Tag Archives: deadlift

A lot of powerlifters are gonna be arrogant and ego-driven people, just so you’re aware… lifting is about you, though, not about them…

Yeah, so you want to get yourself into the sport of powerlifting ’cause it simply looked cool and a lot of fun. That’s why I got myself into it ’cause it looks like a blast lifting heavy things. You’re just getting yourself into the powerlifting game and one thing you gotta be aware of, like the title says, you’re gonna see a lot of other powerlifters that are very ego-driven and arrogant people. I hope I’m not the only one that feels this way.

You’ll see a lot of powerlifters lifting with terrible form and technique all over social media and like the other post said about it, for some reason it’s accepted and cheered upon. You criticize other people’s lifting technique even when you’re nice, friendly and gentle about it, people will start criticizing you in return. Knowing from my own experience dealing with other powerlifters online.

I mean, isn’t the whole point of powerlifting is critiquing people’s form and being realistic? Yes. That’s the name of the game in powerlifting. The funny thing is, people think it’s okay to critique my form but when I do it to others, people don’t like it? Sure, I’m kind of a novice powerlifter still and my numbers could be better but that doesn’t mean they have the right to attack me in return. That’s the thing about powerlifting, they treat the newbies and up and comings like crap.

I try not to criticize someone’s form but I only do it when it looks dangerous like deadlifting with rounded backs and benching with butt off bench. I’m just looking out for their well being so they don’t get injured in the future but these people get defensive.

Today I got a bunch of hateful comments on my instagram by trolls, criticizing my lifting form even though it’s good. I haven’t seen one comment by any of them explaining why my form isn’t good and they haven’t corrected my form once. Why? It’s because they know my form is good and they dare not say it. They just say stuff like “Your form is shit” without explaining what I’m doing is wrong. They just wanted something to bash at. I deleted all the nasty comments asap, though.

I think they get defensive on bad form ’cause they can’t take the truth that it could lead to injury. The truth hurts, ya know? If they want to keep deadlifting with rounding backs, go for it. You could take out your back and you could be out of lifting for months. Even worse, your powerlifting career could be over for good. Too many deadlift with rounded backs and too many bench with butt off of bench, it’s scary really.

Let these assholes kill themselves in the gym for all I care. Yeah, there are gonna be egos and arrogant jerks in powerlifting for sure, you just gotta ignore ’em and just keep doing your thing. Not care what others say about you and your lifting.

There will be veterans and longtime powerlifters who will try to make you look bad. I was trying to be helpful and look out for their well-being but some of them are not gonna like it.

I can take criticism of my lifting just fine and can take it like an adult. If you’re doing it just to troll, that I can’t take.

Not everyone in powerlifting are arrogant jerks, some are actually very cool people and humble. Powerlifting is not always a cool community to get into. You just need to focus on you and not worry about what others are doing.

I get why some trash my powerlifting skills ’cause of my numbers but just so you wait… someday I will be able to bench over 300 lbs. and be able to deadlift/squat over 500 and maybe the critics will be silenced then? We’ll see.

Kev

Here’s me smashing a 290 lb. deadlift heavy single today… it was easy, felt like I could do more…

I had a great deadlift session earlier this afternoon. Feeling strong on deadlift again. Easily smashed a 290 lb. heavy single. Felt so easy, I felt I could do more. Like the IG post says, I could probably smash a 300 lb. single and will give it a shot next week.

I could probably get past 300 lbs. for more reps very soon.

Trying to take technique and form very seriously and I just had a veteran powerlifter tell me in FB this lift was perfect.

Covid 19 didn’t take away my strength at all to be honest. In fact, it actually made me slightly stronger, lol….

Enjoy.

Kev

Feels real good to be back on the deadlift platform at the gym finally! Yes!

I’m noticing that I seem to have still got it on the powerlifting. I pulled an easy 275 lb. deadlift single this morning at the gym. I kept my deadlift session real easy and semi-light ’cause when coming back from time off, you don’t want to go too crazy on the heavy lifting just yet. The 275 lb. deadlift was too easy, I felt I could do a lot more.

So maybe I still do have the 300 lb. deadlift after all??? We’ll see. I remember once a long time ago at the gym, I pulled a 315 lb. max lift and I’m hoping I could do that again. I will start doing 300 pounders on deadlift at the gym and that’s my goal for the rest of the year. I’m hoping to start doing 300 lbs. for more reps, though.

First time back in the gym in a long time, gotta take it easy and that’s what I did. Next week, though, I think it’s time to get back into my serious strength training. Go back to heavy sets and few reps. Really improve my numbers on the big three is my goal. I’m not gonna mess around anymore this time… take powerlifting more seriously and not miss any lifts.

