I’m about to get into power lifting will I still do body building? Yes. I’m gonna do both as it is possible to do both ’cause there are many that do both out there. If I’m going to do more power lifting competitions in the future, I’m gonna have to stick with bench pressing, dead lifting and squatting full time. Thankfully the Battenkill YMCA in Greenwich the gym I go to allows you to do all three. The gym I go to do allow body builders and power lifters too.

Sometime in the future I’m still gonna sign up for a membership at Albany Strength ’cause it’s a great gym and I want to work out there more often if I can find a way to get there.

Only thing though I don’t really like the singlet I was wearing at the meet that night but I’m planning on ordering my own singlet for power lifting competitions. I don’t like wearing bright colors so I’m going to be ordering a black singlet, wear a black t-shirt under it and wear black sneakers. I’m planning to buy new sneakers pretty soon and I might do that next time I hit the mall.

I think Power Lifting will be perfect for me to get into ’cause it will help me get more strength in my regular lifting, ya know? Plus Power Lifting will help get me bigger in size.

I don’t need a spotter for dead-lifting and squatting ’cause you don’t need a spotter at the squat rack at all. The reason you don’t need a spotter for the squat rack ’cause there are these two safety bars where you can adjust them to the right height  and when you squat down and in case you can’t push back up, you can just set the barbell on the safety bars. With the bench press, I’ll need a spotter though when I lift the heavier sets on that thing. I’ve got to do all three of these workouts full time: benching, dead-lifting and squatting. All three are pretty easy workouts and they can be very safe to do as long as you know what you’re doing and do them in perfect form.

I can’t lift over 200 lbs. yet on any of those workouts but that is my goal I want to achieve someday. I can get there easily the more I work hard.

Power Lifting competitions are fun. I can see why they’re getting popular around the Capital Region. Will I get into Strongman competitions as well? Probably not ’cause I don’t want to do too much. Bodybuilding and power lifting is good enough for me.

Kev

Well I went to my first Power lifting competition in Albany last night and I killed it! It was easy and I did it with no problem.

My personal record for bench: 95 lbs.

My personal record for dead lift: 175 lbs.

As you can see in the photo above, I won my first power lifting trophy! I didn’t think I would win a trophy on my first try but ended up getting 3rd place which was surprising to me. Ya know, this was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life and I’m definitely going to do more power lifting competitions and it’s definitely going to be a full time thing, I think. Yeah, for sure.

I could have gone heavier on the bench, though. I could have gone 115 lbs. or a little heavier than that but I definitely will give that a shot next time.

I had a blast last night, though. Not only did I have a blast performing my lifts in front of an audience, I had a blast watching other lifters too. I helped cheered them all on and hopefully try to motivate other lifters to lift harder. I give other lifters some positive feedback by simply saying, “Good lifting” and giving other lifters fist bumps when they get done with their lifts. Everybody was so friendly, down to earth and so humble. There were no egos and no prima donnas at all which was a cool thing!

I also got great feedback with my lifting and got great crowd reactions from all of them too. Seriously, though… the crowd reaction I got for my lifts were pretty strong… I almost felt like a rock star and it felt great. This was the best thing I’ve done in a long time. Maybe I should get into power lifting competition full time and do it professionally. For the first time ever, I feel like an athletic person.

I just wanted to experience something amazing in my life and it was a great experience. It’s a night I’ll never forget. Yeah, admittedly on my first try in power lifting competition, I kind of went in a little easy but next time I’ll lift everything a little heavier hoping to make it to 2nd place.

Like I said, I can’t lift over 200 lbs. yet but that is my goal and I’ll get there easily the more I train at the gym 4 days a week.

Yep, heavy lifting is the name of the game in power lifting. I said the other day before the competition that I hope to go in there and impress the hell out of people and I guess I did exactly that. I don’t mean to sound selfish and admittedly bragging a bit but I feel very proud of myself. Not bad for a guy who is 41 and got scoliosis with a Harrington Rod.

