Tag Archives: Powerlifting

Health and Fitness

Starting next week, I think I’m going to take two de-load weeks on weightlifting… I need it…

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Ya know, after some long hard thinking on why I had a terrible deadlift 1 rep max out week, I know what the problem is. I think the big issue was that my form was a little off. I think I was standing a little too far away from the bar which was a part of why I couldn’t lift heavy weight off the floor. If I stood one inch in front of the bar, I probably would have gotten it. Deadlifting with the foot stance far away from the bar will not lift the bar off the ground. You gotta stand a bit close to it. The bar must be over the middle of your feet. I think my setup was terrible which was why I couldn’t do it. Usually my deadlift startup and form was really good but lessons learned next time.

I think I’m going to deload for the next two weeks ’cause I really need it, ya know? I’m reading some powerlifting forums on why your deadlift is getting weaker, they say you either need to take two weeks off of deadlifting or de-load for two weeks. I’m not gonna take time off from deadlifting so I’m just gonna lift light. Doing some research, I’m reading about that even if you do light lifting and high reps that will still be taxing for your body so I’m just going to do light lifting and few reps. Nothing too crazy. I’m going to give that a try. De-load for two weeks and then get back into regular strength training.

I think I need to take my time and not rush to get to the bigger numbers. So many powerlifters out there want to rush their numbers when they shouldn’t. You shouldn’t get so ahead of yourself and that’s what I don’t want, ya know?

Also, when powerlifters can’t get the numbers they want… their ego gets so big that they get all defensive and they make all kinds of excuses of why they couldn’t hit those numbers. Well, not me. I’m going to be realistic with all of my mistakes and take responsibility for them all. That’s what annoying about other powerlifters. Many of them will never admit why they bomb out at powerlifting meets and they will never be realistic on why they get “red lights”. They make silly excuses like: “Oh, I wasn’t feeling it” and all that crap. Oh, cut the bullcrap. You mess up in powerlifting ’cause it’s probably your fault to begin with. A lot of powerlifters don’t train smart. At powerlifting meets, I’ve seen many powerlifters that miss lifts on the first and even second attempts ’cause why? They start off too damn heavy is why. At powerlifting meets, your first two attempts on the platform should be considered easy warmup sets but on your third attempt will be your max out. That’s how you can put on a successful meet. I’ve done three powerlifting meets so far and I’ve done a good job at all three of them.

Yeah, I think I need to take it easy for a while with the lifting. Do nothing but light lifting on everything for the next two week and then the week after, time to get back to serious business. I’ll be deadlifting over 300 lbs. very soon, y’all. I’ll get my “fire” back again. It’s just gonna take some time.

I want to be really good at deadlifts and don’t wanna mess up. I’m not gonna lie that I want to be one of the bests. I want to be great at deadlifting. I’m already am doing pretty good but this is only the beginning.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Tried to max out on deadlift for my 1 rep max test earlier today but it wasn’t very good…

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Today, I was gonna go for my 1 rep max test on the deadlift at the gym earlier today but once again, I didn’t have it in me. I swore I hit a 310 lb. deadlift in the past and for some reason I can’t do it again. I even couldn’t hit a 300 lb. and 295 lb. deadlift and I knew I got those numbers before.

So I ask myself, “Am I getting weaker on deadlift? Am I plateauing?” The answer is no to both of those questions.

I don’t think I’m getting weaker. When you notice your deadlift, bench or squat numbers has been staying the same or going down, there is a reason for that. Mostly because your body is beat up, fatigue and your CNS is probably getting fried. I’m realizing that maybe testing out 1 rep maxes after a few weeks of strength training isn’t the best idea. Before you test your 1 rep maxes on the big three, you should take a de-load week before you do it. My mistake, my bad and lessons learned.

