If it wasn’t for the fact that I want to become a personal trainer and wasn’t contracted to New York Sports Club I’d most likely try to find another gym. I don’t hate my gym but I’d really like to train somewhere that’s more geared toward my goals because let’s face it, a commercial gym doesn’t cater to Powerlifters or anyone strength training related. Hell, there’s only one power rack for squatting and just one deadlift platform – I do admit it’s a miracle they even have on. But sometimes it’s being used just as you’re about to use it and sometimes it’s for some real stupid shit.
On the night I was to Deadlift 315 for the first time ever back in February I found someone was occupying the platform doing a stupid Crossfit routine. What was it? Ten sets of twenty Clean-And-Jerks followed by “jump rope”. Noticed the word jump rope was quoted? That’s because there was no jump rope; instead this guy was jumping up and down looking like he was jerking off two dicks!
My most recent favorite, which I ranted about on my facebook page, was the guy doing Front Squats with a fucking BOSU ball. First off, if he’s going to be wearing the wrong shoes – by which I mean sneakers – he better hope I’m not there when he tips over because I’m going to laugh so hard. Also, if you’re front squatting with a BOSU ball you should return your man card and go make that appointment for your sex change now. Hell, yesterday.
I finally ordered a 10mm Inzer Forever Belt in black on Saturday. I hope to get it before my next deadlift day.
New Nails (??????)
So Nails cancels all their shows over the summer without any explanation and we hear nothing for two months…and then I was told a few days ago by one of my YouTube subscribers that it was announced the Nails and Full Of Hell are releasing a 7″ split???Don’t get me wrong, I’m fucking stoked about this – that’s going to be some nasty fucking shit! But dude, what the fuck? I wrote about how confused I am on facebook because we had no idea if the band were back or what and when I reposted it on my new Instagram account I received this funny little response from Closed Casket Activities, the label releasing the spilt:
Funny guys. Then I saw this today on Metal Injection:
So I’ve been pretty busy with recording songs and videos in the last week or so. I’ve really been inspired in the music department, having uploaded two new songs in the last few days. Here’s the one I just uploaded today:
Upon listening to it with the drums I mapped out as well as the distorted bass I put there, I find it to be a cross between early Bathory, speedwise, and a more modern Grindcore song around the breakdown section. I just know my Ibanez Destroyer’s been taking a beating lately with all the things I’m doing. Speaking of guitars I’ll most likely start recording covers sometime next week.
On the powerlifting front I just began the second cycle of my new 5/3/1 conditioning template. Only now I’m training four times a week instead of three since I’m currently off from work for the summer – giving me plenty of time to get out all the extra anger my jackass students gave me this year! I’m serious when I say they need to bring back corporal punishment because today’s kids are way too fucking grown for their own good. Fuck the kids. Anyway, here’s my latest Deadlift video. The whole workout can be found in the description box of the video:
I figured out a great way to use my phone to film myself Deadlift and Overhead Pressing without using anyone’s help. I just need to find a way to do it for Benching and Squatting. Also, I’m not too far away from Diamond Gym in Maplewood, NJ, and I’d like to also make my way over there next week to get a workout in. That place is just so fucking hardcore that I HAVE to go there.
More News
A quick reminder that I’ll be at Anaka’s show at the Black Bear Bar in Brooklyn this Saturday. I’ll be making a video or two, as well as writing about it here so keep your eyes posted. Also, I was approached by Helix Nebula, a band from just outside of Madrid, Spain, about reviewing their new album and I agreed to do it so I should be doing that in the next week as well. Helix Nebula recently played a show with Feel No Pain, another band from Madrid, who’s demo I just reviewed; so I’m assumed that’s how they found me.
I’m now on facebook, so be sure to click here and like the page for more updates.
I restarted training at the gym last Sunday and so far things are going far better than expected. I’m still doing 5/3/1 but I’m more focused on conditioning this time so each time I train I’ll just do two exercises and then it’s off to the bike I go since the gym won’t get another prowler until management begins renovations near summer’s end. Lame.
I did just release two videos I was able to make on last week’s Overhead Press day and today’s Squat day and you can check them out below:
Explanations of each workout can be found in their entirety in the description boxes of each video.
