When I first started training back in 1999, I had my dad to coach me. It was under his guidance that I took to bodybuilding and started working towards it as my sport. I was in final year of college and weighed 75 kgs.
Dad was very old school trained which was a huge benefit for me. There was no frills training. Just plain old hard work. I remember us walking into the gym the first time and from day one it was all out training. My first week was cardio and free hand exercises. From the second week it was time to attempt the prized bench press and man i was excited. The schedule was not too different. We would train 5 times a week. Our schedule
Monday: Chest and triceps
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: back and biceps
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Abs and Calves
Nutrition: Eat and eat well!! Anything you want as long as its healthy.
In the first three months I made rapid gains. Though I did my own research and wanted to try different stuff, I just kept quiet and let my father handle the training. There were times I would ask him if I could try certain weights and certain exercises and he would either encourage me to try or patiently tell me I would have to wait a while longer. I started to pin down the basic exercises and grow.
Benchpress, Deadlifts, rows, squats, shoulder press, bicep curls, tricep extensions. Anything else could be varied and missed but not these. I never pushed or lifted with sloppy form. And no jerks. If i jerked i had to lighten the weight. I started to grow quickly and I reached 82 kgs.At that point I set the goal. I decided the goal was 100kgs and then work back down.
Supplements were researched and tried. I started off on creatine and it paid off. From there it went into protein powders. Over a 10 year period I would try lots of them. the best one I still remember that worked with me was Optimum Nutrition.
I was now at 87 Kgs. I had a good understanding and feel of my body and muscle response. I learnt biofeedback on my own. Few more months I was on the scale again and at 92kgs. Then it happened. I got hit by a viral and weight plummeted by 7kgs. I was so disappointed but I knew my muscles would kick up again quickly. The mental fight that day was tiring but I won. I was not allowed to start right off the bat. i had to build again lighter weights. I started to get stronger. As my strength came rushing back I started to pack on again. I was at 92 once again. It was at this point dad and me hit a record. We leg pressed 600kgs.
The journey from 92kgs to 97 kgs was a lot more painful but it was there that I had my greatest PR's and records shattered.I say it was painful because I didnt seem to be getting anywhere in breaking out of that weight plateau. Once again dad and me set a new record. We went up to a 300 kgs in squats. What started that day as a leg training session ended as a PR breaking session. We only did squats that day. The whole gym came around to watch the show. It felt awesome! It was a few weeks later the gym owner told me my leg size was the probably the 2nd largest in the gym
By this time people were telling me I was HYOOOOOOOOOGE!! Then came the questions? Is it healthy for you? is it right? I said I was on a mission to reach 100kgs and it was fine because I had planned it.
At 97 kgs, it was 2006 I had a horrible experience and a massive fight with the disease of jaundice. I remember in my first week i dropped to 75. The jaundice took 8 months to pass and I was left at a scraggly 67 kgs. I knew what I had to do. When I finally went back to the gym, dad and the doctor would not let me accelerate my training. It was getting boring. Dad had to leave out of the country for three months. Bring it on!
The day he left I walked into the gym. I deadlifted 150 kgs right away. No warm up sets. I decided to take the fight back. By this time I was at 73 kgs. I had three months to do what I had to do. Squats, Deadlifts, Shoulder presses, curls, tricep extensions and benchpress in that order. 3 months later a healthy looking 92 kgs son met his father at the airport.
I went for the final haul in 2008. I lifted with the heaviest weights I could and as explosive as possible. I started to eat like crazy and followed 5 meals a day. My protein powder again was optimum nutrition. I was doing well. Then another setback. At a kickboxing class I fell through a granite slab while cross running. Training was out of the question by the doctors as the sprain was pretty bad. that was nearly a month out. I had to get around on a crutch. I went back to the gym on that crutch. I couldnt squat. So the main exercises were benchpress and shoulder press. I went in for leg extensions and curls. For back I used pulled downs and rows. In about 2 months my leg healed completely.
Then by 2010 beginning I broke through! I was at a whooping 101kgs! I showed up for my wedding and in my cousins words 'Man, you were built like a tank!' I had done it. I felt like a champion. I reached my goal.
There is something about setting goals and achieving them. I know it took 10 years and yes there was a lot of learning. However nothing can replace the experience and years of learning that I went through.
The greatest benefit I had was building my relationship with my father. We were the best training partners anywhere and we still are. A lot of things happen when you set a goal and work towards it. The years of experience are priceless.
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