First training session with my new Titan Fury 34
As soon as it got here, Gilson said: “too big”. It was my first Titan Fury and it was 36. He said: “I told you… I told you it was 34, you insisted in that sissy conversation with them, giving them your measures and all…now it’s big”. I felt embarrassed, but I actually couldn’t totally believe him. The shirt felt really wonderful. Finally, he looked at me and said: “ah… well… good to start getting used to shirts, anyway. Let’s go.” With that “big” shirt, I lifted 72,5kg officially and did a 75kg lift that went invalid in the South American Championship – but it did go up with power. A 82,5kg lift almost did so too, but I couldn’t finalize it. So: it WAS BIG, but it helped.
With time, however, it became too big and loose. In my last three championships, this was very clear: first, it fits wonderfully in my friend Erica, who is bigger than I am about 3 or 4kg – maybe not arms, but certainly chest. Second, it became too easy to fit and it “looked” big. Third, I noticed my carry-over plummeting: my raw lifts were getting better and nothing happened to my equipped lifts. Then, in my last championship, the one I was really sick and small from diarrhea, I noticed I was doing raw lifts with the shirt. My love story with that shirt was over: time to let go. I said good-bye to it, sadly (it was a very good companion), and gave it to my friend Edilanio. I had already ordered a 34 shirt and my sister would be receiving it soon, and then sending it to me in Brazil.
It arrived last week and I was really happy: finally, I would be doing equipped lifts again! When I got to the gym and exhibited my new toy, everybody looked suspicious: “will this little thing fit you, monster?” My god! Did I get too big in the last week?? Another friend looked and said: “I think they are manufacturing smaller 34s”. No: I will resist these comments. I remember well the first times I used any shirt – it felt weird. I remember fainting at the National Deadlift Championship because of a bad fit with my suit. Which I dress alone today. And I remember seeing male friends squeezing each other into unbelievably small shirts – they DO FIT, always. And this one would.
It did. The question was: will the bar go down? I did a couple of sets with lighter weights and loaded the bar with a still light, but hopefully “lowable” weight of 65kg. I pumped it a few times half-way and started finding the chest point to lower it. No way: I felt like I was doing up-side-down rows and couldn’t manage to get the bar right. I was not going to lose it though: I think I insisted with that weight, “watered” the seams and asked the guys to fit my deltoid better about 10 sets until I finally did it. Got the right chest point. So I started adding weight: 70kg, pumped a few half-lifts and then 2 or 3 sets of about 3 or 4. Then Gilson said: “enough with the pumping business: get down to it. Full lifts or nothing.”
I did one with 72,5kg – easy as hell. Another one with 75kg: up as a rocket. Gilson said he expected our work to finish at about 85kg. However, I suddenly felt VERY sleepy and tired. I looked at the couch and all I wanted was to curl up there and rest. When I went for the 80kg, it went up, but I didn’t finalize it. There was no energy left to fuel it. I did curl up at the couch until Renatinho, my workout-buddy, finished his part and then we left. I never slept so well in my life as I did that night.
Great shirt!