I’m already eyeing my next meet and it’ll most likely be RPS’s Autumn Apocolypse in November, same hotel in Newark as the Jersey Rumble back in May. I’m just hoping that by that time I’ll at least have my Squat and Deadlift in the 300’s and 400’s, respectively. In fact, my friend Steve, who works at my gym told me he’d take me to the other gym he trains in, East Coast-West Coast in Carlsadt, in July. I heard about this gym and in fact someone I met at my first meet posted up a video of himself training there. This gym just looks so fucking badass. It’s like Skiba’s in Carteret but bigger. Here, just look at the gallery pictures:
Note that some pictures will be of their California location.
I also am in the middle of recording two new original tracks and re-recording the first one I uploaded since I can do better with it. I should be done, hopefully by the end of this week. Be sure to subscribe to my channel to get updates on them.
Oh! And here’s some of the shit that motivated me during my first week back in the gym:
New Nails!
Speaking of my Spotify playlist, in which you’ll see two tracks from Nails…anybody here as psyched up for this new fucking album as I am?? I’m most likely going to do a review on it after a few hundred listens or whenever I’m ready to get it out of my car, or so long as it doesn’t cause me to get into an accident because it makes me drive too fast…whichever comes first.
And if you aren’t as ready as I am check out their video for “Savage Intolerance” here!
The FYE by my apartment better have this come Friday. I’d like to go see them in Philly on August 5th, I’ll just make sure I’m in the back of the room so I don’t die. I have a feeling it’ll be even more brutal than when I went to see Crowbar last year for sure.
One Last Thing
I made a small post about this last night but I’m looking for underground bands to review. If you’re reading this and you know of any extreme bands (death, black, grindcore, sludge, crusty sounding) that you feel should get looked at let me know in either the comment section below or private message me.
So last night I got a bit bored and looked at the music on my laptop and saw that I had the first three Megadeth albums – not that remixed shit either! Although I do in fact have the remixed 2002 re-release of Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good! along with the original. So I decided to start uploading my Megadeth albums on my YouTube channel, starting with the original version of Killing. Here’s the link:
Oh sure, Mustaine did a great job when this was remixed sixteen years later. But this isn’t such a bad job considering they blew half their budget on speedballs and needed an extra four grand just to finish the record and STILL make it sound so BRUTAL!
Final Pre-Meet Workout Notes
I did my final squat workout last Thursday leading up to my Powerlifting debut next Saturday. I pulled off 245lbs for a single, although if I wasn’t preparing for a meet I know could’ve hit more reps than that.
It was good but as I was starting my working sets leading up to that single I felt the bar press on my right rotator cuff so bad that it hurt for two more days afterward. I need to work on my shoulder mobility this whole week because I’ll be squatting with a 65lb bar at this meet, which I’ve never done before, and I sure as fuck don’t feel like getting injured next weekend.
Aside from working on mobility I’m not doing any training this whole week. It was a bit weird waking up today and NOT heading to the gym. I’ll definitely plan to film my lifts on meet day as well as take as many pictures as I can. I’ll be at the Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate Jersey Rumble on Saturday, May 21st 2016 at the Ramada Inn in Newark, NJ. I’m competing in the 198lb Amateur division and my wave starts at 2:30pm, although I’ll have to be there by 11am for weigh-ins and have the rules given to me at noon.
Last week I uploaded two albums on to my YouTube account, Morbid Angel’s Covenant, and Mercyful Fate’s Don’t Break The Oath. Just last night I added my all time favorite Iron Maiden album in it’s entirety, Piece Of Mind. Here’s the link:
First time I ever heard “The Trooper” on WSOU in 2001 it kicked my ass so hard. This is even MORE of what I needed in my search for ONLY the best shit because if I heard anymore shitty emo-punk or nu-metal depending on who I hung out with on that day I was going to throw myself against a barbed wire fence. I’m pretty sure I was the ONLY one in my school that had REAL taste in music. I don’t miss high school at all. As for Piece Of Mind goes, this to me is the album that, once and for all, established the blueprint to the Maiden sound. Yeah sure, they already had the epic songs before this but I feel like the great abundance of guitar harmonies on this album set the stage for nearly every band that came after them. I always felt like TheNumber Of The Beast is so fucking overrated. It’s really not that fantastic to me.
