Category Archives: Health and Fitness

Health and Fitness

Feeling really strong on bench lately, wow… today I just did a 160 lb. heavy single… feels good!

Leave a comment

I’ve been killing it on the bench and my numbers on bench have been going up lately. Feels great to be killing it on bench. Earlier at the gym this morning, I’m starting to do 135 lbs. for more reps finally. Since today, I just did a 150 lb. for a triple, I thought to myself: “If I can smash a 150 lb. for a triple, I could probably do 160 for a single so lets try that”.

I ended my bench session with a 160 lbs. single. I did that number for two sets and both of them were easy.

Yep. I’m on the road to a 200 lb. bench and I might be able to make it in time before the Aug. 30th powerlifting meet at Albany Strength. We’ll see.

If I can do a 160 lb. heavy single then my estimated pr. could be about 170 lbs. so I’m just about there at 200 lbs.

I used to hate benching but I’ve been loving it more and more. Will I be able to make it to a 200 lb. bench this summer? I’m gonna try but we’ll see how it goes. Just gotta keep working and working, stay consistent.

Enjoy the video.

Kev

 

Health and Fitness

Powerlifting training is really helping my physique and getting more muscle gains… so glad I got into it…

Leave a comment

Man… doing all this powerlifting training which I have been doing for about a year now has been really paying off. I’ve noticed that I’ve gotten some major chest gains since I’ve gotten into bench pressing full time. For flat bench, I do strength training for like 1 – 5 reps on each set but I do hypertrophy training for like 8 – 12 reps on incline bench and cable crossovers for muscle gains. If you’re going to train for strength, I figure it’s important to build muscle too. Building muscle helps get you stronger, believe it or not.

I’m getting some major gains on the lower body ’cause I do a lot more lower body stuff than the upper body. My quads feel like they’re getting bigger. My calves are finally developing too. Although I train the calves with standing and seated calves, I also train the calves with all the barbell squatting and deadlifting that I do too. Doing barbell squats and deadlifting, they both work the calves too. My calves are getting slightly bigger finally.

I always knew that getting into powerlifting training full time would help my physique even more and it’s happening. I’m soon going to be posing for bodybuilding pics so you can see what I’m talking about.

Powerlifting training really can give you muscle gains. Heavy lifting can really help. I’m proud to get into strength training finally and I’m definitely getting stronger on the big three lifts too. It’s going to take some more time for me to get to the bigger numbers but I’ll get there soon.

There’s a lot of great benefits in powerlifting, it’s quite a ride really. I’m having a blast doing it.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Gonna stop doing bent over barbell rows and will swap it with t-bar rows instead, I think…

Leave a comment

For a long while now, I’ve been doing bent over barbell rows ’cause I’ve read that it’s the best workout to really help deadlift strength. I think I’m going to stop doing those for good simply ’cause I don’t feel safe doing them. I’m noticing that it’s messing up my left hip a little bit and hurting my left glute a little bit. Not sure why it is. Maybe my form was off a little bit and maybe you don’t need to lift superheavy weights on that one, I don’t know but I’m gonna stop doing bent over rows for something else. The pain wasn’t that bad and I’m completely okay now. I just don’t feel comfortable doing bent over rows for barbell and it’s not my favorite workout.

I think I’m going to swap it with t-bar rows ’cause they are better, I think. I haven’t done t-bar rows in a long while and I think I’m going to get back to it.

To lift really heavy deadlifts off the floor, you gotta have a really strong back all around. I’m trying to find back exercises that would help. I think the t-bar row will be better ’cause the t-bar row works your entire back… the bent over row for barbell only works your middle back and lats.

I’ll continue to do lat pull downs and seated cable rows ’cause they’ll be good to work the back. I’ve always done those two workouts.

If you want to have a big deadlift, you also got to work on your grip and I found that farmer’s walk will help grip strength. I’ve been doing farmer’s walk more and more.

The deadlift works the entire body so you also have to have pretty strong legs as well ’cause the deadlift is kind of like the leg press too. I’ve been doing exercises for the legs and all that. Getting back into using the leg press again, doing leg ext. and hamstring curl machines on leg days.

