official zest power gym thread

[jaegermeister08]

thank you sir eddie and bchemist for the clarification. i actually feel a pang of pain in my back when i'm near my 1RM doing squats and deadlifts. i should have one nearby in case i'm gonna do my "heavy set." i also see some guys who wears their belts when they are doing incline/decline bench press, leg press and hack squat.

by the way, what exercise/s is best to improve my grip? i'm doing some forearm curls (and reverse) in high reps and i also try to hold on to a 50lb. plate for each hands. does this in anyway improve my grip strength?

[Eddie Torres]

thank you sir eddie and bchemist for the clarification. i actually feel a pang of pain in my back when i'm near my 1RM doing squats and deadlifts. i should have one nearby in case i'm gonna do my "heavy set." i also see some guys who wears their belts when they are doing incline/decline bench press, leg press and hack squat.

by the way, what exercise/s is best to improve my grip? i'm doing some forearm curls (and reverse) in high reps and i also try to hold on to a 50lb. plate for each hands. does this in anyway improve my grip strength?

You can be creative in making grip exercises. Here is one example:

Get 2 bars, one much shorter than the other. Put both of them in a power rack. You’ll need 4 rack pins for this (2 per side about 2-6 inches apart, depending on your hand size). Place the longer bar on the lower pin and the shorter bar on the upper pin. Put some weight on the longer bar. The weights should be placed in the bar only up to a point where the plates will not hit the short bar if the long bar is raised. Now grip both bars with both hands by placing your thumbs on the upper bar and your 4 other fingers on the lower bar.

You strength can be measured and you can add small increments as you improve.

A few tips in doing this exercise:
1. Use thin bars, not Olympic bars. The portion of the Olympic bar that prevents the plates from going all the way in is too thick. That portion will severely minimize your range of motion

2. Place the pin heights at a comfortable level. It should be high enough so that you don’t bent over too much. It should also be low enough so that you don’t have to bend your wrists.

3. Ideally, the upper pins should be thin so that you can have a greater range of motion.

I would suggest you do this exercise 2 ways: do reps, and also do isometrics.

During our drinking sessions, we have guys in Zest who can tear phone books (yup, even the thick ones), and bend a beer crown between the thumb and pointer by placing the crown near THE EDGE of these 2 fingers, not near the palm (the other 3 fingers are folded in to prevent them from helping). Hmm, maybe we should place videos of these “feats” on our website.

[jaegermeister08]

yes sir eddie, it would be nice to see those feats.. lol

and you might wanna put those max outs of your guys and gals out there... most i see in youtube are foreign guys.. and a few tips/tricks maybe like the one above not necessarily the "secrets" to your success. just the general stuffs that most of us regular guys can probably do.

[Eddie Torres]

yes sir eddie, it would be nice to see those feats.. lol

and you might wanna put those max outs of your guys and gals out there... most i see in youtube are foreign guys.. and a few tips/tricks maybe like the one above not necessarily the "secrets" to your success. just the general stuffs that most of us regular guys can probably do.

Search for "Zest Power Gym" in youtube. You should see a lot of our competition max-lift videos, from our semi-beginners to our veterans (local & international competitions included).

[Eddie Torres]

The 2007 International Powerlifting Federation world rankings have come out. We are proud to highlight that the 4 highest ranked Filipino powerlifters all come from Zest.

The highest world-ranked Filipino we have is #6 in the Women's 82.5 kg class (#2 in Asia) with a powerlifting Total of 1,187 pounds (squat + bench press + deadlift)

The next highest world rank we have is #20 in the Men's 100kg class (#1 in Asia) with 1,791 pounds

We also have #29 in the Men's 56 kg class (#7 in Asia) with 1,052 pounds & #30 in the women's 52 kg class (#6 in Asia) with 749 pounds.

[Eddie Torres]

Saw this 2-minute "Balitang Sports" video on youtube last night regarding a courtesy call by 2 of our lifters after the world masters championships a couple of months back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAeWRGNr_ng

[dphx]

Hello peeps! Anything up at Zest?

[Eddie Torres]

Hello peeps! Anything up at Zest?

I just got back from Thailand Sunday night. I was the coach for the 6-man RP powerlifting team (100% Zest trainees by the way) that competed in the ASEAN Paragames. Bench shirts are not allowed here so our lifters did their lifts raw.

Here are the highlights:

Our female lifter in the 40 kg (88 pound) class benched 132 pounds to get the silver medal. She lifted 143 pounds, which was higher than the current ASEAN record, but a minor technicality (non-simultaneous lock-out) got her red lights. The gold medal went to a Vietnamese lady who broke the ASEAN & Asian records with a lift of 160 pounds (almost double bodyweight)

Our heavier lady won a gold & benched a new ASEAN record in her weight class. She lifted 253 pounds. How many men can even do this?

Our 121 pound male lifter benched 303 pounds (2.5 times bodyweight) for the bronze in the 123 pound class. Competition was fierce as medalists (and non-medalists) were outlifting each other with every attempt. Silver medal got 308 while 4th place got 297 pounds.