Powerlifting Progress
Today began my final week of training before my first meet on May 21st at the Ramada Inn in Newark, NJ. On the heavy week of 5/3/1 I hit my final PR of 320lbs. Since you’re only supposed to just hit the prescribed number of reps as you get closer to the meet I “just” hit one rep but I know I could’ve done more. This shit was TOO easy! But hey judge for yourself:
Too easy. Thanks to having nothing but C4 in my system at the time of this set I got a bit carried away and cursed at and even screamed at the bar when I was done, making my girlfriend think I was pissed. Hardly the case, but here’s some dialogue between me and her from after I finished:
Me: That was too easy!
Girlfriend: That screaming stuff is why you’d get kicked out of that other gym.
Me: Planet Fitness?
Girlfriend: Yep.
Me: Yeah? Well fuck Planet Fitness!
But seriously though, fuck Planet Fitness. Any gym that kicks a guy out of a gym for grunting while squatting 500lbs is NOT a real gym – and that’s a true story, by the way. I’ll never train in Planet Fag. I lift things up and put them down.
Here’s my entire routine for today:
Deadlift
125 x 5
155 x 5
185 x 5
255 x 5
285 x 3
320 x 1
Stationary Bike
10 minutes
50 calories burned
1.78 miles
Average HR: 115
The Ballad Of Ozzy and $haron
So I woke up this morning to the news Ozzy and Sharon are splitting, not because of drugs or alcohol. That alone is fascinating just because he drunkenly tried to kill her back in 1989. Too bad he didn’t get the job done! This time it’s because she apparently went through his cellphone and discovered numerous texts and calls to celebrity hair stylist Michelle Pugh, a woman more than two decades younger than Ozz.
I can’t say I’m too shocked. First off, if we all know anything about Ozzy we all should know he probably doesn’t even know how to operate his own phone just because he’s a dumb motherfucker. So how could he know how to delete his own history? Right? It’s one thing to just look at the phone bill when it comes in but THIS was just too easy because it’s Ozzy and he’s stupid as shit.
But more important than that, could anyone blame the guy? Look at pictures of $haron even in her youth and then look at Michelle Pugh. Hell, I’ll help you:
Look at that and tell me she’s not a cute woman. I dare you to tell me that’s NOT a major upgrade from $haron in the looks department alone. Hey, just maybe she’s even nicer than that witch. Sure, $haron may have saved Ozzy from drinking himself to oblivion after being booted out of Black Sabbath back in 1979, but it’s pretty much been documented for years that she’s a cunt. Maybe Ozzy wanted a break from $haron’s overbearing attitude. As of this writing he’s in a hotel in Beverly Hills.
But the truth is, in the end, they’ll get back together. He’s still a puppy that needs his master and she needs a source of REAL income. $haron herself recently admitted on The Talk that she caught him in bed with one of their kids’ nannies. So why didn’t she ditch him then? She said because she knew he was high as fuck at the time. So there you have it. She excused him them, she excused him when he nearly KILLED her and she’ll eventually excuse him for this, crawling back to each other in pure desperation, since neither of them know anything else at this point in their lives. So…no need to make a big thing about this.
A few posts ago I mentioned that I wanted to try and record a few songs I wrote a long time ago, using the Audacity program on my laptop. I finally did this past week, making my first very dirty sounding recording this past Thursday, and something much cleaner just yesterday…although the guitar solo for it’s a tad sloppy. But of course you can be the judge:
Since I just recently downloaded Microsoft Movie Maker I decided to upload two of my favorite CD’s, Mercyful Fate’s Don’t Break The Oath, and Morbid Angel’s Covenant, on to my page. I tried to upload “Miracle Man” by Ozzy as a test and that shit was immediately blocked worldwide. Lame.
You can check them out here:
Powerlifting Progress!
