Recently, training has been okay. This feels like a good week, if only my coach can bloody open the gym a little more instead of taking a break on Thursday. I don’t see why I must take a break on Thursday. I’m not tired, he’s not tired…he’s just sitting and supervising me telling me to straighten up and all that.

Since I had a huge dinner last night, we’re talking a whole chicken, about 500GMS of mutton, 13 oysters and tonnes of salmon and god knows what raw fish and lobster, which tasted, pretty bland. Needed some sauce. Now I’m actually ready to train, really hard. But since he has to make it a break, no choice lar.

Analysis of snatch;

-Requires more speed at second pull
-Need to drop under, much faster
-More overhead squats to build stability and comfort at overhead position
-Hips and ankle need to be more flexible
-I’ll be incorporating more drop snatches, overhead squats, hang snatches and snatch grip push presses.

Thank god for the internet, where I can ask other coaches to help instead of relying on the opinions of only one coach. It’s not that he isn’t a good one, it’s just that more than one opinion would be good.

A typical session looks like this;

-Snatch
-Clean and Jerk
-High snatch pull
-Squats
-Overhead squats
-Drop snatch

How can I not spend nearly 4 hours in the gym daily? Fucking stupid sport. I love it

Weightlifting requires a lot of technique, unlike bodybuilding.
In bodybuilding, wrong technique like not going deep enough in the squat, bicep curls with more momentum than contraction, can easily be fixed. However, weightlifters with bad technique that’s been ingrained need hours and hours of fixing. And sometimes, they can never be fixed completely.

Weightlifting does not encourage excessive muscle growth.
While bodybuilders want to be as muscular as possible, weightlifters want to be as powerful as possible, while retaining weight.  Weightlifters, are the second most powerful individuals per pound of bodyweight in the world, second only to gymnasts. Chinese weightlifters at 69KG can regularly squat about 250KG for doubles and I’ve seen numerous Polish 62KG weightlifters squatting 240KG’S routinely. Most 77KG weightlifters can front squat about 220KG’s+.I…77KG ….squat a grand mighty front squat of….140KG’s. Fuck. That’s changing, I promise. I MUST front squat at least 150KG’s this year. Dammit!

Weightlifting does everything with speed.
Bodybuilding requires contraction and slow concentric eccentric movement for maximal muscle tear and rebuild.
Squats are done fast, deadlifts are done fast, pulls are obviously done fast. Everything in weightlifting is designed to make you a faster, more powerful and strong athlete. Nothing to do with muscle growth. No wait, I’ll get extremist going “What? So what about those buff weightlifters!!?”
I shall rephrase;

Power and strength focused activities, will have side effects. The effects, are called muscular hypertrophy, which isn’t the original intention, training wasn’t designed with that in mind. It’s just, something that comes along with stronger and faster athletes.

Weightlifters are power orientated
Plyometrics is the science of producing powerful, explosive movements to train the muscles and CNS to perform more efficiently and quickly. However, with the lack of mass, plyometrics can only do that much. To exert further force and produce more powerful movements, which will later translate to better performance in explosive activities like running, resistance training will be needed. And the answer to that resistance? Simply, barbells, kettlebells and dumbbells.

Strength over size
In bodybuilding, there’s a quote that goes “It don’t matter what you lift,what matters is what you LOOK like you can lift“. In weightlifting, the opposite is true. It’s about how much you can lift, while looking like you can’t lift it.

I notice how this article is inclined to preference upon the camp of weightlifters, but that’s exactly how a bodybuilder would write about the differences. It’d tilt towards making bodybuilders sound like the superior athlete. Then again, I really can’t take bodybuilding as a sport. The training is a sport, yes I can agree. The results and purpose, posing on stage, is miles away from the display of athleticism.

How did I manage to find myself in this peculiar sport that not many care about? It’s just like, equestrian sports.

Sport? Which part?

Riding a horse and going around obstacles is considered a sport apparently, an Olympic sport. It takes, the interest. It has to spark somewhere. I can’t take horse riding as a sport either, sitting on a horse, controlling the horse and going up and down as the horsie jumps above obstacles. Wha? Where’s the display of athleticism of the human? I see the horse working, but the human? I of course, as clearly as the ray of sunlight that passes the crystal orb, can NOT see how that’s a sport. I guess it requires solid coordination to know what the hell and when the hell the horse was supposed to jump.

Anyway so hyperactive little me decided to give mummy and daddy a hellish time when I was a kid. In the end, they decided to let me join sports and whatnot. However, I wasn’t exactly phenomenal in sports, despite me being quite able to hold my own on most instances. So fine. Fast forward a few years of shittiness in PE and not being able to play football (which happens to be the only sport Malaysian primary school kids play) I hated PE.

Come the secondary school and I find myself being pretty, efficient in taekwondo. Not the best once again, but not too bad. Then came basketball, football (which I still sucked in) and all that. Not that interesting, but I wasn’t exactly half bad in taekwondo and basketball I must say again. I liked it so much, I could play for hours in a day, and every Tuesday I’d look forward to Taekwondo training. But come one day, I noticed there was no, excitement in these two activities. I’m a little bit of a rough player that’s why I hate playing basketball sometimes because these guys are so big and yet pussies because they can’t handle a little roughness. So fuck that. Taekwondo still became a good sport as I loved kicking hard and blindly and somehow just scare my opponents into thinking I’m really good. Aiya, I’ve just got a fast leg only.

