Back in high school, I wanted to be ripped like my buddy, Andy.
He was one of those guys who kicked ass at sports.
He was a hockey player and we convinced him to come over to the dark side and join the football team. Long story short, he ended up being our star quarterback. Go figure.
It’s kind of funny. I was at the grocery store last week and I saw a picture of Chandler from Friends. It reminded me of late nights of chilling at Andy’s house having campfires and watching old Friends episodes in his basement. Andy’s sister owned every single season on DVD, so we definitely took advantage of this. That show is helluva funny.
On the football field, everyone could tell Andy was ripped. He used to have this biceps vein popping out of his arm, and you could even see it through his long sleep UnderArmor shirt. At this time, I was skinny fat and envious of his biceps vein. No jokes.
Kids will be kids.
My First Deadlift
It was around this time that I attempted my first deadlift. Everywhere I read online said that I needed to deadlift, and that it was the best exercise. I thought, what the hell, I might as well kill the damn thing.
I used to work out in a small gym attached to the Curling Club in my local town. At this point, they didn’t even have Olympic barbells. Instead, they had those skinny ass barbells with a diameter so small a baby could hook grip the shit out of it.
Either way, I didn’t know this difference. Back then, a weight is a weight.
The bar probably weighed 25lbs, and I loaded it up with a 50lb plate on each side. 125lbs total. I bent down to pick up the weight (like I saw on youtube), stood up with it in my hands, and locked my shoulders back.
This was the heaviest thing I’ve ever lifted.
When I deadlifted, my biceps vein popped out, but didn’t look like this freaky one.
Besides shaking like a trembling beast, the most amazing thing happened: my biceps vein popped out.
I was sold.
Looking Back
It’s so funny, because back then, I thought that 125lbs was a HUGE amount of weight. These days, I warm up with that weight. My female clients lift more than that. Hell, my girlfriend, Cassie, could probably lift that at least 10 times (back then I was only lifting it for like 5 reps).
Either way, it’s funny how you make judgements when you’re a beginner.
The only reason I kept deadlifting was because it made my biceps vein pop out. How freakin’ ridiculous is that?
Back then, deadlifts were tough as hell and made me feel like shit, but I did them for 1 little stupid vein in my arm.
Oh These Days…
Currently, I love the feeling of deadlifts and RDL’s. I love being able to pull heavy ass weights. I love the stretch in my hamstrings, and the pull on my lats.
If I am deadlifting, I will look forward to it for days. If I could recover from it, I’d deadlift every single damn day. Nothing hits the whole posterior of the body like it. Buns of steel, Baby.
In the next 5 years, my goal is to deadlift 500lbs from the floor. Currently, my best rack pull (from the knees) is 495lbs. I’ve been working on my mobility and have been working my way back down to the floor with perfect form. My guessing is that I’ll hit my goal before 5 years is up.
This is very Stuart McRobert of me. McRobert recommends being able to bench, squat, and deadlift 300, 400, and 500lbs respectively for optimal size and strength.
Although, many people argue that deadlifting doesn’t build a ton of muscle.
My response to them is, “HAVE YOU SEEN MY ASS?!”
The only reason my girlfriend has stayed with me so long is because she deadlifts too and her ass is bigger than mine. Thank God.
I had this same conversation with Paul Hynes. He’s pissed because his ass is bigger than his girlfriend’s. #FIRSTWORLDPROBLEMS.
If you can deadlift 500lbs, you’re strong enough to lift heavy ass weights for tons of reps. You’ll be able to build some good amounts of muscle. I promise.
Obviously, if you’re not deadlifting, your goal should be to start deadlifting instead of “I want to deadlift 500lbs”.
I wonder if Andy deadlifts. Maybe one day he’ll be as strong as me…
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