I’m not injured so don’t worry but honestly, I do feel beat up a little bit. I need a de-load week anyways. What is “de-load”? You probably heard that term in the weightlifting world before and here is a great post over at bodybuilding.com explaining what “de-load” is and how to do it…

https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121391461&fbclid=IwAR3TsYMD30CTaAjtje6NrsZpzxWjc7-rlYkshQdOLG4Ybl5bw_HS8_GvmOQ

I didn’t lose deadlift strength. I’m pretty sure I didn’t. I just need to take a breather, go easy and take a de-load week and I’ll do that next week. I’ll admit it, I’ve been doing a lot of heavy sets and few reps for the past 3 or 4 weeks to train for strength. I’ve should have taken a de-load week before maxing out and I’ll keep that in mind next time.

Like I said before, I’m still pretty new to powerlifting training. I got a lot to learn so I’m gonna make a lot of mistakes. I don’t feel bad about not being able to lift a 300 lb. deadlift again ’cause every powerlifter out there goes through this. Even the greatest powerlifters out there go through bad days on the deadlift platform. They all go through it.

I’ll get it back again, though. Next week, I’ll take a de-load week and I need to de-load more often. Train for strength for like 3 weeks straight and then the week after de-load. I gotta learn to train smart and be more careful. I’m sure I’ll deadlift 300 or over soon, it’s just going to take a little while longer. I’ll be on fire again real soon, just wait!

A lot of powerlifters out there get upset when they can’t get numbers they want but I’m not gonna panic and not gonna let it get to me. Last thing you want to do is freak out about it. Admittedly, I was a little frustrated… not gonna lie… I just gotta learn to de-load more and I will. Lifting super heavy week after week like the post from bodybuilding.com said is not good. You gotta have your light weeks.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Did my 1 rep max test on bench today… tried to film video but couldn’t…

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Well, this week is 1 Rep Max week for the big three so I can see what my personal bests are for the big three lifts. Today, I did a 1 rep max test on bench and my “personal best” or (new p.r.) on that is 160 lbs. It was a pretty easy lift so I attempted 165 lbs. That 165 lbs. was a missed lift so I guess my latest p.r. on bench right now is 160 lbs. That’s okay, I feel pretty good about that.

I tried to film video of that lift today but my Icloud storage got full so my new Ipod Touch couldn’t film today. Bummer. Oh well, later today I’m gonna figure out how to free up Icloud space ’cause I don’t want to pay for more Icloud space. I’m sure there is a way to clear up Icloud space, I just gotta figure it out.

I feel real good about 160 lb. bench p.r., though. I’m almost there to a 200 lb. bench… just 40 lbs. away. I’m on the road to a 200 lb. bench and I could get there this year, I think. Hopefully, I can get there before August in time for the push/pull meet at Albany Strength.

I think after max out week, next week will be de-load week ’cause I need it. Then after that, back to strength training. Powerlifting training is fun… next I’ll see what my latest p.r. is for squats when I do leg day later this week.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Feeling really great on deadlifts…watch me pull a 280 lbs. for a double…

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I’ve been killing it on the deadlifts for the past couple of weeks. Today, I just did a 280 lb. for a double which was pretty easy. Maybe I should have gone for a 3rd rep on that number but definitely another time.

I think next week will be 1 rep max week on the big three so I can find out what my bests lifts are. Hopefully soon I’ll be doing 300 lbs. for reps which is what my goal is right now.

This is the first video I made on my new Ipod touch Gen. 6th. Enjoy.

Kev

 

Health and Fitness

So glad I discovered powerlifting, I’ll probably do this until I can’t do it anymore!

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Some of you may ask, how long do I plan on doing powerlifting training and competing in powerlifting? Well, I think I’ll keep doing it until I can’t do it anymore. Some people may think I’m a bit too old to get into powerlifting but just so you are aware, powerlifting is for everyone and for people of all ages. I’ve done three powerlifting meets and seen powerlifting meets live online. There are people who do powerlifting from ages 40 and up. Yes, you’ll even see 70 year old men competing in powerlifitng. I’m not too old to get into powerlifting at all ’cause I’m only 42 and technically, that age is pretty young still.