Then came one day that my friend said my shoulders, drooped downwards. Aiyee…..that’s true. So how in the world do you fix that? I went to the gym thinking that I could somehow build shoulders rounded and muscular like those magazines you get. How untrue….till today I’m still stuck with drooping shoulders. Only difference is that they’re much stronger and broader. It still droops downwards. Oh well, that’s going to be a bitch for life, but anyway……I didn’t know about the existence of things like weightlifting, strongman sports, powerlifting, gymnastics and all that sort. Actually if I knew, I think I would’ve taken gymnastics at a much younger age because I did LOVE flipping, doing handstands (I’m naturally gifted in the area of handstands strangely) and pulling up. However, my parents never gave me the encouragement or anything of that sort and I never thought much about it. C’mon I was 15, the only thing I was thinking about was to not fuck up my exams and end up as a dropout like so many other classmates of mine.

So I did the futile isolation bullshit, thinking someday I was going to get stronger. Oh what  a bunch of bollocks and waste of time. By the time I was done at 17, I was the same fucking weight 61KG and probably didn’t get a single bit stronger. However, one thing did change, I developed six packs. Which was quite unusual considering how LITTLE work I actually put there. Whatever.

Come the age of 18, I found out that my university had a gym, but the friend I rode with didn’t care much about going to the gym. So for one whole year, I was just walking past the gym hoping to join back someday. While I was still unable to join the gym, I consistently did pull-ups and push ups and reading online forums and discussions as well as articles and journals by NSCA and Elitefts.com. That was when I found out about powerlifting. When I was 19 I got my first car and drove to school instead. Awesome! I could finally train and train I did! I followed Madcow 5×5 and did whatever that I could to get stronger and stronger. Hell I was the only 160LBS kid pulling 300LBS thinking I was pretty dammed strong. Well, considering nobody else knew what the fuck a deadlift was, of course I was the strongest.

 Sure as fuck didn’t see this kid.

So yes. Then one day when my semester was done, and I had no gym to go to, I had to go to some commercial gym. I did my power cleans before I do deadlifts and continued to do so, but this time, I dropped the weight. I squatted and put the weights back a LITTLE too loudly. I benched and racked the weights back slightly too loudly as well. This all got me nagged by the owner when I one day blew up. Yes, so not the smartest thing ever done. He gave me an address to a weightlifting gym and asked me to get the fuck out.

And so yes, that’s my first step into a weightlifting gym. I remember the first day I stepped in.

Talk about intimidating and frightening. Bars being thrown down, the sound of the barbell crashing to the platform. When I say, “BOOM!” I swear I mean the loudest boom you can ever heard from a barbell. Think those clanking you get from an occasional deadlifter in the gym is loud? This sounds like someone just put the speaker to 10, and had Die Hard 4 playing.
IT was really loud and pretty frightening at first. I stepped to the guy and expected him to speak in Malay. To my surprise, he spoke total Mandarin, like a real Chinese. But his hair was long and he had a cap so I didn’t really figure he was the coach, from China.

As we spoke more, he said he was the coach and everything. So there began my training to be a weightlifter. At first it was fun, then it became repetitive and I got really REALLY bored. I discontinued it and went back to my powerlifting roots. Back and forth, somehow something just didn’t feel right. I didn’t like the sensation of deadlifting and squatting anymore. I wanted to do weightlifting.

 Dave Rigert. Always phenomenal. Current Russian coach

I practiced with an empty stick and kept doing it over and over again. And fast forward, 8 months I went back to the gym and snatched. I’ve not snatched for over 8 months and moved directly to 50KG from previously falling over with only 20KG. Before I could progress further, I went to do my internship in KL and got stuck once again. I could only do the basics, with these commercial gyms. I found an American routine for weightlifters and followed it. It didn’t involve any snatching and clean and jerking so that was okay. It was meant to build some serious strength and it was SERIOUSLY hard to finish. And when I say Crossfit has NOTHING on this, I swear, Crossfit has NOTHING on this. Crossfit makes you feel like you’re knocking on hell’s gates. This makes you feel like you’re IN hell.

Eventually I found myself back in a weightlifting gym, after a bit of talking and persuading, I got myself into the National Academy for Weightlifting. It’s been a good road since, learning new stuff everyday.

Yes I’m obsessed with weightlifting. And I intend to make it the mainstay of my life. I love it that much.

Then the shitty part happened. The bar, crashed on my lower back….thankfully nothing really bad happened, cept I tore a part of my underwear. Bloody knurling on those fucking Uesaka’s are so sharp. That’s why I always preferred Eleiko bars

Disappointing squatting as well…..110KG,115KG,120KG for triples. Tried moving to 130KG but failed the second rep.

Felt like doing something to clear the disappointment so went to deadlift, up to 160KG and felt rather slow. 170KG saw the upper back slowly giving up but crammed a single rep. 180KG saw a REALLY ugly pull. How the fuck am I going to squat 170KG’s by the end of this year if this is how I’m going to go?!!!

Did a few reps of pull-ups for about 3-4 sets and called it a day.

But NOOOO, I have to work so I’m stuck here in my little corner thinking about the fuckup that almost had nothing to do with me yesterday afternoon. Anyway, fuck that I’m done ranting over that little idiotic incident.

Since I won’t have a place to slam my weights and attempt maximal heavy weights, I’ll just have to do a bit of simple deadlifts, power cleans and front squats today. I’m going to attempt to hit a 185KG deadlift for a single today. Maybe 100KG power cleans for five singles and hopefully I’ll touch 130KG for 3 today on the front squats. No I do not believe in a light training day, days that I do clean and jerks and snatches to the maxes are already considered light. So I don’t need anymore light days. I want to squat at least thrice a week and twice has to be heavy.

And know what’s the best part? While the other trainees have to fast because they’re muslims, I can train! Wahahah!! This one month, they’ll be concentrating on not losing muscle and strength, while I can keep working at being stronger. Ego siot….

And WATCH this video. The second clean and jerk is the most phenomenal view. He did an overhead squat with 207KG’s. That my friend, is a feat hard to beat.