When I went to Albany Strength to do the competition, I was hoping to learn how to get better form and better technique in my benching and dead-lifting but the two coaches I were with didn’t give me much advice ’cause they saw that I knew what I was doing. They saw that I was doing benching and dead-lifting in perfect form so I’m good. Not bad for someone who learns this stuff on youtube, lmao. Those fitness channels really helped me. I don’t watch a lot of fitness channels in youtube but there are a few who I’m a big fan of.

As far as the Albany Strength gym goes, it’s a very cool gym. It’s a real gym. You know a lot of gyms out there are so clean and so perfect? Well not with Albany Strength XXXL! You’re gonna see broken mirrors, dirty floors, real weights, real equipment, a lot of old school equipment and you’re gonna hear a lot of noise. With a gym like that makes me wish I live in Albany ’cause I would work out there full time instead of the Battenkill YMCA in a heart beat. I’m still gonna get a membership at Albany Strength and I’ll go there when I can like on the weekends or something. I got to meet the owner of Albany Strength and he’s also the RAW Power lifting director. He’s a super cool guy too and he cares for all of his lifters that work out there. He even gave me positive feedback on my lifting too.

For more pics and video from last night, check out my instagram page… I’m going to get around to posting the dead-lifting videos tomorrow: https://www.instagram.com/kevbrockmusic/

So to all you doubters and critics who likes to say stuff about my lifting, how do you like me now hmmmm???? Take that!

Kev

Well today is the big day. Later today in the evening is gonna be my very first power lifting competition meet at Albany Strength in Albany. I’m pretty stoked and can’t wait! Yesterday, I took a day off of gym and called it a rest day. Today I’m not going the Battenkil Y to workout ’cause I don’t want to wear myself out before my first power lifting meet. I was told it was good to rest the day before so you can be full of energy, ya know?

Yeah, I know some people will want me to go in there and go easy on the lifting when it’s my turn to lift at the meet but no freakin’ way I won’t go easy! I’m gonna go all in and give it my best shot! They don’t call it power lifting for no reason, ya know? Lifting heavy is the name of the game!

What will my personal records be for dead-lift and bench press?

For bench I could probably do like 90 lbs. or a little over.

For dead-lift I could probably do like 150 lbs. or a little over. I’m gonna try to go for 160 lbs. possibly.

Yeah, I’m probably gonna end up getting into power lifting full time. Will I switch my workout routines at the gym into a power lifting program? Probably not. I’ll just continue to workout how I usually do but I will add in dead-lifting, regular squatting and regular bench in my work out plans. I’m going to do those every week from now on.

A lot of times I wonder how I could increase my strength in dead-lift, squats and bench? Well I guess the only answer to that is keep continuing to train every week and you’ll get stronger doing that. When I go to the meet later this evening, I’m probably gonna get tons of advice and tips on how to increase my strength. I’ll need to learn better form and better technique too.

Power Lifting could be good for me to get into and that could help get me a bigger body quicker too.

Tonight is gonna be a blast. I’m looking forward to watching other people do their lifts too. I know I’m going to be seeing other wicked huge men tonight and they’re gonna be lifting between 200 lbs – 500 lbs. or over. It’s gonna be interesting watching them. I’m not that kind of lifter yet but I want to be. Just gonna take my time and not get too ahead of myself.

Looking forward to tonight. There will be pics and video exclusively on my instagram.

Kev

Since tomorrow is the big day, my first Power Lifting competition meet at Albany Strength, I thought I would show you what it would look like. This is what I’ll be doing tomorrow evening. Tomorrow is the bench pressing and dead-lifting meet.

I’ll only be able to lift 90 lbs. on the bench or a little over but on the dead-lift, I’m sure I’ll kick ass on that.

I can’t wait and pretty stoked. I’m sure I’ll do okay and when I get home after tomorrow, I’ll let you know how I did and I’ll post video ’cause I’ll be filming my lifts.