Working to get my 300 lb. deadlift back and doing all I can to get there but I want to get there without hurting myself with the other exercises so I’m going to ditch the bent over barbell row for something else.

When you want to get into powerlifting for the bench, squat and deadlift… you still gotta train like a bodybuilder on the other workouts. Even in powerlifting, you still gotta build muscle ’cause building muscle helps get you stronger too. Powerlifters will never admit that. They seem to focus on the big three only and I disagree. You can’t neglect the power of hypertrophy training ’cause I still do that.

Back to the bent over row, I’m just not a big fan of that anymore and swapping that with the t-bar row sounds good to me. I’m hoping to get my 300 lb. deadlift back in time before the Aug. 30th push/pull meet in Albany and I want to be completely injury free at this one.

I’m hoping to do 300 lbs. for more reps this year if I’m lucky enough and I will get there. Just gotta stay consistent. Losing my 300 lb. deadlift was my fault, though. The reason that happened is ’cause I stopped the heavy deadlifting too early before a powerlifting meet and I’ll never do that again. I’ll get it back soon enough. Just you wait.

I’ve also saw a video on youtube where a guy says you shouldn’t have to worry about de-loading after 4 – 6 weeks when strength training. This youtuber says the only time you should take a week off of strength training is when you get injured or get sick. You don’t de-load or take a week break too often at all. If you want to get strong and stay strong, gotta stay consistent on a weekly basis. I think de-loading will make you weaker and I’ll have a post on that soon.

I love powerlifting. I gotta do it right and do it smart.

Kev

Health and Fitness

I’m gonna be posting full body progress bodybuilding photos real soon…

Leave a comment

Just for fun, I decided to take a photo of myself wearing nothing but boxers and doing a bodybuilding pose for the camera. When I saw the pic, I was actually pretty impressed of what I saw. Not being egotistical or arrogant or anything but I really was impressed of what I saw that I decided to throw it on my instagram stories to see what kind of reaction it got. The reaction turned out GOOD and I got a few more instagram followers because of it.

For that reason, I think I’m definitely gonna be posting a lot more bodybuilding progress photos. I’ll be doing full body progress photos. I’ll be showing it all off. However, though, I’m noticing that posing in boxer briefs isn’t gonna do it so sometime this summer I’m going to be ordering a pair of bodybuilding trunks.

Some people may think that what I’m about to do pretty soon is pretty egotistical and arrogant and some are gonna be offended but whatever. After years of hard work in the gym, why hide what you got, ya know? That’s what bodybuilding is here for to begin with. Build muscle, get lean and you can show off your hard work. Why hide it?

I may never compete for the bodybuilding stage but I will show off like that for photos. I want to show it all off… upper body and lower body. I’m getting more chest development and my pecs are improving greatly so I think it’s finally time to do a photo shoot like this. I’ll take a series of pics of me trying to pose like a pro-bodybuilder.

I think it’ll be fun and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of reaction these photos will get.

While I am a full time powerlifter now, I still see myself as more of a bodybuilder, though. I may never be a “Mr. Olympia” but I would like to get that look. That’s what I’m aiming for.

Kev

Health and Fitness

The reality of plateauing in strength training & powerlifting, I’m not plateauing at all… it’s just that strength takes time…

Leave a comment

Ya know, after thinking about it a long while, I’m not plateauing at all. I did a lot of research on how to “bust plateaus” and most information I see through the weightlifting industry is really all a joke. I mean, a couple of weeks ago I deadlifted a 280 lbs. for a double and did a 285 lbs. as a heavy single. If I’ve been doing that, I’m not getting weaker at all and getting stronger every time. I gotta stop worrying about hitting 300 lbs. deadlift and keep doing what I’m doing. Before you know it, I’ll be deadlifting over 300 lbs. for more reps pretty soon so I gotta keep at it and strength will come in time.

All these guys in the fitness world worrying about losing strength, well, I don’t think they lost any at all. Strength gain is a slow process that’s the thing, ya know? I look at all these info on blogs and powerlifting websites and they give you all these “magical” programs that promises to break through plateaus. It’s all just a bunch of click bait bullshit that does nothing but help trying to promote their sites so don’t believe everything you see on the internet when it comes to weightlifting info.