In total, we got 1 gold, 2 silvers, 2 bronzes.

Our next competition will be this weekend at the new Robinsons Otis. It will be the Sub-Jrs, Jrs, Masters, Class B, Novice, and Special (autistic) Athletes National powerlifting championships. Competition starts at around 12 noon. Everyone is invited to watch. Free admission

[jaegermeister08]

whoa! those guys and gals are friggin' strong for their weight! what's the weight of that woman who benched 253 pounds, sir eddie?

[Eddie Torres]

whoa! those guys and gals are friggin' strong for their weight! what's the weight of that woman who benched 253 pounds, sir eddie?

She's in the 82.5+kg class, probably weighs around 200 pounds. Big girl indeed. She has a poor diet but that's her choice. She eats/drinks anything that tastes good. She could become more efficient if she would be disciplined with her diet.

Some guys would be too embarrased to lift when they see her benching 200 pounds for 10 reps.

[jaegermeister08]

wow, she's one strong lady, alright!

anyway, sir eddie, how do you properly spot a person doing squats? well, i'm a little concern cos sometimes when i squat something heavy like top my max, it feels like things could go wrong somewhere.. i saw the pictures at zest (i think its you) where a few guys actually were there behind to watch over you complete the routine.. how about for an ordinary gyms (like mine but i wouldn't exchange for a classy fitness center like FF or SW) where you can only have a buddy to help you out? how are they supposed to assist?

many thanks!

[jaegermeister08]

wow, she's one strong lady, alright!

anyway, sir eddie, how do you properly spot a person doing squats? well, i'm a little concern cos sometimes when i squat something heavy like top my max, it feels like things could go wrong somewhere.. i saw the pictures at zest (i think its you) where a few guys actually were there behind to watch over you complete the routine.. how about for an ordinary gyms (like mine but i wouldn't exchange for a classy fitness center like FF or SW) where you can only have a buddy to help you out? how are they supposed to assist?

many thanks!

[Eddie Torres]

wow, she's one strong lady, alright!

anyway, sir eddie, how do you properly spot a person doing squats? well, i'm a little concern cos sometimes when i squat something heavy like top my max, it feels like things could go wrong somewhere.. i saw the pictures at zest (i think its you) where a few guys actually were there behind to watch over you complete the routine.. how about for an ordinary gyms (like mine but i wouldn't exchange for a classy fitness center like FF or SW) where you can only have a buddy to help you out? how are they supposed to assist?

many thanks!

Even with a spotter, i would suggest you do your heavy squats inside a power rack. The spotter behind you should have his hands ready to catch your chest (hands going under your underarms near the waist area).

If you can have 2 extra spotters on the sides, it would be much better. The side spotters should have their hands right below the bar, not on their waist, throughout your repetition.

The lifter also has a responsibility not to dump the weight, which could land on your spotters' feet if you are not in a power rack. If you fail to complete the rep, you must help the spotters return the weight to the rack.

[jaegermeister08]

thanks for the tip sir eddie.. i'm taking notes here...

by the way, what supplements do you suggest for strength & recovery?

or,

how about this: what supplements do you take, sir?

[Eddie Torres]

thanks for the tip sir eddie.. i'm taking notes here...

by the way, what supplements do you suggest for strength & recovery?

or,

how about this: what supplements do you take, sir?

I cycle creatine. I just had a competition last weekend so I’m off creatine now. I will start to take it again in about a week or two. I take it after training by mixing it with whey protein.

I also take glutamine.

And finally, vitamins/minerals too

[dphx]

Sir Eddie, do you often drop by the Gym? If so, what time would be the best?

[Eddie Torres]

Sir Eddie, do you often drop by the Gym? If so, what time would be the best?

Today is the last day of my one week rest. I'll be in Zest tomorrow to start training again. I'll be there around 7:30pm

[Eddie Torres]

Our next competition will be this weekend at the new Robinsons Otis. It will be the Sub-Jrs, Jrs, Masters, Class B, Novice, and Special (autistic) Athletes National powerlifting championships. Competition starts at around 12 noon. Everyone is invited to watch. Free admission

Highlights of the results of Zest lifters in the above competition:
13 Asian Masters records surpassed
1 Asian Open record equalled
9 Philippine Open records broken
19 Philippine Masters records broken
1 Philippine Sub-Junior record broken
1 Philippine Novice record broken
6 Best Lifters (MVPs)

Examples of the unbelievable lifts made were a 330-pound squat & 203-pound bench press by a 113-pound girl who turns 40 this year

[jaegermeister08]

congratulations sir eddie! you guys at Zest keep achieving quite unbelievable feats there... please share naman how you guys are able to do those lifts.. would really like to know

[Eddie Torres]

congratulations sir eddie! you guys at Zest keep achieving quite unbelievable feats there... please share naman how you guys are able to do those lifts.. would really like to know

It's fairly easy (but not simple) to get strong. You can PM so that i can ask you more specific questions & make recommendations.