Gonna be a blast. Not only will I be going to compete in the meet, we’ll probably stay to watch others lift and this will be cool to meet new people too.

After I do my first power lifting meet, I probably will do a lot more ’cause I’ll probably end up loving it. I might end up becoming a full time power lifter.

I never thought I would get into any competition of any kind but I’m doing it, I guess. That video above is old but just to give you an example of what I’m about to do tomorrow. Once again, gonna be a blast and I can’t wait!

Kev

When I first started bodybuilding, I experimented with the bench press for a little while. Ya know, the king of all workouts… the barbell flat bench that all the guys in the gym seem to do. I started doing bench pressing for a little while and then I gave it up for a long while ’cause I quickly lost interest in the barbell bench and then I’ve been doing dumbbell chest presses as a substitute.

Well today, I just got back into benching. Why? It’s because I have a dead lifting/bench press power lifting meet at Albany Strength this Friday in Albany, N.Y. I wanted to see how heavy I can lift a barbell on a bench. So at the gym today, I started off pretty light on the bench. For the first set, I started off with 60 lbs. which I am able to lift for 10 reps each. Then I moved it up to 70 lbs. in the second set which I am only able to do 3 reps each. Then I moved it up to 90 lbs. on the 3rd set which I am able to do 1 rep. Then on the 4th set, I moved it up to a 100 lbs. in which I failed the rep and couldn’t do it.

Don’t worry, guys, I asked a guy to spot me on the last two sets which were the heavier sets which was a good thing that I did that. If I didn’t have a spotter trying to lift a 100 lbs. rep, I would have been stuck under the bar trying to scream for “HELP” like a moron. I would have been badly hurt and probably would have been put in an ambulance, lol. The gym was kind of slow when I went in today and not many people so good thing there was a guy in the gym available to spot me.

You see, I don’t have a workout partner and it’s always good to get a spotter when you’re not sure of something. It’s not ego-lifting if you can get a spotter, ya know? If you don’t have a workout partner, just ask any random person in the gym and I’m sure he/she will be willing to spot ya real quick. A lot of people in the gym won’t mind spotting you in between their workouts. Just don’t be afraid to ask someone. If this person says “no” and refuses just move on to the next person. Most people will be nice enough to spot you. The one guy who spotted me earlier today did a great job spotting me and he definitely knew what he was doing. I just wanted to be safe so I don’t kill myself in the gym…

… but I won’t a fail a rep like that again doing bench. I just wanted to find the right weight and looks like the heaviest I can lift on a bench is 90 lbs. so that’s my personal record on that?

The guy who spotted me gave me a few pointers on how to lift the heavier reps which was cool of him.

At the weight lifting meet this Friday, there’s an experienced weight lifter I know who I’m doing this event with and he’ll probably teach me how to lift heavier. I’m not sure if I’m benching correctly anyways. I have a pretty good idea how to bench by watching youtube videos but I want to learn from experienced lifters to get the form right. If I’m going to get into Power Lifting, I’m going to have learn good technique too. The judges at Power Lifting meets are pretty strict on form and technique so they’ll teach me how to do things better too if I mess a few things up.

I’m pretty sure I can do dead lift well and I’m about to go there and show them what I got. I’ll show them what I got in benching too. Like I repeatedly said before, I’m not a super duper heavy lifter yet. I can’t lift like all those big guys can but I hope to get there someday, though.

Can’t wait for my first power lifting meet. Getting stoked. I just wanna do something fun and challenging, ya know? I never got to experience any of this when I was young and might as well get into it now.

Will I do Power Lifting full time? Not sure. I’m just gonna give it a try and see what it’s like first. Just do it for fun and that’s all.

I’m sure people are thinking right now: “Kev, you’re so full of it. You’re going to kill yourself and get hurt at your age especially when you have scoliosis and a Harrington Rod in your back.”