Today starts Week 2 of my final meet prep training for my Powerlfiting debut on May 21st. Here’s my workout for today:
Deadlift:
125lbs – 1 x 5
155lbs – 1 x 5
185lbs – 1 x 5
240lbs – 1 x 3
270lbs – 1 x 3
305lbs – 1 x 3
I spent 15 minutes on a stationary bike after I was done. I’d like to think that my going back to taking pre workout is a good chunk of the reason why I was able to pull 305 with NO BELT. C4: The official Cocaine of Pre Workouts. I also like to think THIS totally helped:
So Yeah I know I posted this a blog or two ago but this shit is fucking intense that it was in my head the entire time I was deadlifting. This shit rules. If you go on the actual YouTube page you’ll see a commenter predict that guitarist/vocalist Todd Jones is slowly becoming the next Phil Anselmo. I think he might be right!
I first read up on Shadows Fall in a brief one page Guitar World article in 2000, discussing the release of their newest album, Of One Blood, which featured the debut of vocalist Brian Fair. I’m pretty sure I still have that magazine in my attic somewhere in a big ass bin of old GW back issues….along with a shit load of Muscle And Fitness mags that I stole from my ex-job…several times. Those security guards were and probably STILL are dumb as SHIT. All these years later I can’t remember why it didn’t get my attention much in a time when Pantera was just a month away from releasing Reinventing The Steel, and shit rap-metal and pussy pop punk was king; but it was most likely because I read that they mixed thrash and death metal with rhythm guitar Matt Bachand’s love of new-age music. At that time I most likely too young or ignorant to understand the idea or even give it a listen to see how the band melded such styles together.
That changed two and a half years later, by which point I was a few weeks into my college career. They once again were featured in Guitar World, this time discussing their newest album, The Art Of Balance. This time around, the article focused on the fact that lead guitar Jon Donais actually shreds his ass off on the record. Both he and Matt discuss their love of all kinds of metal, as well as the fact that at that point in time the ONLY other guitarists known for TRULY shredding it up were Dimebag Darrell and Zakk Wylde. True story. So I was interested. Then, I started seeing ads for the album in magazines featuring quotes from these rave…and I mean RAVE…reviews, calling Shadows Fall “The Next Metallica”, on the heels of the fact that this CD was supposed to have such a purist, old school thrash feel. Ok…I was sold. So I went to Sam Goody, maybe around Christmas time, bought the CD, and my ass was instantly KICKED so hard. The riffage was very thrash. Jason Bittner’s drums were so precise and so freaking fast on his debut recording with the band, Brian Fair really did sound like Ride The Lightning – era James Hetfield. Then, there was those guitar solos. Jon Donais is an AMAZING lead guitar player. There are guys who shred to blow their load by showing off their knowledge of every scale known to man and there are guys like Jon who shred with aggression, technique…and feel. GASP!!! Not too long after this I finally heard Of One Blood and realized what I was missing out on because that record is even MORE brutal than The Art Of Balance!
Sometime in the summer of 2003 I was in a Hot Topic – the second to last time I ever went into one – and I found myself talking to the guy behind the counter, whose name I no longer remember. The discussion turned to musical styles. Around this time, the nu-metal/rap metal train was close to FINALLY crashing, but so-called hardcore with breakdowns that the kiddies would breakdance too was starting to become the new trend. This guy played in a band called Resin and they liked to do those breakdowns. Too bad. But he told me that his band would be opening for Chimaira and Shadows Fall within a month and he had to sell tickets (gee, I wonder where I heard that shit before) and of course I told him I’d go. They were practically THE only modern metal band I was giving the time of day.
So a month later my mom insisted on driving me to L’Amour on 63rd St, most likely because she was a sissy who couldn’t bare the thought of my taking car service there even though I had done it just three months earlier, when I was last there to see Superjoint Ritual. No sooner did I close the door to her car did I hear a voice yell out to me “Hey! I hear you don’t like beatdowns??”. I turned around there was all of Resin. In the middle was their gruff looking singer, who yelled out to me. To the left was the guy from Hot Topic…who clearly had a great memory! So we spoke for a few minutes and they gave me my ticket.
