I usually have all my training planned out weeks in advance. I have always had a "plan" but with my new interest in competitive powerlifting I have to be precise. I am usually on the verge of being over trained so it is important to stick to the plan. As my BFF Ellen Stein says "There is a reason behind every pound, every set and every rep... that's why I am a six time world champion and you all are injured".
When I saw on Randy Hauer's FB Page he was planning on doing a workout consisting of double snatch, overhead squat and sots press, I felt jealous! I haven't done a Sots press in months... I never practice them. I can't remember when I last did double snatches or double overhead squats. I certainly don't practice them either, but I wish I did. The problem is I have too many other weakness that I need to work on for powerlifting.
Squats were on the schedule for today. After training my competition squat at 80% and doing RDLs I was supposed to do Ham-Glute machine, abs and push-ups. I decided to stray from my training schedule... I gave the double swing, snatch, overhead squat and sots press a try.
I started light, double 8's, super easy. Double 10's, easy, double 12's, easy! Then I grabbed the 14kg, I was amazed I could actually get 5 reps in! Then I gave the 16kg a try, I managed to get 3 reps in before my form started to go. I had a great time trying something different. Don't forget to try something fun in your training!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Hudson Natural Open Powerlifting Meet
Finally, a decent meet. Here is how it all went down...
*Preparation - I trained a lot less hard for this meet than I did for the last one. I trained so hard and was so attached to doing well at the TCO, when I missed all my 3rd attempts I was crushed. I pouted like a jilted teenager for almost a week. Doing the Hudson meet was like getting back on a horse after being thrown to the ground. I was scared, I didn't really want to do it, but I knew I had to. I already gained a lot of strength training for the TCO with Matt Gary's program, all I had to do was maintain, so I took it pretty easy.
*Making Weight - This time I let myself gain more than I usually do. Last meet I was vigilant about sticking close to 123lbs. I let myself get up to 128lbs this time. In fact, I was weighing 128lbs on Monday, that is almost 5 pounds over my weight class of 123.2. I really had to cut weight hard this time. Anyone who thinks weight doesn't make a difference in strength, try cutting weight or try staying 5-8lbs below your "comfort" zone. Weighing more makes you stronger. I just barely made weight this time, I was actually weighed in at 123.4 this morning, I had to spit, sweat and pee out .2 pounds then weigh in again. Last meet I weighed in at 121.5, almost 2 pounds heavier this time. Two pounds make a difference.
*Squat - My plan was to go for the numbers I missed last meet. I opened with 230lbs, a little heavier than I would have liked to open with, but I wanted to keep my jumps small. Three white lights, easy lift, even one of the judges commented on my great form. Second attempt was 245lbs, I was feeling nervous because of the debacle from TCO, my form wasn't as pretty, but it went up easy. Third attempts was 255lbs., I was feeling pretty nervous, and again my knees rolled in a little, but the weight still went up with hardly a sticky point at all. 255 was a pr!
*Bench Press - My nemesis... I just don't understand how I can press a 53lb kettlebell anytime I want, but still cannot bench press my body weight. I even got some coaching from Angela Simmons. I opened with 105lbs... easy. Second attempt was 115lbs. moved slower, but went up no problem. Third attempt - 120lbs; got stuck 1/2 way up and failed. I nailed 121lbs at the Twin Ports Meet in June, but have not put up 120 since... I am really sick of sucking at the bench press. My yoga teacher William would say I am lucky, the bench press is my guru and I will learn by having such a profound weakness to work on.
*Deadlift - My most unpredictable and frustrating lift. Last year at the Hudson meet I pulled 280lbs, but missed 290lbs. I got some coaching from Shawn Cain in preparation for the Arnold Sports Festival back in February. Shawn fixed my form and I ended up pulling 315lbs at his gym. Since then I have competed in 3 meets, my best pulls were; ASF - 308lbs (missed 319), TPO - 281lbs (missed 303 and 308), TCO - 303 (missed 314). So, finally it is official, I can pull 315lbs in a meet. I think I even shouted FINALLY after I put the bar down.
Summery - I do not like to compete. I like doing well in competition, but preparing for a meet sucks, I had nightmares about missing weigh-ins all night. I don't like taking a week off, I don't like scaling back on my kettlebell training, I don't like worrying about my weight. Mark Reifkind has given me a ton of help training for powerlifting, we both agree that meets get in the way of our training, which is the fun part. I actually decided to not go to the Arnold this year. I learned that competition is stressful, I am going to have to limit the number of meets I do.
*Preparation - I trained a lot less hard for this meet than I did for the last one. I trained so hard and was so attached to doing well at the TCO, when I missed all my 3rd attempts I was crushed. I pouted like a jilted teenager for almost a week. Doing the Hudson meet was like getting back on a horse after being thrown to the ground. I was scared, I didn't really want to do it, but I knew I had to. I already gained a lot of strength training for the TCO with Matt Gary's program, all I had to do was maintain, so I took it pretty easy.