I’m sure many of you are thinking that right now and I’m about to prove all the doubters wrong. This is the time where I can finally silence all the doubters. Just watch.

Kev

Earlier today at the gym, I decided to try dead lifting a little heavier today just to see how heavy I’m about to dead lift ’cause it’s a good way to practice the power lifting meet, ya know? I know I’m new to dead lifting and when I got back into it, I started off pretty light and as each week goes by, I try to lift a little heavier. What is my personal record in dead lifting so far? Well I dead lifted 150 lbs for 4 sets and 5 repetitions each which is pretty damn good. I do know that when you’re lifting heavy on dead lifting you don’t really want to do high repetitions… in my opinion, only do around 3 – 5. That’s what my research says.

In power lifting meets, they usually make you do one rep anyways so when I get there at the meet in Albany this Friday, I’m going to try lifting a little heavier than 150 lbs. Maybe go for 160 lbs.

As for my personal record in flat bench pressing, I’m not sure yet. I haven’t done flat bench pressing in a long time. I tried flat bench pressing on the Smith Machine and I’m able to lift 120 lbs. on that but if I did regular bench, I would probably be able to lift less than that. At the gym this week, I’m going try regular bench to see how heavy I can lift on that thing and see what my personal record is and then I’ll try it at the meet this Friday. Hell, maybe I could lift over a 100 lbs on a regular bench too? I’ll give it a shot.

Hell maybe I already am kind of a heavy lifter. I just can’t lift over 200 lbs. yet but I hope to get there someday. Just being patient about it and leaving my ego at the door, ya know? It’s the best attitude to have.

Can’t believe I’m about to do my first power lifting competition. I’m actually very psyched for this and I’m totally ready. I’m just going go in there and kill it and hopefully impress everyone in the room. I’m not nervous at all. I’m just going to go there and show them what I got. A 41 year old man getting into power lifting competitions for the first time is gonna be questionable for some and I’m interested in seeing how they’re gonna treat me there but we’ll see. LOL They’re probably gonna be a little cautious around me at first but they’ll be surprised of what I could do. I train like a monster in the gym.

Can’t wait for Friday night and yes, I’ll film my lifts for all to see!

Kev

Like I said, this coming Friday on Aug. 31, I’ll be doing a benching and dead-lifting meet in Albany with some people that I know. That’s an event that I’m looking forward to. Ya know, I never played any sports over the years of my life. I never played baseball, basketball and football. Well, honestly I did play baseball when I was in little league and I played basketball and football in gym high school but that’s about it. I was never really on a team for anything in high school ’cause why? It’s simply because of my scoliosis that stopped me from playing sports.

Now that I had a major back surgery to get the Harrington Rod put in me, I’m good enough to do anything I want in life. I still can’t play big sports really but I got into bodybuilding and weightlifting so I can feel athletic. Bodybuilding and weightlifting is a sport technically. I think I’m going to get into a sport finally by doing power lifting competitions and I’m about to do my first power lifting meet pretty soon which I’m very excited for. I’m getting older and in my 40’s so you can only live once. Might as well do something amazing and age isn’t stopping you.

For a while now I’ve been doing dumbbell presses on the floor which is actually very good ’cause it helps give you more strength for the regular barbell bench which I’m about to try very soon. For the dumbbell press, I’m can lift 55 lbs so does that mean that I could probably lift heavy on a regular bench press? Yes, I probably could. It means that I could probably lift 90 lbs. – 100 lbs or a little over, we’ll see.

At the gym over the weekend, I just did regular barbell squatting at the squat rack for 50 lbs., 4 sets and 10 reps each. I’m noticing a difference doing barbell squatting between a smith machine and a regular squat rack. I’m liking the regular squat rack more so free weights is the best way. That was the very first time I ever did regular squatting at the squat rack and I could only do 50 lbs. Next time I’ll go 10 lbs. extra heavy and try 60. Barbell squats are awesome. A lot of people are against the Smith machine but I’m not. I have no issues with the Smith machine but I prefer free weights more.

