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.