This is how I am going to do it. It may shock you, but hard work and research often do that to normal people.

At the current time, my one rep max stands at 425 lbs.

Four areas are bringing me down

1. I lost the drive. I was going into the gym, pumping out some decent weight, but just going through the motions.
2. I was neglecting heavy rows, and volume on rows and deadlifts.
3. I was not working my biceps or forearms, they are some of my weakest parts.
4. I don’t have a spotter or a training partner.

I don’t think I am going to fix number four anytime soon. I have a few possible candidates, but they are nothing compared to my Army Boys, “MCPJ,” “What’s a Short?,” etc. There are three kinds of people who motivate me, someone who is better than me at almost everything, someone like “MCPJ” that can compete with me on just about anything, or “What’s a Short?” who laughs in my face, even though he is lifting half of me, but he does it with more heart and determination. That’s a tough screen to run.

Today I did my first heavy “leg day” in awhile. You must know, I am know for my brutal leg workouts. I was really good at BMX racing, and BMX freestyle. This led to riding all over and building my legs up. I squatted 315 lbs, and leg pressed the entire stack in my crappy high school gym, when I was a sophomore in high school. In a place notoriously know for not valuing/developing athletic talent.

This leg work comes at a price. I have HUGE legs, today measured at over 32 inches. This may seem really “cool” to you, but it is a PAIN IN THE ASS, to find pants. I usually have to buy 40-42 inch pants, that are tight around the thighs, but then really loose at the waist. I then have to cinch them at the waist with a belt, which is also super uncomfortable, because it’s all about “low rise pants.” So I really don’t want them to grow anymore, but there is a hormonal response.

Most of the male hormones– that tell the body to build muscles –are stimulated, created, and released below the waist. Conversely, the body likes to stay in a state of equilibrium. Thus, if you want maximal hormone release, and you want your body to grow, you have to hit everything equally– or make the mind think you are doing so– to some extent. I only need to hit legs hard once a week, then maybe some speed squats, box jumps, Romanian Deadlifts, sprints, and lunges, on “speed deadlift” day.

When it comes to my biceps, forearms, and back, I NEED to hit them hard 3-4 times a week. Even if it is only one hard superset on the back of a shoulder and speed workout. That’s just how my genetics work. The way I broke through the 300 and 400 lb bench plateaus, was to crush my back to no end, and to bench weights heavier than I could lift.

Why? Because your back “pulls” the weight down and stabilizes it, and if you can hit different parts of your bench with a weight that you can handle AT THAT POINT, but not during a full rep, then it makes the other parts learn to handle it too. The body is pretty crazy, we put all these limitations on it, but the only real imitations are within the mind. I am a horrible runner, but I did multiple ten mile runs while in the 82nd Airborne Division, there were times where my mind was saying GO, but my body just quit, and I literally shut down and fell out.

Often it’s the opposite, and I’ve felt it too– the difference is, I HATE that feeling. How can you live with yourself if you just quit? If you can convince your mind that something is possible, than your body will follow, TRUST ME. Don’t be the little bitch that says, “I can never get big, I can never be strong.” That’s a defeatist mentality, take it elsewhere.

I’m going to bench 500 lbs, CT explains my motivation.

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