First I would like to say that I am by no means a professional writer so please judge my writings lightly. I am a fan of writing and have often written things during my leisure time just for the fun of it. I don't use punctuation correctly for the most part and will throw in some things like "lol, rofl, ect". I also abbreviate but will try to remember to reference it so that you will understand what I am saying.
This is my first blog entry. The purpose of my blog will be to outline my training, training style, special techniques, diet, current stats, and anything else I feel like throwing in the mix. I have a light hearted approach to most things and like to make people laugh.
Some background on myself. I have been lifting for the second time for just over 1.5 years. I actually started lifting weights when I was in High School at age 14, but didn't get serious until I was 15. I didn't start lifting for reasons most people might start. I wasn't athletic, I knew that girls at my school had very little interest in me, and I wasn't out to be the school bully or anything like that. Honestly my first motivation to lift came from my ex-stepfather. Not that he even wanted me to lift at all. In fact he tried to push me into sports and I rejected the very idea due to the fact that it was what he wanted me to do. I wanted to do everything opposite of what my stepfather wanted, or anything that he did. I despised the man. He was very abusive to my mother, my brother, and myself. My first thought for weight training was to get strong enough that I could handle myself in a fight with him(which happened). After the fight with him I pleaded with my mother to leave him, and without much though we ended the 13 years of hell we had endured.
When we moved away from him, we still received constant harassment from him for at least the first two years after they separated and divorced. That's when I really kicked my training into high gear. I started purchasing muscle magazines to teach myself the latest techniques that all the bodybuilders were using to get massive and strong. I signed up for all the weight training classes my school offered. I was a little bull headed when it came to my training back then. I knew the proper ways to lift for bodybuilding, and rejected the old school foot ball weight training that my school was pushing on me. I took a look at the coaches and foot ball players at my school, and then a look at the bodybuilders and decided I'd rather look massive and be strong than be blubbery and weak.
The coaches at my school even started to reject me. With proper training I was growing like crazy and my strength seemed unstoppable. When I started training I was 5' 7" and weighed in at 135 lbs, within the first year I was still 5' 7" and weighed 160 lbs. My bench press had went from 135 lbs max to 225 lbs max. This was at age 15. My squats started out at 185 lbs max (slightly above parallel squats as my school had us sit on a bench and come back up). I rarely trained my deadlifts but rather just maxed on them once per week lol. Really kind of stupid on deadlifts back then.
I as my strength and my body got larger I started approaching a point where I was able to break several of my school's records for weight training. To my disappointment the weight training coach(also the foot ball coach) told me that since I didn't play a school sport I couldn't hold any of the weight training records. I was angry and sad at this notion. I spoke with the school principal about the matter. He agreed that weight training was my sport, and that if I was to attend the two foot ball weight meets held every year that I could indeed break records.
So it was on. Several friends and I traded off the deadlift record my best being 550 lbs at 175 lbs. The school bench press record was 405 lbs, but I could never get over 385 lbs. The school squat record was 620 lbs going down low enough to touch a bench and come back up (I'd say between a parallel and a half squat), I gave this my all and by my junior year could tie the record but could never surpass it. They also had records for power cleans. 225 lbs was the record and my best was 220 lbs. As you can see I came close to getting them but not quite. I didn't have any supplements, and we were always broke.
After school I got a job and a gym membership. The owner of the gym I went to pushed me to new heights with my training. Supplements also helped with this. I wasn't gaining any new mass, but was getting fuller, and stronger. I would watch the owner put 495 lbs on the bench and do this as his warm up rep, after rep, after rep. We would trade reps, him using the 100 lbs dumbbells for alternating curls and me using the 75s or 80s. He was crazy, but gave me the push to compete at my first bench press competition. I wanted to break a strict biceps curl record for my bodyweight in the competition, but they wouldn't sanction it. I placed 1st out of 3 competitors lol. I did my all time best bench of 385 lbs at 19 years of age back in 2001. I took both the men's and teen division since there was only 3 competitors at my weight 175 lbs. I had mixed feelings about the competition. The other two lifters didn't complete any of their lifts so they were ousted right away putting me first no matter what I benched. They also seemed stupid to me. I had never heard of a lifting shirt and when I saw nearly everyone in this competition (besides myself and the over all lifter) wearing these shirts and using oil to get in them I was baffled. Someone explained it to me and I was disgusted that someone would use such a mechanical advantage when I thought power lifting was about brute strength. I have never competed in a weight lifting event since that day. I don't know that I ever will. Nothing against these guys, but I feel they need there own assisted federation, and the rest of the competitions should be raw for pure strength test.