It felt great to be deadlifting again finally, though. My legs are even more sore because of it. No more time off from the gym. I wasn’t gonna take time off this year but the stupid pandemic forced me to since I don’t have my own gym. So happy to be back ’cause this is what I’m supposed to do.

Kev

Jeff Cavaliere of AthleanX youtube channel accused of using “fake weights”… I don’t think so, they’re just jealous as hell of him… all of them…

Jeff Cavaliere is a personal fitness trainer who has his own youtube channel called, AthleanX. It’s one of the biggest fitness youtube channels ever. In the past, I used to watch Jeff’s videos ’cause he is actually pretty knowledgeable and informative. Admittedly, he has helped me a lot and I use his deadlift instructional videos to help me.

Anyway, Jeff is in hot water for over a stupid reason… he is accused in the fitness youtube community of using “fake weights” when it comes to his deadlifting videos and other types of lifts. People also wanna criticize his form.

Ya know, I don’t think Jeff using fake weights ’cause he seems like a smart guy to me and I don’t think he’ll do that to himself on his youtube channel. I just laugh at people accusing him of using “fake weights” ’cause these are so-called experts who hasn’t even worked out in his gym and those accusing him haven’t even trained with him so these assholes trying to prove his “fake weights” are just wasting their time.

So far, Jeff hasn’t defended himself and responded to all the accusations yet but I think he will… give it time.

I think people are accusing Jeff of using “fake weights” ’cause they don’t think it’s possible for a guy that small to be lifting like 4 or 5 plates on a barbell on each side. Bullshit. It’s definitely possible for a small and skinny guy to lift the big ones. I think these fitness youtubers attacking him ’cause his channel is pretty big and they’re just jealous that he can lift the big deadlifts and they can’t, ya know?

Maybe Jeff’s deadlift form is a little off, sure but at least he can do it. Technically, though, Jeff isn’t really that small… he has a pretty damn good physique from the looks of things. Maybe that’s another thing they’re jealous about. You don’t have to be a fat ass to lift big weights and I think Jeff just proved that here. I think they are real 100%. The weight plates may look a little questionable but maybe it’s because it’s the padding on it and stuff. A semi-muscular man can still lift the huge deadlifts by good muscle and strong bone which Jeff has both.

Too many fitness youtube “experts” attacking Jeff like crazy and makes me want to be a fan of his work even more. They’re just jealous of him and that’s all.

How would Jeff prove that he can deadlift all them weight plates? I want to see him deadlift the old-school weightplates, the ones without the covered padding… the grey metal ones I’m talking about. Soon, I can see him releasing a deadlift video so he can silence all his doubters and critics.

Jeff seems like a stand up guy too. He seems very nice, polite and very humble the way I’m seeing things. Most fitness youtube gurus are just know it alls and arrogant assholes. They can’t stand how nice Jeff is, hey???

I’ve seen many powerlifters that are about Jeff’s size lifting deadlifts like 495 lbs. or way over. Yeah, it can be possible, don’t listen to the assholes. Strong bones, good muscle and good technique is all it takes and Jeff has all three.

Don’t judge the book by it’s cover.

Kev

Video: Arnold Schwarzenegger the man himself speaks to the USAPL crowd at the Arnold Festival…

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the man himself surprises powerlifting crowd at the USAPL meets at The Arnold Festival by making a special appearance. Guess he was there to help hype up the crowd and get the lifters all pumped up before they start lifting.

I know there has been stuff going on with the Arnold Festival over this Corona Virus stuff with the Arnold being partially cancelled over it and all that.

Now that I’m finally a USAPL member, I hope to one day compete at the Arnold and that’s the goal. One day I will compete for the major meets like the Arnold and the RAW Nationals and go pro. I’d love to win a gold medal someday (a real one) and that’s my dream. You can win actual gold through the USAPL which is awesome. Someday that will happen but I’m not gonna rush and take my time.

It would be cool for me to meet Arnold Schwarzenegger myself someday… while I don’t agree with his politics… I just respect the hell out of him ’cause he’s bodybuilding champion and I’m a fan of his movies.

Kev

Back into deadlifting after a two month break from it…

So I went back into deadlifting yesterday at the gym after a two month break, trying to heal an upper left leg injury. Still got it a little bit but good enough to get back into lower body lifting finally but gonna go in slow and easy at first.