Yeah, you will see your numbers stay the same and lose some and so many powerlifters and bodybuilders gets pissed when they notice that stuff happening. They shouldn’t get upset and not get so worked up over it ’cause every weightlifter out there goes through it. If you keep doing what you’re doing, strength gain will come on its own. It just comes whenever it wants to. Don’t believe all these magical tricks that you see online, ya know what I’m talking about? Blogs that are titled, “5 ways to never hit a plateau again” and blah blah blah blah. That’s what I’m talking about.

While I find most of that stuff a bunch of bullshit… I do agree with a few things here and there. One thing that I agree with what they say is that I need to sleep more ’cause I admit, I’ve been hitting the gym first thing early in the morning. That’s what I do during the Spring/Summer is hit the gym early in the morning as soon as I wake up. That’s not good and I gotta stop that. You need more sleep if you want to smash the big weights.

I also agree that I need to do less cardio and stop cutting weight. I don’t want to eat too many calories ’cause I don’t want to become a fat powerlifter but I’m definitely gonna eat more though instead of less. I need to educate myself on calorie deficit and all that stuff.

I also agree with them on taking deload weeks more often which I just started doing and that already seems to be helping I’m noticing. Take a week off or a deload week. I’m planning to take a week off from the gym completely pretty soon ’cause I’m going on vacation on the first week of Aug.

There’s no such thing as a “plateau” when it comes to strength training. It’s just a silly myth. I see so many new powerlifters online getting so mad when they notice that their numbers stay the same or dropping. Too many newbie powerlifters want to rush the big numbers and that’s what I don’t want. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself and I’m gonna take my time.

I’ll just continue to do what I do. Just train for strength on the big three for like 1 – 5 reps for 5 sets each. Just gotta be patient, ya know? Of course, a lot of lifters don’t know what the word “patience” means anymore.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Found a great video by Alan Thrall on how to break plateau’s on the big three lifts… I got to learn how to do volume training which sounds like a good idea…

Leave a comment

Ever since I’ve gotten into powerlifting training full time, I’ve noticed that I’ve been plateauing a bit. I’ve plateaued on the bench in the past before but doing great on bench again. I’m plateauing on deadlift now and trying to come up with a plan on how to break through and overcome it.

I think I’ve came up with a plan. I think I need to start learning “volume training” which I will read more into it this weekend so I can start “volume training” right away next week. I want to get stronger faster and go up in numbers each time I hit the gym.

I’m not gonna lie that it is kind of frustrating seeing my numbers staying the same or going down. “Volume Training” sounds like a good idea and I’m gonna be looking into that.

I don’t have a powerlifting coach and doing this all by myself so I have no choice but to teach myself.

This is a great video and Alan Thrall is one of my favorite weightlifting youtube channels.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Not doing so good on squats and deadlift lately but killing it on bench… wonder why that is??? Am I plateauing? I could be, not gonna lie…

Leave a comment

I tried maxing out on the big three lifts this week but wasn’t very good again. I’m killing it on bench. My bench numbers are going up as I just smashed a whopping 165 lbs. pr. on bench this week. Not quite at 170 lb. bench yet but I’ll get there in a few weeks. I’m on the road to a 200 lb. bench. Looks like I won’t get to 200 lbs. in time before the Aug. 30th push/pull meet at Albany Strength but I’m still gonna try to get there.

As for squat and deadlift… the squats, I had to go do lighter weights so I can get the correct depth that the USAPL asks for. The right depth for the USAPL is that the upper leg area and crease of the hip needs to be lower than the top of the knee. I hit that depth and it’s very tough. I couldn’t smash a 150 or a 140 lb. squat when I tried so my estimated pr on squats right now is about 135 lbs. I’m gonna take my time and really bring up my squat numbers this summer.