Going into the show, which was an Ozzfest ’03 off-date, the bill was once again HEAVILY booked by the idiot guineas that ran the place. I think the first band I remember seeing was this band of kids who did a cover of Sepultura’s “Roots Bloody Roots” that was played waaaaaayyy too fast. Even when I was that age I never understood why younger bands just need to speed up even those songs that need to be played a little slower. Is it nervousness? Is it lack of understanding of dynamics? The original tempo for the song was just right because it allowed Igor to put the right kind of groove in there and, more importantly, it allowed the heavy ass riffs to breathe. Most times, fast never equates to heavy. Heavy is not about tempo, or even volume for that matter. It’s about attitude. If you’re a young musician and you’re reading this, don’t ever forget this. Dynamics, more important than ANYTHING else in terms of songwriting.
While seeing this one band one the main stage, whose guitarist was clearly trying so hard to be Dimebag Darrell, I recognized Jon Donais standing literally feet away from me. I went over to him to discuss the band on stage because the guitar player was in fact really good and he put on the biggest smile and even gave me his full attention. That solidified to me once for all the humility of the underground guys. They were playing their first huge festival tour as The Art Of Balance was selling 100,000 copies, the first album in Century Media Record’s history to do so and they were still down to earth guys. I went up to Brian Fair after seeing Jon and he too was a cool guy. I saw a few more local bands including Full Blown Chaos yet again (and they sounded like shit yet again!) and Chimaira came out. Long story short: they sucked.
Shadows Fall went on around 10pm and, long story short: they blew Chimaira out of the fucking water within the first minute of being up there. Although that part wasn’t hard. They were so good, playing songs from the two most recent CDs.
The Setlist:
Idle Hands
Crushing Belial
The Idiot Box
A Fire In Babylon
Stepping Outside The Circle
Thoughts Without Words
Of One Blood
Destroyer Of Senses
Serenity
The show was fucking incredible…and I totally forgive Brian Fair for wearing a Clash t-shirt that night! At some point in the middle of the set, he asked us if we BOUGHT the new album and I’m pretty sure most of the crowd responded pretty positively…by which I mean horns in the air and loud chanting. You could tell it meant a lot; let’s face it, bands in his position NEVER sell 100,000 copies of a record or even make that in combined album sales. And that was a minor miracle compared to the success the band would see a year later! What I did NOT know about that night was that it would be my last time going to the original L’Amour for anything. They’d close down just over five months later in early February 2004.
Final Thoughts
Here’ a brief video of me squatting 235lbs for 6 reps without a belt last Thursday night.
I managed to pull this off without a belt and it was surprisingly easy. Starting this week I began final preparations for my first meet happening on May 21st in Newark, NJ. As of this past Sunday I’m focusing only on the big three lifts and light cardio, making my training sessions considerably shorter.
Ok. First things first: Anyone here see the new Nails video yet? No? Well here is the new video for title track to their upcoming Nuclear Blast Records debut, You Will Never Be One Of Us, coming out on June 17th.
…yeah…super brutal. And that was just a minute and a half – just imagine what the rest of this shit sounds like! If you’re a regular reader of my blog and you haven’t figured it out yet…yeah…I’m becoming a HUGE fan of these guys real quick.
First Ever Training Video
So today began week 3 of my current 5/3/1 cycle so I decided I want to go all out and see how many reps I can get at the last set of each big move – the Deadlift in this case. I managed to pull 310lbs for 6 reps. It’s a PR for sure, although I forgot to mention that I did pull 315 for 4 reps back in February. Here’s my routine for the day:
Deadlift
125lbs – 1 x 5
155lbs – 1 x 5
185lbs – 1 x 5
245lbs – 1 x 5
275lbs – 1 x 3
310lbs – 1 x 6
Leg Curl
60lbs – 1 x 10
90lbs – 1 x 10
120lbs – 1 x 6
This was all followed by 7 1/2 minutes on a stationary bike.
Here’s the video:
Much better than I expected. In fact my bodybuilder doppelganger Jon texted me back just now, telling me: “holy crap! I got winded just watching!!”. I plan to make a few more of these soon.