Here’s me smashing an easy 250 lb. deadlift as a single to end my session with. I can do 250 lb. for more reps but I wanna go easy at first but this weekend I’m gonna go back to heavy deadlifting… see if I still got it and hopefully didn’t lose any strength but we’ll see. If I’m still able to smash 250 lb. easily then I probably still have it.

My goal this year for deadlift is to be able to do 300 lbs. or a little over for more reps. In other words, I’m hoping to get up to a 400 lb. pr sometime this year in 2020. On the road to 400 lbs.

My left leg is feeling way better now and it’s feeling okay. I wanna get back into lower body lifting right away so I don’t lose muscle and strength.

Even though I took a few week break of lifting altogether, it seems I haven’t lost strength at all which is amazing really. I seem to still have it with my upper body lifting too.

Injury setbacks sucks but I’m gonna be more careful this year this time. Getting injuries is all part of lifting… it’s the name of the game. When a lifter claims “they never get injured”, it’s a lie… don’t trust them when they say that. You know they’re full of it ’cause their ego is so big, they’ll never admit they get injured in the gym. Even the more experience lifters and pros get injuries. We all get ’em once in a blue moon but if you’re getting them frequently and all the freakin’ time then you’re doing something wrong for sure.

I think what’s helping with my left leg injury that I’ve been doing some stretching and a lot more walking on the treadmill which seems to be helping.

Kev

Went to the gym for leg day earlier today but didn’t go too crazy on heavy lifting for squats… felt pretty good…

Yeah, I ended up going back to the gym earlier today after all and trained the quads today after all. I had my squat session but didn’t go super heavy for this session. I only kept the weight numbers between 85 0 120 lbs. on squats.

I’m squatting with the right depth that the USAPL asks for. Ya know, all powerlifting federations have different definition of squat depth but the USAPL wants the “hip crease joint to go lower than the top of the knees” which is pretty freakin’ deep… kind of like ass to the grass squats almost. It feels wicked deep to me ’cause I’m a short guy. I’m 5 foot 5. I’m finally learning to squat with the right depth and it’s feeling good really. USAPL depth feels wicked heavy, though… holy shit… getting the hang of squats more and it’s growing on me.

Feels good to get back in the gym again. Gonna do back day tomorrow and try deadlifting to see how that goes. I miss the deadlifting. Want to get back into that too. Do I still have my 300 lb. deadlift? Not sure and I’ll give it a shot!

Kev

Leg injury update, still got it a little bit but I can feel it going away though…

Thought I would give you a little injury update on my left leg… since I took three weeks off of lower body lifting, I can feel the left leg getting better. Still not 100% yet but getting there. I don’t want to get back into lower body lifting again ’cause if I did, I would re-injure it and it would come back and that’s what I don’t want. I can’t go back to lower body lifting at all until it heals 100%. I predict that it could take a couple of more weeks to heal fully… maybe like 2 or 3 weeks, we’ll see how it goes. If it takes a whole month off to heal the injury all the way, I’ll take it.

My left shoulder is bothering me again a little bit so I guess no upper body lifting for a while as well, lmao. That means I gotta stay away from weightlifting altogether if I want my minor injuries to heal completely.

I know these injuries are going away ’cause I can feel them. Even though I can’t get back into weightlifting at all, I won’t stop going to the gym, though. I can go to the gym and just walk the treadmill for an hour but that’s about all I can do. I did end up taking a full week off of the gym last week so that helped a lot.

Like I said, it’s completely okay to take time off from the gym if you’re hurting ’cause that’s what you gotta do. I don’t think anything is torn ’cause if something was torn you would see some nasty discoloring and I don’t have any of that. I think these minor injuries are just a strain or a pull or something, nothing that bad. I want them gone forever so no lifting until they are gone. I’ll take a full month off or more than a month, whatever it takes.

Getting injuries suck as I have had them before and they do take forever to heal. Yeah, you may lose a little muscle and a little strength during recovery but like I said, don’t worry… you’ll get it all back pretty quick. I do miss the deadlifting already and I want to get back into it pretty badly but not until I’m 100%.

I don’t regret taking time off from the gym for these injuries, though ’cause it’s almost at the end of the year and it’s a good time to heal anyways ’cause once I do heal fully… I’m gonna get back into kicking ass in the gym in 2020.

When I look in the mirror, though… I couldn’t believe how big my arms and my shoulders are getting, though. Hate to brag about myself but my arms are getting impressive.

I’m getting better… just gotta stop lifting for a while longer. I know it sucks but that’s what I gotta do. I want to get back into strength training for powerlifting real soon but not right now. Hopefully I’ll be 100% in the month of Dec.

