This is my workout buddy, Thiaguinho. He is also a good friend, accomplice in many declared and undeclared projects, bodyguard, patient listener and surrogate son. Thiaguinho is 21 yrs old, 1,95m high and weights 140kg. I am actually unaware that he is this big (or that I am this small), except when I look at pictures.
People stare at us wherever we go – big guy, small woman, both muscular, carrying a heavy bag and wearing training clothes. We are really stared at, though, when we eat together in public places. We eat quite a large amount of food, I guess. We’d say it is a satisfying amount, but I admit it is a lot of food.
We spent a few days at our friends’ place in Igarapava and came back yesterday. One of them is a bodybuilder. One day Thiaguinho asked me:
-          Ma, bodybuilders eat much less than us, right?
-          Well… not necessarily…
-          But Braulio doesn’t eat too much. On a second thought, neither does Caramello.
-          Bro, the fact is, I think, that WE eat too much. YOU eat too much because you are too big and I… well, because I have a big roundworm inside me that needs to be fed.
-          You’ve got a Power-Roundworm.
-          Yup.
Still at Igarapava, during a pretty scatological conversation, Braulio asked:
-          (Braulio) So, how many times do you use the bathroom?
-          (me) I’d say around six.
-          (Braulio) Per week?
-          (me) Per day.
-          (Braulio) Wow! I do it once a day.
-          (me) Ah… So, you have constipation?...
-          (Braulio) No, I’m normal.
-          (Thiaguinho) We are normal.
We are normal, for hard training powerlifters. We have a very active digestive life. We also have a very intense training regime. Besides the fact that Thiaguinho is involved in my new sports social project, our training style matches perfectly.
Loads are a problem, but we manage. Above 40% of his bench press load, I start having problems passing him the bar and then I ask for help.
We still don’t have our own training facility, which I think will be ready in the beginning of next year. Until then, we do most of our training at a gym nearby and for a heavy day, we go to Nautilus at Santo Andre. We have been avoiding the hostile environments that we left a few months ago.
We surprised everyone with our recent performance at meets. At the city of São Paulo, the few gyms with powerlifting teams and equipment are IPF and I want nothing to do with them after their backstabbing and hostilities against me. So my brand new team was expected to perform miserably – nowhere to train properly, small team, no team sponsorship. Yet, we not only won, but broke records and made very decent participations.
I owe that to both of them: Thiaguinho and Brisa.