"DOUBT, the enemy?, or the motivator?"

In the last installment of Ground Zero, I spoke about 3 of the elements one can and will experience when using BFT training. Those three things were SHOCK, ANXIETY and PAIN. In this article I am going to explain how one can take doubt, a powerful enemy to any trainee and turn it into a friend. Instead of allowing doubt to defeat one in their quest for size, one may use it to motivate them. The same has been and can be said for fear, but that is another article all together. Self doubt has ruined many an athlete. They allow doubt to pollute their brain by asking themself some of the following:

"Am I good enough?", "Can I win", or "Is this too much for me to try?", these are but a few examples of self doubt. When considering this topic, I had to ask myself how this had anything to do with Trevor and my time in the gym. In the following article I hope you will see how doubt, in my case, on the day discussed was used to blast through a plateau, and how you the reader can do the same.

The day we will discuss is Trevor and my last chest workout. As usual it was a monday, but unlike the last monday, Trevor is now back to BFT. He was on a 3 week hiatus when I arrived in Vegas, but now on this monday is back to going through the realm of sanity in our quest for size. What is it about monday's? To most, monday represents the first day in a long work week, after a not so long weekend. Monday is the day that most things do go wrong in the week. I am not a fan of mondays, but I do love training chest and calves. Since arriving in Vegas, I have done my best to be early to the gym, but on this day I am about 5 minutes late. As I entered the gym, I could see Trevor crouching by the pec-dec, he seemed to be meditating. His eyes were closed and he was for the most part motionless. Upon reaching the machine, I was instructed to warm up. The machine was already maxed at 220 pounds. I cranked out a slow and controlled 10 reps and stretched for a minute. It was now time to go to work and that means loading up the pec-dec with an additional 320 pounds, bringing the machine to 550 pounds! That is the stack, with (4) forty-five pound plates, and (2) 75 pound dumbells balanced on the top. Trevor's ability to focus is something to be seen. He closes his eyes as he sits down on the machine and as he swings the handles around in front of him, his eyes open, glowing a golden color. His stare goes straight through me as he is preparing to rip every fiber in his chest wide open! With each rep, he stretches to a maximum at the rear and slowly squeezes the wieght together until the handles touch. After the handles touch, he squeezes his pecs together even harder. With each rep his color changes too, he has gone from red, to purple, and he spits a lot. Good thing I am not prissy about getting wet!, each time a rep is completed I get a wave of saliva! After the 6th rep, it is time for the forced reps to be done, I offer only enough assistance to get the rep done. Trevor does 2, and it is time to drop the weight. I unload the (2) 75's and take off (1) of the 45 pound plates, now the wieght is at 365 lbs. Again, Trevor methodically squeezes each rep, one, two, a third and he is spent, again I assist him through 2 more and we drop the wieght back to the stack. The stack being 220 pounds is rarely if ever used by others in the gym. I do not know if it is the weight being used, the groans that are coming out of Trevor, or the massive amount of spit hitting me, but a crowd has developed behind us. When most would justify a faster pace, Trevor actually slows his pace and squeezes each rep even harder to insure that every fiber in his pectorials is ripped apart. I offer little encouragment, in part to not disturb Trevor's set and second because I do not want a mouthful of spit, still frothing from his mouth! He has completed 5 reps and his chest is again failing, we perform two forced reps and it is time for the last drop. I drop the weight to what I think is 150, the numbers are faded and hard to read on this pec dec. Trevor loses no intensity despite the lowering of the wieght. He is still focused and still making every rep work for him. He is no longer just purple in the face, but his entire neck and upper chest are purple as each rep forces more blood to his pecs! Those watching are either laughing nervoulsy as they suspect his head will explode from his shoulders, or they turn away in disgust as they notice the soaking down I am getting! (just kidding about the soaking down). After 6 reps and 3 forced the set is done and Trevor falls from the machine, he is justifiably spent. The title of this article mentioned DOUBT, well, I am now doubting myself. Am I doubting my ability to train in this style, NO! Doubt is making me nervous about how much weight I will add to the pec dec. The stack is too easy, and I have done the four plates before. I load up the machine with (4) forty-five plates, but I do not load the 75 pound dumbells; I am doubting myslef! As I stand in fornt of the pec-dec, I know I can do more than what is loaded, but I do not act on it. Instead I begin my set, and as soon as I bring the handles around, I know I should have loaded more! Does this mean my set is ruined?, no, but it is a distraction as I try to focus 100% on making my chest grow! I perform 6-7 reps before Trevor must assist me through another 3, now the weight is lowered to 330 pounds. My chest is screaming due to the fibers pulling apart, but in the back of my mind I know I could have started with more! The 330 pounds feels heavy and I only get 2 before I need assistance, I only get two because instead of focusing 100% on the set, I am doubting my decision from step one! Trevor forced me to get another two before he rips off the other (2) forty-five pound plates. I am back to the stack and trying to regain my focus. In doing so I am making mistakes, I am allowing my elbows to drop which takes pressure off the pecs and transfers it to the shoulders. Trevor reminds me to keep the elbows up, and to focus. I perform another 4 reps and again 2 more forced before the weight is dropped, I am not sure what Trevor dropped it to, but it looks to be around 130 lbs. I manage to squeeze out another 7 and finish with an excruciating 3 forced. As I finish my set and feel my pecs throbbing in pain, I cannot help but me disappointed in myself for not managing first to maintain focus and second for not using the weight I should have. I remind myself that this is only the first exercise, and that we still have two more exercises to go. I will not allow doubt to ruin my training; if it ruins my training, it will surely ruin my day!