The same goes for deadlift. I still can’t get over 300 lbs. again. I did it once in the past but can’t seem to do it now. I think I’m plateauing on deadlift and I’m going to figure out a way to bust through it. Maybe I keep deadlifting the same weights every week ’cause you don’t want to do that. I gotta keep adding more weight everyweek and mix it up and I will start doing that from now on.

When I train for strength in powerlifting, I do 5 sets of everything on the big three and started training for 1 – 5 reps. I used to start with 8 – 10 reps and go 1 – 5 later in the sets but from now on, I’ve been doing 1 – 5 reps for each set. I feel that I’m getting pretty close to 300 again ’cause a few weeks ago, I smashed a 280 lb. for a double and a 285 lb. for a heavy single. Someday I want to start doing 300 lbs. for more reps and I’m gonna take my time to get there. I can get there this summer if I’m lucky enough. Just gotta find a way to break out of this plateau and I’ll be back on fire before you know it.

Every powerlifter goes through plateaus, even the greatest powerlifters of all time go through ’em. We all have our bad days in the gym and at the powerlifting meets so I’m not mad about it. I’ll find a way to get back on track on deadlift so I can fucking kill it at the push/pull meet in August. At the push/pull meet in August, I’m hoping to smash over 300 lb. so I’m gonna take my time and come up with a plan.

When you “plateau” in the gym, it means you notice a decrease in strength like staying the same or going down. You don’t want that in powerlifting. I want to become a great deadlifter and don’t wanna mess it up.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Even though I don’t compete for bodybuilding, I am still a “bodybuilder” either way…

Leave a comment

Ya know, it is interesting how some people wanna say that I’m not a bodybuilder just because I don’t compete for the stage. As long as you’re in a gym, lifting weights and building muscle, you’re a bodybuilder. You don’t have to compete for the bodybuilding stage to be considered a bodybuilder. You can always have an amazing bodybuilding physique and not compete for the stage at all.

Standing on a stage wearing nothing but tiny trunks in front of a live crowd has never been my goal and I’ll never wanna do that. I respect the bodybuilding competition but that has never really been my thing. I respect all the competitors who won Mr. Olympia over the years whether they were on steroids or not, I don’t care.

I don’t wanna compete for bodybuilding. Don’t want to become a fitness model or a fitness guru or none of those things. I got into bodybuilding ’cause I just want the look.

Yeah, I kind of do want to look like a young Arnold and look like other guys such as Jay Cutler (who is my favorite Mr. Olympia, btw). I also want to look like movie stars and pro wrestlers like the Rock. Yeah, most bodybuilders with huge physiques like that always get accused of “steroids”. I know Arnie’s used ’em in the past but he still was a great bodybuilder back in the day. I think it’s unfair that every bodybuilder out there gets accused of juicing up. It’s just wrong. You can’t judge the book by it’s cover. I definitely do believe that it’s possible to get that “Mr. Olympia” look naturally. A lot of these guys just ate really good, worked really hard and stayed dedicated. I’m tired of people accusing bodybuilders of using “roids”… it’s getting old and tiresome. We’re living in that world right now. Most of those accusations are coming from people who don’t even lift or they’re completely out of shape.

I do want that bodybuilder look. Try to get huge as much as possible. Even though I’m into powerlifting now, I still train like a bodybuilder too. I still train every body part even though I’m into powerlifting training. I do both strength training and hypertrophy so I can build strength and muscle. That’s why I got into powerlifting ’cause I want to get stronger faster.

Since I got into bench pressing full time, my chest pecs is finally improving. I can feel them getting bigger and bigger each week and I’m finally looking like a “bodybuilder”. Big arms, improved pecs and abs. Yeah, I got it all pretty much and feeling really good.

I got into bodybuilding ’cause I just want that muscular look. I look at all these guys in Mr. Olympia, the action movies and pro wrestling and I thought to myself, “Geez, someday I’m gonna look like that”. That’s why I got into bodybuilding, to get healthy and get in shape. I want to look great.

I’m proud to be a bodybuilder and powerlifter and I’ll never give up both. I want to show people that I can be good at something and inspire others to hit the gym too hopefully. Like always, I’m very proud of what I look like now but still got work to do, though. Still got some bodyfat to drop and working on that also.