Yesterday’s training was just so I could get back into the groove again. All I did was some simple power snatches. It felt really awkward because I couldn’t get the explosion at the right moment, but I somehow managed to produce enough power this time to easily snatch the 55KG. previously I was struggling with 45KG’s only.

 Then when my new coach asked me to do some squat snatches, I fell to the front and then to the back. He asked me to pull more gently instead of with the same speed and I dropped into a squat snatch, pretty easily. Moved to 60KG and accidentally power snatched it again with a SLIGHT pressout. Reminded myself to squat snatch this time and did 60KG’s very nicely for a few sets of singles.

Moved to CNJ’s and did a simple 70KG power clean and jerk (3x) Then to 90KG, same thing power clean and jerk twice. Then I felt a little adventurous and moved to 100KG x 1, 105Kg x 1, 110KG x 1 and finally a nice 115KGx1 with a shaky jerk but that’s okay.

 Moved to some high bar squats and did 70KG x 5, 90KG x 5, 120KG x 2 x 5, 140KG x 6 and 150KG x 2 x 1

Nice workout. Nice getting back to oly. I’m doing squat snatches much better now and my squats feel stronger than ever. Nice.

A guy will try to massage his ego by posing in the mirror after a few reps of lateral raises. The smaller guys will make fun by saying something along the lines of “Aiya, show off only lah” while the bigger guys will make fun by saying something like “Cheh, a bit only also want to show off. Wait till you see mine” and proceeds to flex beside the fellow. And you wonder why I hate the state of the Malaysian fitness industry? While this isn’t a definitive attitude and way of all trainees, it is quite the way in MANY places. Perhaps it’s just that men put this image.

Perhaps it’s men whose ego are larger than the two butt cheeks of J.Lo put together. However, this definitely isn’t the way I’d like to see the fitness or ANY industry. I strongly believe in, “Do upon others, what you want others to do upon you”. Truth be told, you can ridicule me however you want, because I do it to others. But I really don’t care how you think. It’s all cool with me.

However, I see this phenomenon improving. Seriously, I went to Fitness First and I really noticed that those fuckey trainers are no longer there, or just couldn’t be bothered with clowns like me. I just helped a friend fix his deadlift a bit and managed to pull 160KG’s for a single. He slammed the weights on the ground because his grip was giving way. Nobody bothered him. They just stared like “Woah! So much weights ah?” but didn’t go on bitching at him. That’s nice. It shows that perhaps finally, people are understanding that weights isn’t about silence. It’s about…..not to sound hardcore, it’s about strength, grunt, sweat and effort. Real mental and physical effort. I see that there’s finally respect, or awe whichever tickles your goatee, towards people that are in the gym to get stronger not just “look” stronger.

If such respect is continuously cultivated among clubs like this, I can see myself joining one in future. IF they finally allow Olympic weightlifting. Then again I’ll probably have my own home gym so forget it. I need to be able to slam weights without people staring at me like I’m nuts. And I promise, I will STOP to ridicule them if they stop ridiculing me. Perhaps I should stop first, then pray that they follow suit?

Honestly if someone does something peculiar in the gym which I think has a purpose, a point, what’d I do? I really, I ask why do it, is there a better way, does it help improve and how can I put it in my boring training method. Trust me, squatting, pulling, pressing DOES get a bit boring sometimes. And I just did calf presses just now. Hoh yeh full stack bebeh! Range of motion? 2 inches.

Anyway today’s training was a bit messed up. Was trying to teach a friend how to deadlift right and he did phenomenally well. He pulled better, his back doesn’t ache anymore after training, he’s learning to use more of his hips instead of back and he managed to pull 160KG’S albeit an ugly rep, no lockout but VERY close. He just needs to learn to keep the bar closer to him. He’s got a monster strong back and is shorter than me. Stocky build.

I was just supposed to coach him but I also ended up training.

Pulled a few times, and did a 160KG pull to show him how it was done. Howlee shit! Either the 140KG x 5 x 2 worked phenomenally well or I just found god. I pulled the 160KG’S like it was a 100KG bar. Breaking off the floor was as usual, inconvenient thanks to my absurdly long torso, but it didn’t take more than ½ a second. Then the moment it left the ground, BLAM! It shot up SO fucking fast I almost fell backwards. The entire lift was finished in like 1 seconds with most of the time stuck on the floor. Phenomenal…I’m going to drop the weights to 130KG’S this week and pull it for 5 sets of triples. Then the next week, 120 for 8 sets of triples. This is my theory;

If I was going to wave load progressively from low to high, I’d fatigue my back by the forth week. However, since I’m actually doing VERY well on more sets, I can actually handle higher reps very well. Just not heavy weights when it comes to the deadlifts. So I go heavy first, then lighter and increase reps and see how it responds, but speed is of ultimate importance.

Then did 100KG x 20 for squats. Apparently he said it was really ATG, so that’s nice. I felt it was rather difficult already at the 5^th rep, but just went on. By the 8^th rep I was having a pretty good time till 13. At 13 till 15 it was difficult. 16 was a sick rep. 17 and 18 he said I looked like I was going to die. At 19 I knew I was going to get 20 pretty easily. The moment I hit twenty, I walked wobbly and threw it back to the rack and just fell. Time taken, 1 minute 26 seconds. Pretty fast.

This Friday, 102KG x 20. Ah…joy.

To be honest though, it has become much easier since the first time. It’s not easy to lift the weights, but it’s easier to breathe. I don’t pant for 20 minutes after I train anymore, it’s more like I shiver and pant for 5 minutes, and then I can go around jumping playing around again.

Woke up in the morning and went straight to the gym, drinking water as my breakfast. Not that smart. Then went to train, did 60 for five and 100 for five and then 120 for a few more reps. Dropped to 95KG’S and started. Rep 1-5 was easy. Reps 6-8 was slightly harder. Then I breathed really hard and told myself two reps each time I breathe. Managed to get up to 14 reps and then everything else was a combination of pushing for a single rep or two reps.

