Kinda crazy right? I did a recent event with a bunch of arm wrestling dudes and that connection means a pic of me wearing an event T-Shirt (only took 3 fkin weeks to arrive - and the dude only lives 40 minutes away) Hammer Curling a 90-kilos/198lbs dumbbell has blown up. As in the MOST likes ever on my Insta. It's a screengrab from a short video (also up now) of me doing it for reps. Now what's even more mad is that 1) I posted a pic of me doing this before and 2) I've actually done a 100-kilos/220lbs for 4 reps!
Now how did I get to be able to do crazy sh*t like that? And is there anything you can take from it (psst... yes)
In simple terms time and effort.
For the time read YEARS. Like DECADES. Most here will, as per a line from a movie 'I dunno about you but that's more time than I'm prepared to put it'. But, as I have told the younger newbies at the gym, if I aint that strong after all this time then what the f**k have I been doing all that time?
Effort can be broken down a little. I have ZERO ISSUE with adding a few pounds. Sometimes 1lb. I could literally stay at the same rep range and add 1lb a week for MONTHS. Even my recent curling efforts amount to taking about a month between weight jumps. You can also adapt not just the muscle but the tendons and bones. Even, with the bigger dumbbells, some of the rest of the body has to adapt to heaving (and it ain't a strict curl lol) 200lbs on one side of the body.
Effort is also the grind. Just week after week of hard application of effort. It's not sexy when you inform people on Insta that gains take TIME.
You can argue genetics etc etc if you like. And there might be some truth to a fella with smaller wrists and shorter height not doing it but I had ZERO idea I'd do this when I started.
Recent training vs the day
I've been holding back with a view to hitting big numbers at the end of the year. So it's been Hammer Curls: 18.5lbs x 12 reps, 47lbs x 12 reps and finally 108lbs or so x 8-12 reps. On the day I went 10kg/22lbs x 12 and added 10kg at a time slowly decreasing the reps. So 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and then 90. 70 I think I did 2 sets cos we were trying to photograph it vs using a video.
The aftermath...
Friday night reading in bed and both brachial muscles cramped like a mofo! Ha ha
Now how did I get to be able to do crazy sh*t like that? And is there anything you can take from it (psst... yes)
In simple terms time and effort.
For the time read YEARS. Like DECADES. Most here will, as per a line from a movie 'I dunno about you but that's more time than I'm prepared to put it'. But, as I have told the younger newbies at the gym, if I aint that strong after all this time then what the f**k have I been doing all that time?
Effort can be broken down a little. I have ZERO ISSUE with adding a few pounds. Sometimes 1lb. I could literally stay at the same rep range and add 1lb a week for MONTHS. Even my recent curling efforts amount to taking about a month between weight jumps. You can also adapt not just the muscle but the tendons and bones. Even, with the bigger dumbbells, some of the rest of the body has to adapt to heaving (and it ain't a strict curl lol) 200lbs on one side of the body.
Effort is also the grind. Just week after week of hard application of effort. It's not sexy when you inform people on Insta that gains take TIME.
You can argue genetics etc etc if you like. And there might be some truth to a fella with smaller wrists and shorter height not doing it but I had ZERO idea I'd do this when I started.
Recent training vs the day
I've been holding back with a view to hitting big numbers at the end of the year. So it's been Hammer Curls: 18.5lbs x 12 reps, 47lbs x 12 reps and finally 108lbs or so x 8-12 reps. On the day I went 10kg/22lbs x 12 and added 10kg at a time slowly decreasing the reps. So 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and then 90. 70 I think I did 2 sets cos we were trying to photograph it vs using a video.
The aftermath...
Friday night reading in bed and both brachial muscles cramped like a mofo! Ha ha