Category: Powerlifting Meets

This is the same meet I did last year where I totaled 1409 @ 285 pounds. Going into this meet, I had several goals. I wanted to set squat, deadlift and meet PRs at a body weight of 275, while totaling around 1460.

I ended up weighing in at 270. Guess I cut back on a few too many eggs over the past couple weeks.

Squat:
1st – 220 kg (485 lbs) – Good
2nd – 237.5 kg (523.6 lbs) – Good
3rd – 240 kg (529.1 lbs) – Good

I got to the meet at 9 for the rules meeting, and didn’t start lifting until almost noon. They had some issues at the judges table with computers and what not. I moved around as much as possible and stretched, but sitting in bleachers for a couple hours doesn’t exactly help the back, hehe. Wanted to do 529 for my 2nd, but things started tightening up on my left side, so went a bit conservative. I knew it would be a long day, so I didn’t want to kill myself on the first lift.

Bench Press:
1st – 127.5 kg (281.1 lbs) – Good
2nd – 137.5 kg (303.1 lbs) – Good
3rd – 142.5 kg (314.2 lbs) – Miss

I had low expectations for my bench. I really just wanted to get back over 300 in a meet, which I did, so that is good. I kind of got lucky that the front judge didn’t catch the left side of the bar dip, the side judge certainly did. Got away with one there. On the 3rd attempt, I went for 314. I figured that even if I didn’t get it, recording a max attempt in that environment would give me a good idea on what I really need to work on during the next training cycle.

Deadlift:
1st – 262.5 (578.7 lbs) – Good
2nd – 275 (606.3 lbs) – Good
3rd – 277.5 (611.8 lbs) – Good

By this time of the day, the groin was less than pleased, but things still moved well. There were two platforms going, so they moved us to the 2nd platform since the women had long since finished. This meant they were doing loading charts and attempts manually. Normally, when you go up to lift you can look up at the screen where info is being projected. I asked for 617 on my 3rd lift, but they loaded it for 611. Didn’t notice until after lifting was done. The guy that went after me asked for 628, which would have been a PR for him, but instead ended up pulling 622. Oh well. These things happen.

Progress:
This meet last year: 1,409 @ 285 – 361.87 wilks
This meet this year: 1,443 @ 270 – 374.59 wilks

Overall:
Today was a really good day. I might not have hit my goal for a total, but I did set the PRs I was looking to, and still totaled pretty good. I also took 2nd place in my weight class.

The Meet
11th annual Ironworks Open (USAPL)
This is my third time doing this meet. The previous two years were awesome. They were in a nice convention center with plenty of seating and the warm up area was right near the lifting platform.

This year, it held in a small gym with no A/C, and the warm up area was down a flight of stairs in the basement.

The weigh-in, equipment check and rack heights were supposed to be from 7:00-8:00am, but the people running the meet were walking in the door right at 7:00. We didn’t start anything until 7:15. For rack heights, they did squat first, and had everyone go single file until all squat rack heights were done before they would start the bench rack height. Which would have been fine but there were still people strolling in at 7:30. Lifting was to start at 9:00, and the people who traveled had to get back to their hotel rooms to eat and get ready, but we were still messing with rack heights at 8:00. It was a hot mess.

Weigh-In
I was 285 lbs at my last meet in March, and I wanted to compete in the 264 weight class for this one. I weighed in at 261.6 lbs. I was able to drop 23.6 lbs in 5 months, so I started the day with a win.

Squat
I was able to do 485 in the gym 3 weeks prior to this meet, so I was hoping to get at least that. My 2nd attempt went so well, I jumped to 496. On my 3rd, the spotter grabbed my chest right as I came out of the hole. You can see in the video after he touches me, I shake my head. My friend was one of the side judges, so I asked him what happened. He said he had no idea. Oh well.
1st – 205 kg (451.9 lbs) – Good lift
2nd – 215 kg (474 lbs) – Good lift
3rd – 225 kg (496 lbs) – Bad lift