By the time I hit 18, my shoulders fatigued. Had no choice but to put the bar back to re-rack it. Did the final two reps and slammed the weights to the power rack and fell flat on the floor. Blergh……two reppers are really something that requires you to really “tahan” really hard. Can’t like fuck up or you’ll be pinned by the weights and although 95KG’s are really light, when it hits the double digit reps, it suddenly turns into a whole different game altogether. Damn hard to rep….that’s why la…everyday also 1-3 reps. Anything more than 5 is a marathon. I just did two rounds of mega marathons then. 20 reps sial. Gileor…

After that just did some sets of overhead squats from the rack. Urgh….not that easy at all….

I’m going to incorporate some more cleans and front squats from decline position.

Started off simply enough, 60KG’s for 5 reps, felt a bit heavy for some reason. It didn’t feel weightless as it usually does. Up to 100KG, I decided to use somewhat closer to a deadlift stance. Pop! It went up fast and powerful for the next four reps. Good. 120KG’s felt pretty dammed fast too, 3 reps and it was up. All these reps were done with a strap mind you, and I’m proud to say that I use the strap. There’s nothing really wrong about using a strap, especially considering the fact I don’t clean 140 yet. No biggie. Yes I use straps once again, so BITE ME!

Decided to skip the last set and dropped to 100KG’s and pulled for a quick five instead.

Did a lil bodybuilding nonsense after that, with 60KG’s x 10, 70KG x 8, 80KG x 6 of Pendlay Rows. Felt my left trap have a stinging pain. I have no idea where that pain came from, it wasn’t a muscular burn sort of pain. It was a sharp pain. Irritating. There was a huge back pump and stretch though. I now remember why I don’t like to do direct back work. The pump isn’t, enjoyable. I can’t understand how bodybuilders can enjoy the “pump”. It’s both irritating, tight and shits my flexibility off badly. Good god.

Then proceeded to do some kipping pull-ups. About 20 reps for the first set, 15 for the second set and about 12 for the last set. I’m horrendously bad at maintaining the momentum for the kips. I’m supposed to push away, but my timing’s always off when I’m trying to get under the bar. Sometimes I push too soon and I end up stuck at the bottom and have to reactive the kip once again. Stupid…

Did some stretching and bouncing about. That’s about it and called home. Had an oily dinner thanks to my aunt’s mother’s cooking. Oh whatever. Saunas and a freezing cold bath, is incredible. It leaves a tingling feel on your skin. Nice.

I’m not really sure how that works so I’ll be reading more of Vladimir Zatsiorsky’s articles to understand better how this system works. Many a time, too many athletes train way too much for strength but not enough for speed. Ever wondered why the Westside Principles held high regard to Dynamic Effort (speed) work, combined with sufficient Maximal Effort (strength) work? Many guys  who train for speed can end up much stronger than guys that train specifically for strength. But guys that train for strength purely, may NOT be as fast. In fact, will DEFINITELY not be as fast, if there’s no balance in training.

Ever wondered why weightlifters can be SO bloody powerful and yet maintain a deceivingly small size? Or why powerlifters that use the method of training both strength with speed, are so huge in size yet tremendously fast on a 40 meter sprint?

Anyway, I’m on a 20 rep squat routine. I’m starting my 20 rep squats with 90KG as a base. Moving up to 95KG x 20 this Friday. Next week, I’ll move up t0 100KG x 20.

Training on Monday and Friday’s going to be working up to 20 rep squats and then an upper body speed movement.

Wednesday’s going to be some pulling off the floor.

Thursday’s going to be nice speed work. Sprinting, jumping. Stuff like that.

Anyway, 20 rep squats were brutal. But…..actually pretty much doable with enough rest in between. Not too long but not to short either.

NICE!

Nice right? Wouldn’t you want a dip belt as well? Can add weights and train heavier. Don’t need to go so many reps till your hands rip into half because of callouses. Just add an extra 20KG’s and just do 10 reps, instead of having to extend to nearly 15 reps for hell sakes. And only getting half the benefit.However, it costs RM150-250 to buy it from the internet and I’m not sure if that includes the delivery costs. Which would equal to a pretty bad figure on your wallet.

I has solution. It be called safety belt. Old safety belts.

Yes this isn’t rocket science. It’s just an old safety belt with a bracket and two holes. You need such safety belts because you won’t be able to secure the weights without these brackets. (I seriously hate wordpress for constantly jumping my mouse to the top when I align the pictures to the center)

Now what you need to do is, put this one dangling side on the gas tank as your weights. If you’re not strong enough to carry a gas tank, then obviously improvise and use dumbbells instead. Don’t be a single track fool and not use your brains. Malaysians generally use their brains on silly things like “What dress to buy” or “What shirt would look good tonight when I club?”.

Make a change. Think of what to use as weights. The mother of all invention is? Smart…good dog.

Then you’re going to need something to secure the weights. I used a padlock. Solid and HIGHLY unlikely to break. See? It just hangs there. Then lock the padlock but make sure you have the keys. I don’t know what you’re going to do if you don’t but that was about what we were going to do, but we didn’t know where the keys were. My brother and I, not so smart.

31kG”S!! I be strong baby! Hahahaha!!! So yes, the pull-up belt that cost RM0.

Items needed:

• Old safety belt (Can be gotten from junk yards)
• Padlock
• Dumbbell, kettlebell or gas tank, whichever suits you
• Creativity.

Good luck you lazy Malaysians that think the only way to get strong fit fast and look good is by going to fitness gyms and having silly personal trainers teach you things that’ll screw your back while you think it’s dangerous for me to snatch overhead.

