Of being deceivingly strong

"You lift weights? But you're so skinny! Aren't weightlifters supposed to be big?"

"You lift how much? Seriously? I don't believe you."

Yeah, I get this crap all the time. Not that I mind. I'm not even pissed off. Amused is more like it. You see, the thing is if you're a girl and you lift weights chances are you're not gonna get bulky. You'll get more defined and fill up in all the right places, but provided that you maintain a fairly clean diet you won't get anywhere near bulky.

Yes, you're gonna gain weight but in a good way and in all the right places. And you're gonna get STRONG.

Check out this lady powerlifter. Deadlifted 230kilos would you believe it.

New Deadlift PR: 73kg 2RM

Okay so I went out partying on Saturday night. Came back home in the wee hours and by the time I hit the sack it was almost dawn. Woke up a couple of hours later and went to sleep again at about 10am. Woke up yet again at almost 2pm just to grab lunch. After lunch I thought I wanted to do some work but ended up sleeping until almost 7pm.

So yeah, my Sunday was 'wasted away' by sleeping.

But I wanted to get some training done. Besides, it's supposed to be deadlift day. The deadlift is my favourite exercise. So no excuses. Feeling crappy because of excessive sleep, I loaded up the bar. I knew today was gonna be a short 'practice day'.

Happily, I managed to hit a new PR. Here's what I did tonight:

40kg x 5 reps (warmup)

50kg x 5 reps (warmup)

68kg x 5 reps

70kg x 5 reps (new 5RM)

73kg x 2 reps (new 2RM)

So yeah, I'm pretty satisfied with my numbers. And I know I can do better.

P/S I stopped at 2 reps although I have a feeling I could get away with perhaps a few more reps. Maybe I shall test new boundaries next week.

Get on with the programme

The day before yesterday was upper body training day. I did overhead presses, pushups, bodyweight rows and some chin-ups. Topped it all off with some kettlebell swings. Good times. But the DOMS onslaught was especially painful.

Yesterday was spent moving around like an old lady and refraining myself from laughing because it makes my stomach hurt like hell. I was in pain.

Today was a bit better. But I still haven't recovered fully. My upper body is still a bit sore but my legs are good to go. Today's supposed to be squats day and my heart wasn't in it. In my mind I made a lot of excuses for why I should take one more day off.

Luckily, I trudged through with the training. Loaded up the bar and squat I did. Didn't do too bad. Didn't break any PRs but I didn't slack off either. And I'm feeling so much better now after breaking some sweat.

Sometimes you just have to get on with it. It's amazing how you're able to power through even when you're feeling sub-par. Goes to show how fantastic our body is.

Things that make me keel over and go ARRGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

There are things that I can tolerate. And there are things that I can't. And these things specifically could make me go into violent convulsions when I think about how atrocious they are.

Unfortunately, so many have become victims. Enough of the ramblings. Ladies and gentlemen, here are the things that make me keel over and go ARRRGHHHHHHH.....

Treadmills, Elliptical Machines and the likes of them

I Know!! WTF right????

Like the innocent/ignorant mass, I too slaved upon these machines thinking that it would help me gain cardiovascular endurance. Instead, all it did was provide me with the much dreaded cortisol.

Worse still, a lot of people who want to lose weight think they have no choice but to subject themselves to hours upon hours of boring, monotonous 'exercise' when in fact there are better ways to burn off those excess fat and gain muscle.

And don't get me started on those foolish enough to buy a treadmill (all of them are bloody expensive) only to use it as a gigantic clothes hanger 2 weeks down the road.

Corsets

Yeah... right.

Everytime I open my Facebook page some nitwit will be promoting this stupid corset you wear underneath your clothes which apparently helps you to burn fat while making you look slimmer. Oh... My... God.... seriously??? SERIOUSLYYYYY???? I mean, geeee... if it was that easy we won't see so many overweight people walking around right?

And maybe it does help you look slim. But what happens when you take off that godforsaken corset at the end of the day? All those flabby bits are finally free from their confinement and the reality is, you still don't look good naked, baby.

Herbalies Herbalife

Herbalife. What can I say? Maybe it's not the product. Maybe it's the agents that make cringe and entertain the thoughts of murder. I remember when I first entertained the thought of joining the gym. I asked around about affordable gyms and this fuckwit told me that I don't need to spend money for a gym membership. All I need to do was consume Herbalife crap and I'd look a heck of a lot better. Even back then, I knew it was crap.

Then there were the comments made in DM's blog by one of his readers. The reader mentioned that after taking herbalife, he feels a whole lot healthier. His skin was not botchy anymore. Heck, Herbalife was sooo good that it even made his crooked teeth straight.

All I could think of is that that guy may be one heck of an ugly dude.

Meal Replacement Powders (MRPs)

Okay, to be fair MRPs are not that bad if a person knows how to use it. You can use it to avoid catabolism when you really don't have time to have a proper meal. But if you're pretty much on a liquid diet than you're just asking for trouble. Sure, you might lose weight but be warned that you will gain it all back. Plus a few extra kilos for good measure.

Smith Machine, Leg Press Machine, and other similar stuff

I think my readers already know my disdain for all things machine related. Say all you want about the virtues of these monstrosities but it won't beat free weights. Not now. Not ever.

The Importance of a Support System

It has dawned on me for quite some time that we are a lonely bunch of people. Some of us may train in a gym full of people but all it does is to accentuate that loneliness. What am I talking about, exactly? You see, although it is a no-brainer fact that strength training coupled with a decent dose of conditioning will make you stronger and.. ehem... sexier, the majority of (mostly commercial) gym goers think that doing squats, deadlifts and kettlebell swings are 'hardcore' and pretty much an overkill.

Fellow fitness junkie Adeline for example, has always been subject to snide remarks from fellow gym-goers who can't even squat and deadlift even half as much as she does. Yet they shamelessly give stupid advice. I once told Adeline it's like the bonsai plant telling the mighty balak tree how to grow bigger and stronger. The irony is so apparent.

Luckily for us in this day and age of cyberspace, we can look for like-minded souls and get support and encouragement from them. To know that you are not in it alone is important. It serves to keep you going; not to mention that these people would also push you to become better. Healthy competition is vital as well.

Fellow blog-o-buddy Kev has setup the Malaysian Powerlifting Group over at Facebook so that people passionate about powerlifting (obviously) have a go-to place where they can hold healthy discussions and seek support. So why don't you guys head on over and like the page, eh?