11.23.2004 Meet Results

I competed in the USAPL Baltimore Liftsgiving event on November 23. My first USAPL competition, which uses a stiff bar for deadlifts instead of a deadlift bar. 

Weigh in: 107.6kg/237lbs

Top Lifts
Squat: 210kg/463lbs (28lb meet PR)
Bench: 132.5kg/292lbs (5lb meet PR)
Dead: 245kg/540lbs (tied stiff bar PR and by default a meet PR)

Total: 587.5kg/1295lbs

8/9 overall. Failed my third bench attempt of 137.5kg/303lbs. This would have been an all time PR.

I’m thrilled with the results overall. 5 pounds away from 1300 in a meet, which is pretty cool. I will surpass that mark in my next competition.

Bonus PR: My cousin has a home gym with some DB's that go up to 70 pounds. On Thanksgiving we each hit a rep PR on Incline DB Bench with the 70's. I did 22 reps and he did 20. (My previous best was 21 and his was 15.) 

Modest Rep Maxes

SSB Squats: 308/10

Incline DB's: 100's/6, 105's/3

* First time ever attempting the 105's on incline. 

New Deadlift PR

Hit a 561 pound deadlift PR on Saturday. Pretty cool.  This will likely be my last PR as a 46 year old, as my birthday is in late August. (though, ya never know)

Regardless, I have 3 years to hit what I will call my age 50 goals: 500 squat, 315 bench, 600 deadlift

Currently, my bests are 480-300-561.

That may not look like a long way to go on paper, but I progress extremely slowly. I will keep fighting, but I am also not the guy that's gonna hit a random 20 pound PR out of nowhere.

#roadto1400

Belated Meet Recap

I neglected to post the results of my latest powerlifting meet, which occurred on April 21.

Better late than never:

Weight class: 110kg (242 lbs)
Weigh in: 107.6 kg (237 lbs)
Masters 45-49 years old

8/9; missed the first squat attempt for depth

Top lifts:
435 squat (5 pound meet PR)
287 bench (11 pound meet PR)
551 deadlift (FL state record for age/weight class) (5 pound meet PR)

1273 total

I had a lot of fun and am happy with the results. I wanted the 435 squat to be my second attempt, but since I got called for depth on my opener, I tried that same weight again as my second just to make sure I got it. 

I'd like to compete again in 2024.. possibly November. 

300 Pound Bench Press!!!!

Here's a post I never thought I'd write......I am now a proud member of the 300 club!!!!

I had no thoughts of benching 300 pounds when I woke up this morning. However, we had a great atmosphere at the gym today and I was feeling pretty good, so on the advice of someone who knows what he's doing, I gave it a shot. It moved surprisingly well. So much so that I will probably try 305/310 before year's end. 

It has been a very long journey to get here and there were many times where I thought that this day wasn't in the cards. To say I am pumped is an understatement.  

Cool 5RM on deadlifts today, too, @ 500 lbs.

480 Squat PR

I forgot to post this, but I had a nice 480 pound squat PR on August 12.

My progression was 365-405-430-460-480.   The rep at 430 was OK, but 460 flew, so I felt pretty confident with 480.  That ended up being probably a RPE9. I may have been good for 485/490, but I was happy enough with 480 that I stopped there.  The road to 500 is getting shorter and shorter.

Current lifetime numbers:  480-295-555

295 Bench PR

I forgot to post this on July 4... hit a sloppy touch and go bench PR @ 295.  After failing that weight probably 6 or 7 times, I'm thrilled!  

300 is getting close......

Impromptu Deadlift PR

Today's session was bench press and deadlifts, without anything specific planned for deadlifts.

To bury the lead, benching went well...I worked up to a legitimate pause @ 285 lbs., which I think would have been a good lift in a competition setting.  I followed that up with 205/14, which is a 15 pound increase over my previous 14RM and a 5 pound, 2 rep increase over my previous 12RM.

On to deadlifting....425 felt super easy, so that made me think that I'd pull 500+ today. 465 flew. 505 was solid enough that I decided to load the bar with 535. It went up surprisingly fast. My PR at this point was 546, so I decided to put 555 on the bar.....and it was good for a 9 pound PR!

I had a goal to hit a PR in something by my 46th birthday in late August, so it's awesome that the goal was achieved with a lot of time left.

Maybe a bench PR on the horizon?

Nice Bench 5RM

255/4 (4RM), followed by 255/5 (5RM).  After doing two more sets of 3, I hit 265 for a 4 second pause.  I've been benching essentially every workout these days and my body is continuing to respond. Maybe this is the year I finally hit 300. 

Huge Trap Bar Deadlift PR

Haven't tested this in a while... last PR was 551 in November 2021.

Today, I was good for 590!! That is the most weight these hands have ever held.. pretty cool.

285 Pound Paused Bench Press

The 285 pound paused bench press attempt was successful tonight, good for 9 more pounds than what I managed at the competition two months ago. Not too shabby.

I also hit 350/4 with SSB squats, which represents a modest 4RM.