Ever since I started this powerlifting journey last summer in 2018, I’ve been feeling stronger and stronger week after week. Feels pretty amazing really. A lot of people want to knock powerlifting and make fun of the sport but I don’t know why. Powerlifting is amazing to get into. I got into it hoping to get stronger quicker and get bigger quicker and it’s working pretty much. I’m feeling great in powerlifting training so it’s all worth it.

Admittedly, I got into powerlifting to win and kick ass. I’ll confess it. I know I said I never got into powerlifting to win trophies and medals but I’ll take that back. I want to win. Kick ass, break records and hopefully win the “overall lifter” award in a powerlifting meet. I never got to play in any sports over the years of my life due to my scoliosis but since I can do powerlifting, I want to feel like a winner and feel like a champion, ya know? This is an opportunity for me to get into a professional sport.

Yeah, someday in the future, I’m going to start doing the bigger meets and hopefully do the national ones. That’s why I’m going to sign up for the USAPL sometime this year. I’m going to do my first USAPL powerlifting meet and hopefully I’ll do one this year. I’m hoping to do the Northeast IronBeast which is a USAPL meet in Latham this year.

I’m not gonna go too crazy with powerlifting meets. I’m only gonna do like 2 or 3 a year ’cause you don’t wanna do too many, ya know? I don’t wanna do too many.

I love powerlifting. There’s a lot of great benefits with it. I hope to be in the sport for a very long time and will probably do this ’til the day I die. I’m actually not too late to get into powerlifting at all. I’m at a great age to get started.

I had a real good squat session at the gym this morning. I’ve been doing 145 lbs. squat for triples lately so I’m predicting my estimated 1 rep max on squat could be about 165 lbs. or 170. I’m planning to test my 1 rep max pretty soon.

Kev

Health and Fitness

See me do a 150 lb. squat for a triple…

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During my squat session at the gym earlier this morning, I ended my session with a 150 lb. triple. It was pretty easy. Could have been a little deeper but definitely next time.

While it isn’t my max out week, it is still okay to do heavy triples, doubles and singles to end your sets with.

Like I said in the Instagram post, I’m thinking my estimated pr on squat for a 1 rpm might be 160 or 165 lbs. Maybe 170. I’m on the road to a 200 pound squat and I think I can get there this Spring/Summer. I’m just about there.

I hated doing barbell squats at first but I’m loving it more and more now.

Kev

Health and Fitness

To get more strength in powerlifting, gotta mix it up with hypertrophy style training too… big muscle also gets big strength…

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I look at powerlifting forums and debates online and most powerlifters believe you only gotta focus on heavy sets and few reps to get more strength. That’s what most of them told me in that Tnation forum during that heated debate. I agree and somewhat disagree. It’s important to do a lot of heavy sets and few reps, but you don’t want to train like that all the time. If you train like that all the time, week after week on a non-stop basis you could drain your body out. It could really fry out your cns (central nervous system) and training super-heavy all the time is also asking for injury too. Many powerlifters will never admit that they get injuries from training heavy all the time but they do.

How can you tell when your CNS is fried? Here’s a good little article about CNS when it comes to strength training:

http://www.warriorsciences.com/central-nervous-system-fatigue.html#.XMDP-ehKiUk

It’s not good to be lifting heavy in the gym all the time. It’s good to pick some light days too.

In the gym, I’m going to do another week of strength training and then the week after that, I will do nothing but hypertrophy style training on the big three for a long while.

To get more strength, many powerlifters just like to lift heavy all the time during their off-season training. Not me, though. There’s gotta be days where I got to lift lighter sets and high rep sets and I’m going to be doing that a lot more. To get super human strength and if you want to get the bigger PR’s, you gotta mix hypertrophy and strength training together. You gotta build muscle and size too ’cause that helps get you strength gains.