Kev

Still no deadlifting and lower body work until left leg heals 100%…

Another week of skipping deadlifting and leg day workouts. I hate it so much and it’s pissing me off but it’s the best thing I can do if I want this left leg injury to go away completely. It is getting better, though. Slowly but surely. I can tell whether or not I still got it by either standing for a long time or even sitting. I don’t need no doctor ’cause I know it’s a healable injury so I’ll recover it fine by myself.

I could get back to deadlifting and lower body work if I wanted but I’m not gonna ’cause if I did then the injury would come back and would take even longer to heal. It’ll probably take a few more weeks to get rid of it.

As I soon as I do heal 100% and when I’m completely injury free, I’m gonna get back to serious lower body lifting. Get right back to deadlifting and squatting so I can prepare for my first USAPL powerlifting meet whenever that will be. I don’t know if I’ll do a USAPL meet this year but definitely sometime in 2020. I just want to give myself more time and bring my numbers up on the bench, deadlift and squat.

I might lose a little bit of muscle and “strength” but I’ll be back on fire real soon. It’s crazy, ya know. I rarely get injuries in the gym and I haven’t gotten injured in a long time. How did I get this minor leg injury? I blame the leg press either that or doing so much for the legs. I’m gonna have to cut out some quad exercises so I won’t get it again.

My leg is getting better the more I don’t put weight on it so I’ll give it a lot more time.

I brought my gym days back down to 3 days a week but as soon as my leg fully heals, I’ll get right back to 4 days a week as soon as possible. When you have a leg injury you gotta stop deadlifting ’cause the deadlift takes a lot of leg work. The deadlift targets the whole lower body pretty much.

As soon as my leg heals completely, back to some serious lifting. I think I’ll take a whole month of Nov. off of lower body lifting so I can give it more time. Sounds like a good idea, I think.

Kev

Well, I finally joined the USAPL powerlifting federation… I decided to do it after all!!!!

Well y’all, I actually did it this week. I joined the USAPL. My powerlifting career officially begins. It was $65 for registration fee and if I ever did my first USAPL meet, I would be competing in the Masters Division since I’m an over 40 lifter.

Yeah, doing powerlifting meets is gonna be expensive… the admission fee to compete in USAPL meets could cost around $60 – $100 or more. Powerlifting might be “pricey” yes but hey, like they all say “You can only live once”… which is true. Since you can only live once, I wanna do “great” things in my life and powerlifting is my calling. Powerlifting gives me something to do and makes me feel like an athletic person.

When I start doing USAPL meets like the instagram post says I’m only gonna do like 1 or 2 powerlifting meets a year… maybe 3 if I get lucky. For now, I’m only going to do local and state meets for the USAPL.

Will I ever compete on the bigger national meets like the RAW Nationals like they have every year? Yes, I will absolutely compete on the RAW Nationals someday but I’m not gonna rush on that one and gonna take my time. I’m not gonna compete on the RAW Nationals until I start hitting the bigger weights. When I start hitting over 500 lbs. on the squats, bench and deadlift maybe I’ll start thinking about the RAW Nationals but I don’t want to get too ahead of myself. I also want to compete for the Arnold Festival too someday but I’m not gonna rush on that either.

I’m just gonna start small and build my way up. I’m hoping to be one of the greats in powerlifting someday so I joined the USAPL in hopes of making that dream come true.

So when will be my first USAPL powerlifting meet??? I don’t know. I’m thinking about doing the Northeast Ironbeast in Loudonville, NY in Jan. I’m nursing a left leg injury so I’m hoping it heels all the way before then. I’m sure it will. I’m still trying to recover from the left leg injury completely. I skipped leg day last week and will skip lower body workouts this week too so I can give it more time to heal ’cause I want the injury gone for good. My left leg has gotten better, though. I still feel it a little bit and still feeling a little leg weakness but I’m not gonna go back to lower body workouts until I don’t feel it at all.

Whenever I do heal completely and fully, I’m going to train real hard on deadlift and squats.

Now that I’m a USAPL member, I’m going to have to take some time to read their powerlifting rulebook ’cause it’s important.

Yeah, powerlifting is my new lifestyle and I’m glad to be a part of the community. My numbers for deadlift, squats and bench maybe kind of small right now but give it time, I’ll build them up real soon. Building strength will take some time.

Powerlifting really is a blast. Love it so much, I can see why the sport is getting so popular and exploding nowadays. It’s a blast to show off what you can do and it’s fun to watch other lifters as well. I want to win and kick ass in powerlifting. Win all kinds of trophies and medals, break state and world records. Get ready, y’all. This is only the beginning. So happy that I found a sport that I do.

Kev