Two Rep Maxes

Bench: 225/11 (tied 11RM)

SSB Squat: 340/7

Random Things

Bench: I just completed a cycle of Smolov Jr. to get my bench press kick started again.... ended up getting a pretty fast touch and go 280. I'm going to try a paused 285 next week just for fun. I've learned that I respond to high volume,  so I am going to keep it up for a few months and then see if I can maybe get that elusive 300...... 

Deadlift: I've been playing around with hook grip lately and pulled 520 the other night. I like how the reps feel over mixed grip with the exception of how much the thumbs hurt at the top. Multiple rep sets are especially painful. If I am going to quit mixed grip, which I think I am, the happy medium will be doing multi rep sets with straps and singles with hook.

Squats: Hit a SSB PR tonight @ 405.

Planks: been doing a 2:00 minimum plank every day for the last 4 days.... going to "keep it continue", as Sammy Sosa would say, for the foreseeable future.

Goals.... hit a PR in one of the big three by my 46th birthday, which is August 25.

Competitions......considering one in November, but too early to say for sure.

Recent Rep PRs

I've had a few rep PRs on various exercises over the past couple of weeks:

Squats: 365/7

Incline DBs: 70's/20, 95's/6

DB Shoulder Press: 85's/4

Trap Bar Deads: 530/4

Trap Bar Deadlift Fun

Had some fun with trap bar deads tonight:

160/5, 250/5, 340/5, 430/3, 480/1, 520/1, 560/0, 430/5, 430/10 (10RM)

560 would have been a 9 pound PR...it slipped out of my hands near the top. If I used chalk, I think I would have been good for it. 

My previous 10RM was 406 two years ago, so not bad there.

2023 Steel Mill Iron Showdown Results

I competed in my second ever full powerlifting meet on March 18, 2023 at Steel Mill Fleming Island in Florida. It was a USPA drug tested competition run by USPA South Carolina.

I ended up coming away with Florida state records in my age and weight class for the squat, bench press, and deadlift. (110kg, age 45-49)

Squats: Opened with 408, which qualified for the record. I then failed two consecutive attempts at 435. That was pretty frustrating because I’ve done that weight and more many times in the gym. The first failure was due to up and down movement. I am not really sure why I failed the second time. It may have been because of slight knee movement prior to racking the weight. It looked like a good rep to me on video. Shrug. 

Bench: I was good on all three attempts: 254, 270, & 276. Nailing that 276 in competition was pretty exciting and it represents an 11 pound meet PR. 

Deadlift: Also successful in all three: 485, 513, 546. 485 flew and 513 was also fast. Based on that, I decided to wing it and try an all time PR @ 546. Three white lights and a 22 pound meet PR resulted.

State Records:

Squat: 408

Bench: 276

Deadlift: 546

Special thanks to my wife for supporting me and for driving up and back to be my handler and to take videos. Another special shout-out to our babysitter for helping us out big time!

I’d also like to mention the various folks I’ve met in Florida that have encouraged me to give this sport a try. There is no way I would have ever done this if I never walked in to Power Strength Gym in Orlando some 5 years ago.

Iron Revolution, Week 7, Day 3

Last true session before the meet next Saturday.

Deadlifts (3x1)

465/1,1,1 (all three moved slow)

GHR (5x10)

Pull Ups (50; assisted pull up machine)

Triceps Pushdowns (3x35)

Ab Wheel (3x10)

* I was not in love with how deadlifts moved today, considering I'd like to open in the 485-495 range. Overall, I'd rate this meet prep as subpar. My all time PRs, 475-290-540, do not appear to be in play next week. However, maybe I can set some new meet PRs, which currently sit at 430-265-524.

Tomorrow, I will set up my squat and bench press openers, then do a super light session on Wednesday, and then off we go on Saturday. 

Iron Revolution, Week 7, Day 2

Squats 

395/2

Paused Speed Bench (3x3, 60%, 45 seconds rest)

165/3x3

Shoulder Press (3x3, machine)

Good Mornings (5x5, SSB)

185/5, 205/5, 215/5, 215/5, 215/5

Chins

50 total reps

JM Press (5x8)

75/8, 80/8, 85/8, 85/8, 85/8

Hanging Leg Raise (3x10)

9 days out!!

Iron Revolution, Week 7, Day 1

Bench (1x2, 90%)

250/2 (both reps flew... this will probably be my opener)

3-5 Board Bench (3x3)

265/3, 270/3, 270/3

Shrugs (4x12)

Barbell Rows (5x5)

185/5, 195/5, 205/5, 215/5, 225/5

Single Arm Farmers Walk

4x25 yards each hand

100 lb. DBs

Iron Revolution, Week 6, Day 3

Paused Speed Squats (8x2, 55%, < 60 second rest intervals)

260/8x2

Bench Press (3x1,85%)

235/1,1,1

Deadlifts (3x1)

485/1, 505/1, 515/1

   *All three reps were solid.

GHR (5x8)

Pull Ups (45; assisted pull up machine)

Triceps Pushdowns (3x30)

Russian Twists (3x30 seconds each)