Bench Press
I did 300 in the gym 3 weeks back, and my opener went up good, so I went for 303. Not even close.
1st – 125 kg (275.6 lbs) – Good lift
2nd – 137.5 kg (303.1 lbs) – Bad lift
3rd – 137.5 kg (303.1 lbs) – Bad lift

Deadlift
After the Bench Press, I was feeling gassed, so I decided to lower my opener from 529 to 507, just to be safe. The guy at the table said pretty much everyone lowered their openers. In fact, so many people lowered their deadlift openers, it delayed the first flight of lifters while they got things adjusted in the computer. Anyway, I did 555 in the gym, and figured that would be the goal for the day so I could end on 3 whites.
1st – 230 kg (507.1 lbs) – Good lift
2nd – 245 kg (540.1 lbs) – Good lift
3rd – 252.5 kg (556.7 lbs) – Good lift

Overall
Squat – 215 kg (474 lbs)
Bench Press – 125 kg (275.6 lbs)
Deadlift – 252.5 kg (556.7 lbs)
Total – 592.5 kg (1306.2 lbs)

I didn’t do as well as I wanted to, but this was the first time I’ve lifted in a meet at this weight, so I have a benchmark to build off of going forward. I look at it this way, I did this meet last year and totaled 1300.7 @ 277 lbs, so totaling 1306.2 @ 262 is still better

Did my 3rd meet yesterday. It was an interesting one. ABBRx hosts an annual bodybuilding show/fitness expo, and this year they decided to add a USAPL meet to the day’s events.

The setup of the lifting area was nice, in a high school gym so there was bleacher seating so everyone could see what was going on. The warm up area was just the school weight room, which looked like it was recently dredged from the nearby river. Also, the spotters and loaders were volunteers from the local college track and field team, so they had to be instructed and reminded frequently of proper methods.

Anyway, I had two goals. Get a 1,400 total, and hit a 600 lb deadlift. Happy to say, I did both. Side bonus, I went 9 for 9 on my lifts, and I finally benched over 300 in a meet.

Squats:
451.9 – 485 – 501.6

Bench:
275.6 – 303.1 – 308.6

Deadlift:
529.1 – 273.2 – 600.8

I totaled 1,409 at a bodyweight of 285.

Did my 2nd meet today. Went better than expected honestly. My back was still tweaked, and I was sick at the beginning of the week. I weighed in at 277.

Squat:
1st: 208 kg (458.5 lbs) – Good lift, felt light
2nd: 227.5 kg (501.5 lbs) – Bit rough at the end, but got it
3rd: 232.5 kg (512.5 lbs) – Not even close. Bounced out of the hole, dropped right back in, lol
End result: 60 lb increase from last year

Bench:
1st: 117 kg (257.9 lbs) – Good lift, surprised how quick this went up.
2nd: 130 kg (286.6 lbs) – Good lift, this one went up easy too.
3rd: 137.5 kg (303 lbs) – Stalled about an inch from lockout. I debated between 296 and 303 for a while, figured what the hell. Would have had the 296 for sure.
End Result: 11 lb increase from last year

Deadlift:
1st: 205 kg (451.9 lbs) – Good lift, my back was not happy with me today though
2nd: 220 kg (485 lbs) – Good lift, back even more unhappy
3rd: 232.5 kg (512.5 lbs) – Good lift, did the bare minimum for a 1300 total
End Result: 37 lbs less than last year.

Overall: 3rd out of 6 in the SHW class.

Squat was right where I thought it would be. Very happy with that. I kicked myself for going with 303 over 296 on the bench, but no big deal. I know I can get there in no time. The deadlift was a disappointment. Last year I pulled 550 at this meet, and up until 2 months ago I was pulling 570+. My total was 1300.7, but I feel ok about calling it 1301, lol. I hit a personal goal of squatting 500+, and I totaled 1300 for the first time.

On January 5th, 2013, I could only squat 175 lbs, bench press 200 lbs and deadlift 280 lbs (655 total).

Today I competed in my first powerlifting meet, the Ironworks Open.

Squat: 440 lbs

Bench Press: 275 lbs

Deadlift: 550 lbs

Total: 1265lbs.

I added 600 pounds to my total. Not too shabby for 7 months of training if I do say so myself 🙂