So from now on, I’m going to start doing regular barbell bench, barbell squats at the squat rack and barbell dead-lifting. If I’m going to start doing power lifting meets then I’m going to have to start doing these.

I’m going to do research on the kind of shoes I should be wearing for dead-lift and squats and I’m going to do shoes shopping soon. I’m also going to buy protective knee wraps for dead-lift and squats too. Should I start wearing a belt like most lifters do? Yes, I think I should and I will. I need to get trained into this stuff and I know a guy that can teach me and I’m going to see him at the power lifting competition this coming Friday. This guy is an expert weight lifter, he knows a lot and I’m sure he can teach me a lot. I want to get big and strong and power lifting will help me.

Yeah, I’m getting into power lifting and stuff and want to get into it but you’ll never see me in the Olympics or anything. I’m just doing this for fun and to challenge myself. Take my lifting to the next level, ya know? I’ve been lifting weights for 10 years or a little over now. Has it been that long already? Certainly doesn’t seem like it! I just want to get into something new. Even though I’ll never compete in the Olympics ever, I still do hope to win a few trophies here and there ’cause that would be cool. Win a few weight-lifting trophies as a way to make myself feel proud about. Not sure that’ll ever happen but ya never know. Just gotta work hard and get it.

Getting into weight lifting competition at around 40 years old? How about that? You’re never too old to do these things. Remember that, no excuses, y’all. If ya wanna do it well fucking doing it.

Kev

Well, I got a pretty good announcement to make. I’m gonna do a power lifting meet next week in Albany which is next Friday night. I didn’t think I would be competing for anything in bodybuilding but I think I’m gonna give it a try and see what it’s like. Just to do something different and fun. Ya know, challenge myself a little bit. I just wanted to get into bodybuilding so I can become the best shape of my life… I never really got into this for any kind of competition.

I’m going to this event with some people that I know that do these power lifting contests… they invited me so I said, why not? I’m going. Not only did they ask me to go with them, they also asked me to do the contests since I’ve been lifting weights for a long while now. I guess, they’ve seen me what I do on those videos I made and they know I’m capable of doing competition.

I don’t think I’ll be lifting super duper heavy on the bench press and dead-lift but I’m just going to lift as heavy as I can lift. The last time I did dead lift in the gym, I did 140 lbs but I could probably do a little heavier than that. As far as bench press goes, I don’t know how heavy I can lift on that ’cause I haven’t done bench press in a long time. I’ve been doing mostly dumbbell work for my chest but if I’m going to do these competition meets, I think I’ll go back into benching starting this week next time I do chest day. Like I said, I’m not a super-heavy lifter yet so I won’t be good enough to win anything. I don’t think I’ll win any trophies or anything but that’s okay. Either way, I’m just doing this for fun and that’s all.

Time to get back into bench press if I’m going to do this. I’m not nervous at all. I’m totally ready and totally confident. I’m just going to go there and show people what I can do and that’s it.

I can’t lift over 200 lbs. yet, I’m not that kind of lifter yet but I hope to be someday and I will get there. Just taking my slow time and being patient about it.

These people I’m going to this event with kind of talked me into it so I said, “Yes, I’ll go”. I’m going to a gym called Albany Strength XXXL to do this event there. Looking forward to it. Yes, I’m planning on bringing my Ipod camera so I can film my lifts for Instagram/FB and all that stuff.

Even though I can’t lift super duper heavy yet, I am feeling much stronger and feeling the best shape of my life. I am getting great results lately in my physique when doing this 4 day a week routine all Spring/Summer. I feel my arms are getting bigger, my chest is shaping up too and just feeling really really good.

Looking forward to going to that event next week. Not only will I get to lift there, I’ll also get to meet all kinds of new people which I’m looking forward to as well. Gonna be a fun time, I’m sure.