Been a little bit since I last wrote in here. Haven’t had the chance due to the grind of my shit job and training for my upcoming powerlifting meet for Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate on Saturday, May 21st. I began preparing for the meet yesterday morning. For this training I completely got rid of shoulder day, focusing just on the big three moves with a bit of assistance work and some conditioning. When I get to the point that I have three weeks left I’m removing the assistance work completely to focus JUST on the big moves…maybe some conditioning. I even started ordering some equipment including Rehband Knee Sleeves, which were delivered today, liquid chalk, which I should be getting tomorrow as well as a black singlet, which I’m supposed to be getting in a few weeks. So far the knee sleeves fit perfectly and feel very comfortable.
Yesterday’s Deadlift workout:
Deadlift:
125lbs – 1 x 5
155lbs – 1 x 5
185lbs – 1 x 5
215lbs – 1 x 5
245lbs – 1 x 5
275lbs – 1 x 5
Leg Curls
50lbs – 1 x 10
75lbs 1 x 10
100lbs – 1 x 10
This was all followed by ten minutes on a stationary bike which saw my heart rate go up to 170. The average HR for this time was 143.
I’d like to thank Nails and their 2010 album Unsilent Death for totally filling me with the rage needed to hit the gym yesterday. Ever heard Nails before? Holy shit they are fucking BRUTAL!
Final Thoughts
So I saw this the other day while looking at upcoming shows since the weather’s getting better and because the school year’s almost over, enabling me to go to lots of shows. I had to laugh! Speed Metal Dating? The description should read: “Come to Saint Vitus to find that special someone with so many daddy issues that you’ll never hate yourself again!” Tell me I’m wrong!
Had a damn good leg day this past Thursday. It was very energetic, I feel myself getting stronger all the time. 5/3/1 is the shit!
2/11/16 Training Log:
Squat
95lbs – 1 x 5
115lbs – 1 x 5
140lbs – 1 x 5
180lbs – 1 x 3
205lbs – 1 x 3
225lbs – 1 x 6
Leg Press
190lbs – 3 x 10, 10, 10
Dumbbell Side Bends
8lbs – 3 x 10, 10, 10
This was all followed by six Prowler Sprints using 90lbs. I’m looking to slowly increase up to fifteen sprints on Squat and Deadlift days.
I owe part of my energy to this!
I’d also like to thank the site of the red headed FAGGOT piece of shit that trains at my gym for getting on my nerves just by being there. Long story short, this asshole decided to be rude with me all because I didn’t realize last week that the dumbbell section was no longer crowded and I could move my duffel bag. “It’s just…common knowledge”, he blurted out like a jerkoff. If you’ve got nothing nice to say to a guy you don’t know from a hole in the wall then don’t say shit because that guy might just kick your ass. I decided to be the better man because I wanted to get my work in but the next time he opens his dumb fucking mouth I might just fuck him up or at least give him a nice warning. Although I’d love to see someone just shoot him is his face repeatedly – now THAT would be awesome!
The International Powerlifting Federation…you guys seriously need to get over yourselves, leave your office and go get some air, go meet a girl, buy a plastic doll that you all can share, something. Is attending the seminar of a guy who’s banned from the IPF for life really considered a form of association with the guy?
Quick back story: Ed Coan, considered the greatest powerlifter of all time, failed three drug tests with the IPF, the most prestigious powerlifting federation in the world, between 1985 and 1996 before finally being banned for life from the fed. So when Ed was getting ready to host a series of seminars in Sweden the IPF issued a really pathetic statement reminding both IPF lifters as well as their own staff members that they were not to attend Ed’s seminar or they would be banned for life/fired.
I don’t care what anyone says – that’s the dumbest fucking statement the IPF could give. So, as someone on YouTube said, should Silent Mike from Super Training Gym be banned from USAPL, which is affiliated with the IPF, because he and Mark Bell interviewed Ed for Power Magazine? Hey how about Stronglifts creator Mehdi Hadim? There’s a video of him training squats with Ed – should he not be allowed to lift in the IPF should he ever choose to compete? He’s banned because he fucked up – he wasn’t some junkie pro wrestler who killed his wife and kid, and then hung himself on his lat pulldown machine in his basement. Oops.
Confessions of an Angry Metalhead 