On my other exercises other than the big three, I train hypertrophy style on everything else but I know I’m getting stronger with all of my lifts. An example of this, on my bicep curls with dumbbells, I’m starting to do 40 lb. dumbbells for 8 – 10 reps for each set and I’ve never done that in the past. 25 lb. – 30 lb. dumbbells used to feel heavy for me but not anymore. Yeah, powerlifters will never admit that hypertrophy lifting will give you more strength too but it really works.

Sometimes you gotta leave your ego at the door and do some lighter lifting, ya know? Soon, I’m going to experiment with hypertrophy style training on squat, bench and deadlift later this Spring to see how that works. I’ll have to pick light days and heavy days which I will do from now on. In the past, I used to start off light and go heavier every set on the big three but I’m going to do things differently like train hypertrophy and strength training separately.

I will continue to train for heavy sets and few reps on squats and deadlift this week. I will continue to train like that for the big three next week. The week after that, I will train hypertrophy for a long while. Don’t wanna beat your body up too much.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Even though I train like a powerlifter now, I still haven’t given up bodybuilding, don’t worry… I do both!

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Since I got into powerlifting, some of you may think that powerlifting will make me fat and lose my bodybuilding physique that I’ve worked so hard for. Not too worry. I haven’t given up bodybuilding training even though I’ve gotten into powerlifting. Both training styles are different and I continue to do both. Some people think it’s impossible to do both but yes, it is possible.

All powerlifting is it’s just strength training. In strength training, you just do heavy sets and few reps. That’s it. When I work on squats, bench and deadlift… I mostly concentrate on strength training on those. When powerlifters do their training splits, they only focus on the big three anyways and pretty much nothing else. They do a few assistance exercises but that’s about it. Powerlifters only work out like two or three days a week. They squat, bench and deadlift a couple of times a week but not me. I like to do the big three once a week to give some space to repair and recover, ya know? That’s how you get more strength in my opinion.

Everything else I do in the gym are all hypertrophy style training. Bodybuilding is hypertrophy style and powerlifting is strength training. Big difference between the two. I’m noticing that the more I squat, bench and deadlift each week, I’m getting stronger on the big three.

I’ve had my bench session earlier this morning and I was able to bench 135 lbs. for around 4 – 6 reps so I know I’m getting stronger on bench pretty quickly. My goal this year for bench is that I’m on the road to a 200 lb. pr. I’m hoping to hit 200 lbs. or over this year and I believe I can get there and I’m halfway there. I’m hoping to get a 200 lb. p.r in time before the push/pull meet at Albany Strength in August. I believe I can get there quickly the more I stay consistent with benching and I will.

In powerlifting, I don’t want to be a fat ass powerlifter at all so I gotta be careful with my nutrition. I don’t want to boost my calories ’cause that’s gonna bring up my bodyfat and I don’t want that so back to eating less it is. As a powerlifter, I still want to be able to have my bodybuilding physique still.

When you’re a powerlifter and bodybuilder at the same time, it’s actually a good thing ’cause hypertrophy training will still give you strength too. Big muscles will give you more strength so you got to continue hypertrophy style training. I want to be muscular and strong at the same time. In powerlifting, you can eat what you want but not me. I’m gonna keep my strict nutrition going. Big muscles is all part of strength training, remember that. That’s why I gotta continue bodybuilding too. I’m gonna try and continue to lose bodyfat even when powerlifting.

No more boosting my calorie intake ’cause I’m noticing it’s bringing my bodyfat up a little bit but not too bad. I’ll get rid of it, this summer. No more eating ice cream and Cliff Bars on the weekends ’cause that’s what I do for cheats. I’m going to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. Do a lot of cardio this Spring/Summer.

If I want to pack on more pounds to move up a weight class in powerlifting, you do that with strength training not pigging out on food. I gotta be careful with that.