When you get into bodybuilding and fitness, been doing it for years like I have now and get invited to a strength competition, you know you’re going somewhere and doing something right. I’ve always thought about getting into power lifting and strong man stuff. Doing that stuff will help me get bigger in size too.

Kev

Like I said before, you know you’re going somewhere in bodybuilding when you’re getting a lot of compliments on your physique. I’ve been getting a lot of that lately. I’ve been getting compliments from mostly friends, family and acquaintances. I sometimes get compliments from complete strangers as well. I get a lot of people telling me: “Wow, you’re looking good”, “You’re looking really buffed lately”, “You’re getting bigger each time I see you”, etc. I get stuff like that.

You know how I respond to compliments? I try to keep it as humble as possible… when people tell me you’re looking buffed, I simply say something like, “I’m trying” and then I just laugh. When people tell me, “You’re getting bigger”, I just respond with something like, “Thanks, I really work hard and doing the best I can”. That’s how you want to respond to compliments ’cause you don’t want to be an arrogant jerk about it, ya know?

I love getting compliments on my physique. I can’t tell how my physique looks and I just let other people do the judging. I’ve had a lot of people look at me with wide eyes and they’re like, “Wow, look at you”. I’ve gotten a lot of that lately too.

All of this positive feedback of what I’m doing in the gym is what’s motivating me to keep going to the gym. It’s what’s helping push to the limit and go at it 4 days a week non-stop. I don’t know… maybe I should compete in a bodybuilding competition, lol… I’m actually kind of thinking about that but I think I’m too old for that kind of dream, though. I’m too old to be a fitness competitor or a fitness model or whatever. That’s okay… I just want to look great and feel great. I’m at a great time to be doing bodybuilding in my 40’s ’cause I want to try and have a really ripped physique when I’m 50 or 60. Could I look like Sly, Arnold, JCVD and Dolph when I’m 60? That’s pretty much my goal really. You’re never too old to have a muscular physique, though.

I’ve always wanted to have a muscular physique for many years and it’s finally working for me. I’m not gay at all, I’m 100% straight and love women but seeing all these muscular guys helped piqued my interest in bodybuilding and I’m going after that look myself. People didn’t think I could do it but I’m doing it and proving the doubters wrong.

Kev

Starting tomorrow on Sunday and all the way to the next Sunday after that, I’m taking a whole week off of bodybuilding. Why? For a few reasons… 1) I’ll be out of town and going away for a little while. A fun little trip to do something for myself. 2) It’s good to take a week off of bodybuilding  once in a blue moon since you’ve been doing it most of the year.

I’ve been lifting weights in the gym non-stop all year-long with little breaks. In the past, I used to workout the 3 day a week routine but all Spring/Summer, I boosted it up to 4 days a week. I’ve worked out in the gym 4 days a week all Spring/Summer  non-stop. I deserve a little break and going to reward myself a little break since I did good this year. It’s good to take a week off of bodybuilding once in a blue moon.

A lot of people get tired of bodybuilding and lifting weights that they just give up for a while. Not me. Lifting weights is a lifestyle for me so I’ll never give it up. As goon as I get back from my week break vacation, I’ll be back at bodybuilding in the gym 4 days a week again.

This 4 days a week routine in the gym is going awesome for me and I vow to keep at it. I’m feeling ripped and feeling really good lately. Lifting a lot more heavier and feeling real definition all over the place. I’m getting results in the chest pecs finally ’cause I feel my chest getting bigger each week.

Time to take a little break from it all. Got to heal up the body and re-charge. I won’t lose muscle during that break so don’t worry. When you stop working out, muscles will start to atrophy in about a month or so. You won’t lose muscle in a week. Even though, I’ll be taking a week off of weightlifting, I’ll still do my cardio like go for a run or a brisk walk all week so I can keep my muscles.

I’ll probably not post on the blog at all during next week while I’m on my break but I’ll try to post more today.

Kev