Having had trained in facilities that have Eleiko barbell sets, full Eleiko competition sets, there’s one thing you can say about them. Orgasmic. They ARE wonderful, barbells. Their knurling is beautiful, not too deep, not too sharp. Just the perfect depth, nicely enough to give you a solid grip around the barbell and fill the flesh around your hands. It fits like a “Size-XS” condom on a “Tongkat ali” drinking “Pakcik”. The perfect companion for a world weightlifting champion.

It’s wonderful.

Just chalk it up, spin a few times to find the perfect position and align the legs. Look straight ahead, and execute the clean portion, first pull slowly and explode upwards with a high shrug and kip it in! Catch the bar with your delts and squat upwards. Roar!!!!!!!! ROAR the triumphant roar that the first portion is accomplished. Here comes the second portion.

Stand straight and prepare for the jerk, keep back straight, bend knees and BOOM! Explode and catch the bar while holding the position steady. And bring legs to line.

That ladies and gentleman. The clean and jerk, the method to get the most weight from the ground, above your head without a rack. It’s an awe inspiring movement where men, the elites, can move 3x their own bodyweight above the ground. It’s the world’s most explosive movement.

That’s not even the snatch yet. Yes ladies and gentlemen, it’s actually possible to move 600LBS above your head. A man can do that. Chemerkin attempted that in a competition once, but no doubt it’s been done in training. This is the sport that nobody but the athletes themselves will understand. The enormous power a 5′10″ physique can generate.

Problem is….one bloody Eleiko bar, can cost close to RM20,000 and sometimes above, depending on sources. Drat…..Never fear, there’s the training set. Costing a mere RM10,000……why the fuck does this sport have to be so expensive? Let’s thread softly on the mechanics of these barbells and their plates.

Each plate, is made of rubber and metal. The metal collar holes and the rubber plates. In each plate, there are numerous layers of solid rubber that make up the weight of the plate. These layers, promise the solidness and strength and lasting properties of these plates. Wonderfully arranged by the Swedish finest craftsmen, these plates are loved by weightlifters, powerlifters and athletes all over the world. The perfect combination of metal and rubber, makes a solid and durable plate that will last a minimal of 10 years.

The bars……ah, these…..these are as magical as the muscles that operate them. A solid steel bar,  crafted by Eleiko’s wonderful technology and machinery, they consist of two main parts. The bar and the sleeves. Attached, they are smooth, solid and spin wonderfully. Perfect for any application. Able to handle 1500LBS of weight without bending, they’re monsters.

But they cost bloody expensive. SO any sponsors!!? You can email me at kirksman [at] gmail.com or subscribe to my posts. I’m not as boring as this all the time. I just need my dad to return my bloody mouse so I can use my laptop more efficiently.

The recent few years, have seen a tremendous emergence of places I wouldn’t call gyms, but “Fitness Clubs”. Celebrity Fitness, Fitness First, California Fitness. Already they’re called fitness, you probably cannot expect much real knowledge. First let me say that I understand fitness. Fitness is a different field altogether from what I was involved in (Powerlifting) and currently involved in (Weightlifting). I know different people have different goals, and it’s their right to enjoy what they indulge themselves in.

Fitness Club For Chubbies. Service With A Smile

However, one of the biggest issues I have against such fitness clubs is their personal trainers and the layout and equipment of these places. I’ll talk about the layout and equipment first. Okay, usually, it’s upstairs machines and free weights, downstairs all cardio machine and drinks.

What’s messed up?

No Dropping Weights

Having the free weights upstairs, writes a restraining order on dropping weights. Not dropping weights in the game of weights, is utter nonsense. Complete! For those that think the “clink and clank and booms” of these weights are scary, noisy and disturbing, let me first say that your bloody presence annoys me then.

The dangers of holding to a weight that you’re unable to lift anymore and just trying to put it down silently, is beyond words. If you’re doing a bench press (I’m going with the easiest example that everybody understands), a barbell itself puts your body at a very disadvantageous position. Our human biomechanics aren’t exactly catered to suit the bench press perfect. Our rotator cuffs move in angels, 360 degrees, but a barbell restricts movement and disallows the body to find the most efficient path to complete the exercise.

Till today I’ve no idea what McDonalds is. A clown? Burger flipper? Badawi’s little brother?

However, with solid muscular strength, you can still hold to it, but there’s an issue when you get tired after a few repetitions. You HAVE to rack it back quickly when you’re done with the particular set to conserve energy for the next three or four sets if you’re a bodybuilder and up to ten sets for a powerlifter on his speed days. You also need to rack it quick before it puts any extra unnecessary tension on your shoulders and pecs. However, some stupid gyms have this idiotic; “If you can’t put it back silently, you’re probably not strong enough for it” policy.

That’s just promoting, playing in your comfort zone. Now ALL bodybuilders and weightlifters and powerlifters know this, being in your comfort zone, brings no progression. Your CNS has already adapted to the movement, its time to overload your muscle. You’re not learning a snatch, it doesn’t take 10 years to perfect.

Read Rippetoe’s studies if you don’t believe me, but I’m not lending you the book.

The pesky “know it all, actually know nothing” personal trainers.

Now don’t misunderstand my beef against personal trainers. I’ve none if they’re knowledgeable, patient, nice and non-obstructive. Sometimes, you get REALLY pesky trainers that’ll stare like you’ve just murdered their mother. I understand their job is to keep people safe, sell hours to people that require their help and assist people that need help in the exercises. I’m all for that. What spoils my image about them, is when they do NOT even do well training others.

First off some of them look like they need trainers to train them themselves.
Second off, they’ve not even teaching the proper way to train. I’m serious. You think the barbell row is easy to teach?