Now after 9-11 I enlisted in the Air Force. During basic training there was no weight lifting allowed. I lost down to 165 lbs during that period. I competed in a push up competition and was able to do 143 push ups in 2 minutes, second place, the winner did 158. I was also able to do 39 pull ups in that same competition. I lifted once again once I was stationed in England at my first duty station. I continued to lift while deployed to Kuwait, and Iraq in 2003-2004. While in iraq I would have to say I was at my overall strongest I have ever been. I was having shoulder troubles and had to forgo any bench pressing except dumbbells. I was able to get 8 solid reps with 150 lbs dumbbells when I was 21 years old. I was also leg pressing over 1500 lbs during leg workouts. Then I was sent back to england and got orders to Montana, USA. While in Montana adjusting to a new lifestyle yet again, I pretty much stopped lifting except for on occasion. My back and neck were always hurting, as I had sustained several injuries during military training for various events.
I got married and that was pretty much the end of me lifting. So from 2005-2011 I did almost no lifting at all. 6 years of nothing. As you can imagine I got pretty out of shape. After I separated from the military in 2008 I started working for a food delivery company. Things got even worse. I was addicted to soda pop to keep myself awake for the long shifts driving. I piled on the pounds and found myself at 220 lbs of lard ass at 5' 6"(yeah that's right I lost an inch in height). I went to see a doctor about my neck and back and was told that I had scoliosis, and had lost nearly an inch in height due to it. WTF??? I divorced in 2009, and moved. Finally my daughter was born in late 2010. She was a miracle and gave me some of my old spark back. I cut out soda and got a more active job. I dropped down to 190 lbs, and felt great. Then in march of 2011 I was hit head on in my car. I suffered a separated pelvis, and whiplash. I went through 4 months of physical therapy. It was rough I had a limit of 5 lbs lifting placed on me and couldn't work due to it. I was miserable. I vowed that as soon as that was lifted I would get back into the gym for good!
That is exactly what happened. I didn't have any money being jobless at first so I would sign up for the free gym memberships at every gym in town. This got me through my first 2 months back lifting lol. I got caught up on some of my bills and got a membership at the gym next to my house. I would spend hours, and hours in there every day. I did an online supplement competition to help motivate me. It was a great push. I have been lifting for nearly 1.5 years again now and using all the knowledge I had from the past, plus studying up on some new stuff, I have pushed myself to my most muscular ever. My strength is not what it use to be with the core lifts, but overall I am stronger. I now weigh 205 lbs at 5' 6". My arms measure just under 18" now, and are solid as can be. I can't do flat bench press due to my shoulder, but I do dumbbells, and close grips don't hurt my shoulder. So far I have been able to get up to 275 lbs for 7 reps on close grip bench press. I've done 225 lbs for 10 reps on incline bench press. I no longer do the pathetic squats they had me do in high school. I have forced myself to start extremely light and do ATG(at the ground) squats. I have worked my way from 1.5 years ago doing just 135 for 3 reps, and now can do 315 lbs for 8 reps to the ground and fully back up. My deadlift was 225 lbs starting out again. I can now do 405 lbs for 8 reps, not sure what my max would be.
So my training split is kind of chaotic right now. I don't have a set routine so to speak. I have learned to lift based on how my body is feeling. I do make sure to at the very least get every muscle in my body at least once per week. Sometime I will hit it twice per week. I vary my routine to keep my body guessing and growing. I'm not afraid to lower the weight and check my form. I'm not afraid to quit halfway through a routine if something hurts, or if my energy is just way too low. I have a mind-muscle connection like I never dreamed I could have.
My diet is lacking. A big part is due to my financial situation. I try to keep my calories up, but sometimes I don't get as much protein as I would like. I shoot for 300-350 grams of protein per day, but my absolute minimum is 200 grams. I can't really afford more than that most of the time so although I'd like to grow larger in my muscle, my wallet keeps me from it. As for supplements, I really like to take a preworkout, but cannot afford it most of the time. I also love taking a post workout with creatine, but again can't afford it usually. Due to lack of money I'd say I have given myself an excuse to not eat very healthy when in fact I have done the math and should be able to eat cheaper with healthy food. lol. So I am fixing that and starting another new initiative in my training. I hope to compete on the bodybuilding stage in the near future. I need to improve my calves, hamstrings, and lower lats before I feel comfortable competing. Maybe start with a local competition and if I do well move on from there.
Ok so many will probably wonder if I have used steroids ever. The answer is a resounding no. I have no hard feelings towards anyone who does it, but that's something I have not done at this point in my life. I obviously am genetically predisposed to gaining both muscle and fat extremely easy. This makes me a definite Endomorph body type. That is up to you. I don't really know much on the subject and will more than likely not be writing about it anytime soon.
I hope that this will become a regular blog for me, and that I will gain a following. I do have some youtube channels that you can follow as well if you'd like.
:)
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