Kev

Health and Fitness

If you want something in powerlifting, you go do it and don’t listen to negativity…

Leave a comment

When you have goals and dreams you want to achieve in powerlifting, bodybuilding or whatever you want to do… yeah… people are gonna doubt you, call you delusional and be jealous of you but you can’t be listening to them.

Yeah, I do want to become a great powerlifter someday. People may think that goal is crazy and people might say that I’m full of myself and arrogant but don’t listen to them. In powerlifting, if you want something, you go get it. Honestly, that’s the reason everybody gets into powerlifting ’cause they all hope to become the greatest powerlifter someday. That is definitely my goal and I’m gonna do all I can to make it come true. Just gotta ignore all the haters and doubters and keep reaching out for it.

There will always be people who will act like I’m doing no good in powerlifting but you don’t want to listen to them either. This is about you and no one else.

I got into powerlifting hoping to achieve great things ’cause you can only live once, ya know? I wasn’t able to play sports over the years of my life due to my scoliosis and since I do powerlifting, this is my chance to do great things in life.

A lot of people already are liking what I’m doing which is why I’m trying to post more videos of my lifting. Admittedly, my numbers in powerlifting could be better but I’m still pretty new to this and got a lot of work to do still. I’ve already been lifting weights for years but powerlifting is pretty new to me. I wish the powerlifting veterans would treat the newbies with more respect ’cause the “newbies” don’t get treated well. When you’re just starting out, gotta get ready for the know it alls and big shots to get all over you ’cause that will happen.

Just ignore negativity from people and you will make your dreams come true.

Kev

Health and Fitness

People are catching on with my lifting on social media, there’s a bit of a buzz going around and it’s amazing…

3 Comments

I don’t mean to brag but I feel the need to do this with this post and can’t help myself. Everywhere I go, some random person would come up to me and say they follow my lifting on instagram like with my bodybuilding and powerlifting stuff that I do. I get some family members that follow what I do and sometimes I even get complete strangers coming up to me telling they like what I do online when it comes to weightlifting. In the weightlifting world, you really can grow a fan following and get supporters which is amazing to me and I’m humbled.

I don’t know what it is. Maybe they like what I do is that they admire the fact that I’m a 40 something lifter who weighs about 147 lbs. and lifting kind of semi-heavy weights. This is kind of one of the reasons I got into powerlifting for is to hopefully win over respect by people and it is already starting to happen.

Just you wait, y’all. This is only the beginning of what I do. Wait until you start seeing me hitting the bigger weights sometime in the future. My goal in powerlifting is to be able to smash a 500 lb. or over deadlift and squat and to be able to smash a 300 lb. bench or over. It’ll take some more years to get up to the real big ones but I’ll get there, though. I’m just taking my time and not getting too ahead of myself in powerlifting.

I would love to do my first USAPL powerlifting meet but I’m not gonna rush for that one. I’m gonna wait to hit the big weights first and then maybe I’ll think about doing USAPL. For now, I’ll just stick with doing powerlifting meets at the local ones like Albany Strength and the YMCA.

When I talk to people in public, I always get compliments about my bodybuilding physique and they are always shocked how strong I am. When people give me hugs or wrap their arm around my shoulder, people always get shocked about my strength. I was told by someone last night that I’m solid as a rock. I can’t tell my own strength so I just let other people do the judging.

People talking about my weightlifting on social media is great though and that’s a part of what helps keep me motivated to keep going to the gym 4 days a week.

I don’t do all of this for myself, though… I’m hoping to inspire others and hoping to motivate people to hit the gym and get into fitness too. Some people have gone to the gym ’cause of me.

It’s all pretty mind-blowing really.

In the bodybuilding and powerlifting world, do I hope to become famous for it? I don’t know. Not really but I do hope to get recognized for it a little bit. I’m not afraid to say it. If I want to get recognized nationally in powerlifting, I got to start doing the national powerlifting meets in the USAPL and I will in the future.

I love powerlifting. It’s an incredible sport and I’m happy that I get to do a sport that I can do.

Kev