Ass sticking out, back arched, knees bent, depending on you, some deload, some do not. Those that deload take a 90 degree angle. Those that don’t, take 50 degrees

Trust me, it’s not.  It’s probably one of the most difficult exercises to teach. Yes, snatches and clean and jerks and squats are difficult as well, but this is pretty dammed difficult as well. BUT, these personal trainers can mistake the most important part of the movement. When their clients are ROUNDING their back instead of arching the lower back as shown in the picture above, they say;

 ”Good good, okay now row to your chest some more”

I walked past one guy and nearly spit my drink at his face.

Refer to this image while I give you free PT classes

Your lumbar spine (lower back) MUST either remain neutral or arched. This helps the muscles support the position. You can have your thoracic curve bend (upper back), but not the lower back. There’s 33 bones down there, screw one up, you’re in for trouble. Screw your lumbar area, say bye bye to leg functions. Screw the sacral curve (unlikely), your sexual and bowel functions go haywire. You’ll probably ejaculate when you intend to crap and crap when you want to ejaculate. Not a very pretty sight especially for your girlfriend or wife.

How can you put your sexual life to the hands of these fools that don’t know what a lumbar curve arch is! And their prescriptions to people that want to build muscle, I’ll tell you. I asked once just to see what they know;

“Okay, so you beginner right?”

“Oh em, yes…beginner, never touched weights in my life” (But my hands have callouses that just cut your skin when you shook my hand)

“Okay, so first, you want to have big chest and 6 packs?”

“Oh em, yes. Of course”

“Okay, so we do bench press, 3 sets, 10 reps. Then after that, we do bicep curls 3 set 10 reps. Then abs, 3 set 10 reps. After that must do cardio and drink protein. We sell them.

“Oh okay, so it’s a 3×10 system for everything?”

“Ah yes, no we call it 10 reps 3 sets, so usually I call it 10×3″ (Oh wow, 10 sets of triples, sounds like powerlifting)

“Oh. How do I lose this fat at the side of my stomach?”

“That one, we usually do twist. Like, you sit on the chair and twist left and right”

By now, I said to myself, one more comment from this clown and I’ll explode to laughter. So I got out of the places, and used the one day pass. Inside, I think I was doing squats, and I remember the look in his eyes. Hilarious! I’m all for personal trainers that mean well. However, sometimes when these people mean well…….they also give you a lot of nonsense which cannot be applied. This I feel is just not right.

And let me tell you, I went to all three, Celebrity Fitness in Subang Parade where the sales lady was extremely EXTREMELY rude. She was one of those that didn’t wear a uniform and was sorta plum. Obviously she knew nothing about exercising and only knew about selling. This was the one that referred me to her “Get results quick!” instructor which told me that. I nearly died.

California Fitness in Sunway Pyramid, I was attended by this angmoh and just nicely took his free pass and took a tour. He told me to do chin-ups……….on an ASSISTED machine. What an insult, but I just took it nicely.

Fitness First in The Curve. There wasn’t even a pull-up bar!! And no dip bars. What is wrong with this place?? I did enjoy the shower and steam room though. Ah, heavenly!

CANNOT CANNOT!! Mus repair the conditions of these gyms. I shall teach you what a real gym is.

So probably by the video, it’s quite unlikely that I got it.

Today was snatch practice. I had to snatch a particular weight 5 times, each fall don’t count. Worked up to 55KG from 40. I REALLY need to get the balls to squat under faster. I was scared at the beginning, now I think I sorta ingrained it into my neuromuscular movements. It’s getting better now…..I guess my balls grew slightly bigger and I dare to squat under more quickly now.

Clean pulls felt okay, 100KG and 120KG was pretty quick. I’m pretty sure I’ll clean the 120KG soon enough. Very SOON. 150KG, out of my reach at the moment, but that’s okay. Give me about another 6 months, I’ll get that. Hey, it ain’t no harm hoping okay.

Now I must remember to pull off the ground quicker. That’s what’s breaking me down, bloody deadlifts.

Snatches

To be light, of about 16 singles, focusing on dropping under the bar and pushing it up. I’ve issues learning how to drop under the bar, catch and rise. I can’t balance myself, that’s why I’ll be doing plenty of technique work. My pulls are fast enough, it’s just the dropping part that I’m not good enough at yet.

Deadlifts

I’m going to work straight into the deadlifts right after I’m done with snatching. Will not work more than a double. Perhaps double on the lighter sets and when I hit 140KG, I’m going straight in for singles all the way till I get 180KG. If it takes too long, I won’t grind it anymore. I don’t intend to have my deadlifts slowing me down.

Been working too long, too hard on getting fast. Why’d I want something to slow me down? I just want to work a bit on the maximal strength area.

I might, or might not get it though. It’s morning training and generally I’m a bit weaker in the mornings. But I won’t be going in the evening, because I’ll have to go fix my car later. Jeez….why can’t I be a full time weight lifter as well?

Then I’ll probably drop to about 150KG’s and try to hit 5 sets of doubles.

Drop Snatches

A lot of snatch balances to be done today. Probably about 10 sets of triples.

I love his this guy does it. Bloody Bulgarians are so powerful.

It’s been a long journey, the end of the road’s not even close.

I started out lifting weights, to look, good. My shoulders looked like the perfect lady shoulders.

Low.

So I did plenty of upper body work and thought that people lifted weights because they wanted to look like a model from……where else? Abercrombie and Fitch

I got that image from Ichatgay.com because of Google. I wasn’t surfing that site, so don’t start jumping on my back.

Then as I started learning more and more about it, bodybuilding seemed quite appealing. I don’t know about you, but the sight of such physiques don’t scare me.

Well……it looked good at that time.

Then after a few weeks, I felt that it’s a little pointless. First you gain size and fat and muscle and strength, then gotta cut weight and look slimmer with your abs and lose strength. It becomes a vicious cycle. And often, you get guys which are muscle bound. Hell I don’t wanna turn 200LBS and can’t turn around to wipe my ass.