I’m gonna train hard this Spring/Summer for the upcoming push/pull meet. I’ll want all my powerlifting meets to be better than the last one, that’s how you want to do powerlifting. Doing powerlifting and bodybuilding both at the same time is a lot of work but it’s all worth it. I want to look big and massive and I can get there without getting fat ’cause that’s what I don’t want.

Kev

 

Health and Fitness

People who love deadlifting should watch this video…

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Kind of an old video but I think this video by Steve Shaw is worth sharing.

People who love to deadlift in the gym wonder why their backs are always hurting. Well, I agree with everything this guy said in this video. If deadlifters wonder why their lower backs hurt all the time is: 1) Their form sucks 2) They max out every week. Either one of those two will hurt your lower back.

Deadlifting maybe the best workout in the gym and maybe a blast to do but deadlift carefully and responsibly ’cause many in the gym don’t. Everyday at my local gym, for the hell of it, I like to watch other people deadlift while I rest in between sets during my workouts. Well some people deadlift in good form but most deadlift horribly, it’s crazy, ya know? I see too many lifters deadlifting with rounded backs all the time. Some deadlift with their hips too damn low that it’s almost like a squat. People deadlift by standing too far from the bar and I can go on.

I try to make my deadlift form as perfect as possible. I made one mistake on deadlift that I’ve been maxing out every week which was why I took out my back at one point a long while back. The back pain wasn’t that serious and it went away in a few days. That gave me a pretty good lesson not to max out every week.  Plus, maybe my form was a little off when that happened.

When deadlifting, you can not only hurt your lower back, you can hurt yourself in other places on your body too. Deadlift can be a fun and simple exercise as long as you do it right. If you do perfect form on every rep, you won’t hurt yourself at all and you’ll be fine.

Deadlift is very good for the back and one of the best back exercises in the gym. Deadlift is not just a back exercise, though, it works out muscles throughout your entire body pretty much except for the chest.

There’s a reason that deadlift is the most popular exercise in the gym. It used to be that bench press was the king of all workouts but now it’s looking like that deadlift has taken over the bench press’s spotlight.

Kev

Health and Fitness, sports

Busting another powerlifting myth I see out there… powerlifting isn’t a skinny man’s sport? lmao…

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During that debate on the Tnation forum in the powerlifting section, some dude told me that I looked skinny which I’ll take as a compliment, btw. The dude told me I needed to add some weight on me and put on some muscle. I didn’t bother replying to that guy but in my head, I was saying to myself, “Dude, I’ve been lifting weights in the gym for over 10 years and I don’t look muscular enough to you?”.

I’ve had many people tell me in person that I’m getting bigger in bodybuilding training and lots of people have told me that I’m getting all jacked up. People tell me these things to my face instead of online. I get positive feedback on my physique all the time. Yes, I’m going to get some critics on my physique but that’s okay.

There’s a ridiculous myth going around that “Powerlifting isn’t a skinny man’s sport”. Some people think powerlifting is for “big men” only. That’s just another ridiculous lie going around.

After watching three powerlifting meets and watching a bunch of live powerlifting meets online, I’ve seen plenty of skinny men competing. You’ll see skinny guys lifting the big ones… anywhere from 400 – 600 lbs. It’s insane. You see powerlifting is for everyone in all shapes and sizes.

The days of fat asses and overweight powerlifters are over. Some people think powerlifting is for fat asses only but that’s how powerlifting was in the old days. Ya know, I think the fitness and bodybuilding community have picked up on powerlifting. There’s even a lot of bodybuilders who have picked up on powerlifting too. It’s not just for fat men.

I believe powerlifting have gone mainstream. Nobody cares about bodybuilding anymore. Bodybuilding is a dying industry and it seems that everybody have switched to powerlifting including me. It’s amazing to see really. Everywhere in America you’ll see more powerlifting meets even in your hometown. You can love or hate powerlifting all you want to but the sport is exploding in America. It’s getting bigger and bigger.

I’m glad to be on this powerlifting journey. I wished I discovered powerlifting years ago.

Kev