Now that we have finished with the pec dec, it is time for incline barbell press on the Smith Machine. The bench is set to only a slight angle, just enough to shift the pressure to the upper chest. This is an exercise that when done proper, can, in my opinion, yield tremendous gains on one's chest. It is my favorite exercise for the pec's. This is another exercise that attention must be paid to rep speed and control of the weight. I have witnessed many a lifter bounce reps off their chest in hopes of building shelf like pectorials. When training in the BFT style, reps are done in a zero momentum fashion to insure that every rep is ripping apart as many fibers as possible. Trevor is ready and we have loaded the bar to 455 pounds. I know that many out there will say, this guy does this much and that guy did this many, but you must witness these sets to appreciate them. When I say that our reps are zero momentum, I mean that the descent can take as many as 5-6 seconds, then after a 2-3 second pause on the bottom, a 3-4 second squeezing up of the positive part of the movement. This adds more intensity than many care to experience. It is truly a helpless feeling when after completing 6 reps, you are pushing as hard as you can on the bar only for it not to move; instead, it will start to sink back towards your throat! After saying all of this, on this day, Trevor thorws a monkey wrench into the works. Instead of starting with zero momentum, he starts his set with at least 8 if not more explosive reps. His rep speed is normal, up and down, not bouncing, but not as slow as I have been accustomed to. After doing the first reps like this, he then slows the bar to zero momentum reps. I hate to say it, but again, when many would end the set it is only beginning for those that follow BFT! Trevor does about 3 ZMR's (zero momentum reps) and then I assist with 1 forced rep. The weight is now stripped to 315 pounds and he continues with slow, controlled reps. He finishes another 3 and again I assist with 1 forced rep. The weight is dropped to 225, a weight that usually could be thrown through the ceiling, but after brutalizing his chest, Trevor is only able to manage 3 reps before stripping the bar to 135 lbs. At this weight, no matter how fatigued it is hard not to blast through the reps. Trevor slows the weight down on the negative and even has me lean on the bar at the bottom to increase the stretch on the pecs. He is able to do about 5, then the only weight left is the bar. This is where a training partner is involved in not only assisting on the forced, but in this situation making the negative a bitch to endure! Once the bar is pushed to the bottom with Trevor resisting, I lean on the bar and fight him on the way back to the top of the movement. He does 3 reps like this before waving the white flag and being forced to give in to complete pec failure. Having Trevor go first is always motivating. I have kept in mind that due to my doubting my abilities on the pec dec, I need to make it up here on this movement. During the past 3 weeks, I had to get used to the type of reps Trevor wanted me to perform. The reps are slower than I was used to, which made them more excruciating. The emphasis has not been on how much weight, but how much pain I could bring to the body part being trained. I have until this day kept the wieght on this exercise at no more than 365 to start. I need something today, I need to prove to me that I am not doubting my strength. There was a time when I could do 500 pounds for reps!, and here I am with only 365 lbs. on the bar. Today I load 405 pounds and know that this set is going to be my best set for chest since I arrived in Vegas. After a moment of psyching myself up, and allowing for Trevor to breath again, I start my set. I start straight into slower, controlled reps. I use no momentum off the bottom, I want each of these reps to count in a way that they have never counted! As my arms charge up and down like a piston; I am happy that the weight feels light in comparison to previous weeks with less weight. I am able to complete 5 reps on my own and almost a sixth before having Trevor and the other spotter help me to the top, I then do 1 forced and it is time to drop the wieght. The weight is dropped to 315 and by now my pectorials are really hurting. Pounding is a more precise description of each rep performed. I do only 2 with this weight and again force out 1 assisted rep. The weight is brought down to 225 and I cannot believe how heavy it feels! Understand that at this point, I am done, but done is not enough. With 225on the bar, I managed only 1 rep and that 1 had to be assisted. Once I locked out with 225, the bar was brought down to 135 lbs. Many would think that at this point I would start cranking out the reps?, not so. My motor skills are now beyond failing. My arms are twitching as I push the bar towards the ceiling. Two reps are performed and I can push no more. As my eyes start to open and re- adjust to the light, I hear Trevor tell the spotter to remove the weight, leaving only the bar. The bar!, hell, I can do the bar all day, no matter how tired I am! Sure, if I did not have a 370 pound freak leaning on it and yelling at me to keep pushing. That familiar feeling is returning; I want to jump up and plow a 45lb plate in to Trevors head!, but let's remember, he is HELPING ME. Allow me to paint this picture for you, Trevor leaning on the bar, telling me to keep squeezing, and of course pushing, yet nothing is happening. The weight is not moving, I only am managing to increase the pain I feel deep in my pecs. Well, on this day, the task master, or better described as Lucifer himself, allows me up after only 2 reps with the bar, Oh yeah!, and his 370 lbs. leaning on it!

This is normally when the chest workout would end, but Trevor has discovered a new way to finish. We go to the Hammer incline press, and do reps one arm at a time. This way, we can force even more blood into the muscle! My pecs are beyond swollen and I am trying to get even more blood into the muscle!this is why I train with Trevor. We do not do drops here, just as many as we can do with 2-3 forced reps. One set and it is finished! The pain of chest trainingis done for a week!, now it is on to calves!, but that is a whole other article and a whole other subject. That article may be called, "Not walking, how it feels..........."

There will be no more doubts for me, none. Since writing this, I have put all doubts to rest, and I continue to get stronger each workout. I have 13 weeks to do what I consider apart of my fate, become Mr USA. All the training that has been endured, and the other shows that have been competed in, lead me to that stage. July 26th, and 27th are my focus each day in the gym. I picture the stage, the way I will look, even the smell of the arena; there is no room for doubt in this picture or in my training.