Then powerlifting…

God I don’t know. Does everybody go through the entire process of learning about this?

Now if you’re wondering, “What’s the big deal? IT all involves a bunch of big guys, lifting about heavy weights” let me assure you the difference is big.

It’s about as big a difference as “rojak” and “koay teow” and I swear, it’s that big.

Abercrombie & Fitch model look, is about looking hot, and sticking to benching, bicep curling and pressing.
Bodybuilding, is about looking big, not necessarily strong.
Powerlifting is about getting strong like a bulldozer with no concern as to how they look.

Example?

Yea I know. How the hell does lard assist in moving heavy weights right? I don’t quite know either but its got something to do with leverage, calories and strength. Complex equation, I’ll explain when I’m dead.

The biggest issue I had with powerlifting was, the confusion. People say that the elite numbers for a powerlifter is a 1560LBS total. My total’s 1000LBS. That puts me miles away from an elite.
However, what they never that level is achieved with with a suit. Then there’s the double ply, single ply, denim suit god knows what suit.

It’s all just too complex. Too complicated.

So guess what I did? No I didn’t decide to strip my clothes and jump into a pool hoping to build the perfect body with underwater aerobics. Who the hell comes up with crap like this anyway? Bloody fitness clubs.

Nope.

I took an even more complex sport. And when I say complex, I mean seriously complex.

Weightlifting. I decided to take up weightlifting. Now what else is the difference of weightlifting compared to the rest of the categories?

Weightlifting is about keeping your weight as low as possible for a particular weight class, and lifting monstrous weights.

For example, one of the most phenomenal lifts ever recorded in the history of weightlifting. A 3x bodyweight clean and jerk.

“Okay, so I carry it?”

No. It’s quite impossible to carry a 100KG bar from the ground and just plonk it to your shoulders.

You lift the bar to your thighs, and closing to your hip, you use your entire body to explode force upwards. This enables you the weight to fly up if you produce enough power. Then you catch the bar before it slams into you and destroys your shoulder.
Yes, it’s about as frightening as it sounds.

Then the jerk is when you drive the bar overhead and race the bar downwards to support it. You don’t actually PUSH the bar overhead, you just snap it upwards, and use momentum to help you complete the movement.

So in essence, weightlifting is actually juggling the bar.

Why the hell am I taking this sport up? Seriously, why the hell?

Why do I take the chance playing with the bar and potentially crushing my entire body with it? Really?

I have NO clue.
I won’t have a physique that tells that I lift weights, so I miss out the bragging factor.
Small nagging injuries can plague me anytime if I screw up my form.
I get scolded every day because I cannot balance correctly. Screw my overly long body.
Its actually PAINFUL when you’re training. It’s uncomfortable, hot, the weights on your back’s saying “Rawrr!! I shall krush your back!” and you’re constantly feeling small because you’re a beginner.

Maybe…..maybe the reason’s not so much to why I do it. Maybe it’s just because……it’s something that I enjoy.

I enjoy knowing I can throw any average man above my head.
I enjoy the fact that I can probably carry any man in Malaysia behind my back and run
I probably enjoy the fact that I can hold a girl above my head with one hand and sing “Negara-ku-ku”
Or maybe, it’s because I know I can hit a higher vert jump that an average person

Don’t know don’t care. All I know is this is one sport I’m going to focus on. I’m not switching camps anymore. I love weightlifting for it’s complexity, it’s difficulty, it’s absurd amount of focus and mental attention, it’s speed and agility. Above all, I love being able to go to the gym twice a day and thinking of nothing but throwing weights above my head. Just three hours of pure focus, concentration, adrenaline and power.

Above all, I love shouting the hell out when I’m lifting because it contracts my abs and makes it easier for me to stand up. Do you think it’s merely adrenaline and pure masculinity that makes a man shout at his lifts? It’s science, sucker.

This is what I’ve been up to the past weeks

If I believe, I am.
I believe, I’ll join at least one Commonwealth game. I will. Wish me luck. As long I don’t get injured, I will.

*Goes to train*

Anyway, here are a few methods to increase your breasts size, without the need to go under the knife and be called “plastic” by your jealous peers.

Natural Breast Enhancers.

Need ur advise ere.. actually im trying to gain size and msucle.. so i do weight lifting and having some weight gainer.. however i face 1 prob ere… my belly getting bigger and i m bloated like 4 months pregnant lady..

i realise that to overcome this bloated problem i need to do lots of cardio..but im worry that it will effect my afford to gain size..

will cardio effect my objective to gain size…i trying to build muscle around my chest so i take suppls to get protein..im having cytogainer to get for weight gainer..thanks.. any advis how to reduce my 4 months pregnant belly

In my opinion, too many people worry about eating insufficiently, some worry about overtraining, many people worry about gaining a belly…..it just becomes so complicated.

Number 1;

I feel if you’re a beginner, you’re just definitely going to eat more anyway when you start training, you’ll feel hungry most of the time if you follow a proper routine. So, I don’t see any reason for you to worry about “not” eating enough.

Try to avoid eating junk, like potato chips, excessive chocolates, Mc Donalds and all that, if you’re a 120LB’er trying to get to 165LBS without gaining too much fat. It’s POSSIBLE, really to minimize fat gain while gaining that much weight. I managed it. If I can, anyone can. I know that’s a cliche sentence, but it works, so whatever. Eat more meat, eggs, fish, eat the same thing over and over again. It’s boring, but it works to pack on good mass.

Some even buy weight gainers and all. I’ve a better suggestion, if you’re Asian, harness the advantage you have. Mix oats with protein shakes and milk. Our bodies, absorb proteins in oats and rice and noodles, in a much more effective way compared to the Caucasian bodies.

Number 2;

Don’t be obsessed about overtraining. The soreness you get the next day, isn’t OVERTRAINING. Beginners almost never overtrain. Beginners do not have the, ability to overtrain. You may feel that you want to train “hardcore” but the moment you go through the sets, and your fatigue starts to come in, automatically, you’ll just stop. You cannot push further.

Your CNS isn’t that strong, yet. It takes a few months of training at least, before you start to overtrain. Also if you follow a solid routine, you will not overtrain. These coaches, have spent years training their boys and girls and they know what works. Don’t try to be a smart ass and create your own hardcore routine after looking at Ronnie Jackson’s 700LBS deadlift.

Number 3;

You gotta be kidding about the belly. If you gain a belly, eat less junk and more proteins. Bleh……what’s weightlifting about? Chemical science now?

Food timing could be quite important though. I never denied this. If your goal is to look good, you’re definitely going to have to watch the food timing. I’d recommend;

1st meal: high GI carb, fast intake protein
2nd meal: moderate GI carb, protein
3rd meal (this should be your pre-workout meal, if you’re an evening trainer): high GI carbs, protein
4th meal: High GI carbs in moderate amounts, fast digesting protein (whey)
5th meal: Low GI carbs, protein. Dead animals are a good choice of protein.
6th meal: No carbs, slow digesting protein (casein, milk)

What else did I miss?

OH Yes, a training routine! Click here. This would be a very good routine for all beginners to use. Reasons why I say so;

1. It’s extremely simple. Focuses on the main lifts, to increase your strength and speed and muscle.
2. It’s doesn’t take 1 1/2 hours to complete, and this is good for those hoping to pack some muscle.
3. It doesn’t tax your CNS that heavily, but trains the CNS, sufficiently.
4. It makes you do, the big three. Squat, Dead, Bench.
5. It denies arm work which gives me more space to do squats in the squat rack and not care about you squat rack curl pussies.

Trust me on this, you shall grow with this routine.

You shall be stronger, faster, possibly handsomer or beautifuler. You will not turn gay, but you might turn into a narcissist. You shall grow more facial hair and chest hair because you have increased testosterone because you squat (I promise this is a lie….). You shall lose that tubbly jinglebumps you call a belly. You will lose bodyfat if you watch your dieting. And you shall grow LATS!!

Maybe…if you follow the routine, with correct form and speed and diet. IT will work. Remember. IT isn’t just lifting, it’s diet+lifting.

Maybe someday you shall look like this;

Image credit: Kennysia.com

I won’t say much about, the Russians. They’re born with awesome genetics, great coaches, insane dedication and they just plain know how to train. The Bulgarians. These are the guys that I have a lot of respect to. They’re bloody hardworking and they’re intense in their training.

However, they also choose their lifters. Here are FIVE tests that are used to select their lifters.

• Standing long jump.
  
  It’s a pretty simple test. Stand on one line, and jump as far as you possibly can. Then take the measurement from your heel and the line from which you launched from. I got 270CM. You? You need to get 233CM to be admitted into the team. (I PASS!)
• 50 yard dash
  
  Dash 50 yards. As simple as that. It measures explosiveness which is highly important in weightlifting. I made 5.8 seconds. The time required is 6.3 seconds. (I PASS!)
• Pull-ups
  
  Apparently the Bulgarians believe that when you do a pull-up, the traps are highly involved to stabilize the muscle. Albeit the involvement of the lats and arms, the traps are also very important in a solid pull-up. Which kind of explains why I contract my traps hard when I pull-up. I make 18 pull-ups. They require 15. (I PASS!)
• Squat down, shoulder width. Leg FLAT on floor. Sit on heels. Ass in front of heels.

  You definitely need some major flexibility here. I couldn’t do this part. My quads were too dammed tight to allow any movement forward. I phail

• The fifth test…is some weird test I don’t get….anyway the link is here. Have a look if you wish.

On to the Bulgarian training routine. I’m loving this routine. It’s very, very simple.

• Start with three training days.
• Get stronger and more accustomed to it, add one training session to the middle week training day. So Morning lift, Evening LIFT!
• Used to it already? Add another day. On Saturday, do Monday workout.
• Still want more? Add one session on Monday, morning.
• And now, you’re at the final stage. Add, TWO more training sessions in your days.
• Rename yourself Емилия

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t THAT simple.

I’m using the Bulgarian matrix system, to try increasing my squats and deadlifts numbers. I’m not able to snatch properly at this current gym, so I’m skipping it first. TO read more;

Bulgarian Blitz

Most people, like to listen to songs when training. I’ve classified a few categories of people I’ve seen in the gym and the songs they’d like to listen. I THINK. Sometimes, I’ll chat up a few people if my mood is good (that’s if I don’t fail any lifts, but nobody fails lifts in fitness gyms. The floors are too expensive to spoil)

Mister Hip-Hop

Oh you KNOW you’ve seen them! They’re like wolves. They come in a pack and their workouts consist of six main “core” exercises.

• Bench Press
• Partner Deadlift Assisted Bench Press
• Incline Bench
• Decline Bench
• Sit-ups
• Bicep curls

And they come in this UTTERLY retarded looking spandex thingimajig..what the hell does that thing do? Increase your bicep strength by 15%?

Their song list selection? OBVIOUSLY…..

• 50 Cent (I take you to the candy shop, oh god….I’d scream 4 police if a guy with that face wants to bring me to a candy shop)
• Vanilla Ice
• Neyo (Gaghh! HOW? WHY??)
• Tupac
• Beastie Boys
• Eminem
• Kanye West
• Missy Eliott
  

Honestly? This is one bunch of people I don’t even know why they’re in the gym. Half their time is spent flexing. The other 1/4 is spent chatting up. Only 1/4 is spent training. And usually this is how they look like.

Good lord.