*Making Weight - This time I let myself gain more than I usually do. Last meet I was vigilant about sticking close to 123lbs. I let myself get up to 128lbs this time. In fact, I was weighing 128lbs on Monday, that is almost 5 pounds over my weight class of 123.2. I really had to cut weight hard this time. Anyone who thinks weight doesn't make a difference in strength, try cutting weight or try staying 5-8lbs below your "comfort" zone. Weighing more makes you stronger. I just barely made weight this time, I was actually weighed in at 123.4 this morning, I had to spit, sweat and pee out .2 pounds then weigh in again. Last meet I weighed in at 121.5, almost 2 pounds heavier this time. Two pounds make a difference.
*Squat - My plan was to go for the numbers I missed last meet. I opened with 230lbs, a little heavier than I would have liked to open with, but I wanted to keep my jumps small. Three white lights, easy lift, even one of the judges commented on my great form. Second attempt was 245lbs, I was feeling nervous because of the debacle from TCO, my form wasn't as pretty, but it went up easy. Third attempts was 255lbs., I was feeling pretty nervous, and again my knees rolled in a little, but the weight still went up with hardly a sticky point at all. 255 was a pr!
*Bench Press - My nemesis... I just don't understand how I can press a 53lb kettlebell anytime I want, but still cannot bench press my body weight. I even got some coaching from Angela Simmons. I opened with 105lbs... easy. Second attempt was 115lbs. moved slower, but went up no problem. Third attempt - 120lbs; got stuck 1/2 way up and failed. I nailed 121lbs at the Twin Ports Meet in June, but have not put up 120 since... I am really sick of sucking at the bench press. My yoga teacher William would say I am lucky, the bench press is my guru and I will learn by having such a profound weakness to work on.
*Deadlift - My most unpredictable and frustrating lift. Last year at the Hudson meet I pulled 280lbs, but missed 290lbs. I got some coaching from Shawn Cain in preparation for the Arnold Sports Festival back in February. Shawn fixed my form and I ended up pulling 315lbs at his gym. Since then I have competed in 3 meets, my best pulls were; ASF - 308lbs (missed 319), TPO - 281lbs (missed 303 and 308), TCO - 303 (missed 314). So, finally it is official, I can pull 315lbs in a meet. I think I even shouted FINALLY after I put the bar down.
Summery - I do not like to compete. I like doing well in competition, but preparing for a meet sucks, I had nightmares about missing weigh-ins all night. I don't like taking a week off, I don't like scaling back on my kettlebell training, I don't like worrying about my weight. Mark Reifkind has given me a ton of help training for powerlifting, we both agree that meets get in the way of our training, which is the fun part. I actually decided to not go to the Arnold this year. I learned that competition is stressful, I am going to have to limit the number of meets I do.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
TCO Powerlifting Meet
Here is how it all went down...
Getting into my weight class was a breeze! Again, I stuck close to my weight class, so I didn't have much to cut. I was constantly weighing in at 125lbs for the past week. That is less than 2lbs from the weight class I compete in; 56kg or 123.2lbs. I weighed 123 exactly last night right before bed time, and weighed in at 121.7 this morning at the meet. I had a calm, relaxing day on Friday. My BFF Tracy Reifkind is in town visiting this weekend, we had time to visit and ate lunch together. I slept well and felt really good when I woke up. I had a ton of snacks packed, weigh-ins and equipment check went smoothly.
Best of all I had Aaron by my side. The last meet I did 3 months ago I was on my own. It is very nice to have someone running numbers, timing my warm-ups, and generally watching over my well-being. Having him along at meets is a real luxury!
*Squat - I started warming up at 9am, lifting started almost on time at 9:35. Warm-up went exactly as planned. I smoked 220lbs, my first attempt. I smoked 237lbs. My third attempt 253 never came up. I went down, came up about 1/4 of the way, then crumbled like a sand castle. I'm not sure what happened.
*Bench Press - Warm-ups went well. 105 went up easy. 115lbs got one red light from a side judge for a "belly bench". This was pure BS. I had a chalk line from the bar on my singlet that was clearly on my sternum, which I pointed out the red lighting judge, it didn't make any difference, the lift was good with 2 white lights. I guess the red light shook me up a little because I missed 121lbs. I missed it because I brought the bar too high and was out of my usual groove. Mental note; don't change your groove to make one fussy judge happy. This would have been a white light anywhere else including National Meets. Sometimes judges are wrong and you still have to live with it.
The bad news is I am feeling discouraged because I am having a terrible meet. So far I have no squat pr and I couldn't even tie my last pr on the bench press from 3 months ago. Good news is I haven't lifted anything heavy yet, so I should have a ton of energy left over for the Deadlift.
*Deadlift - This is usually where I crash. Today, my energy is good despite feeling extremely disappointed with how things have been going. My last warm up at 260 felt heavy and my back is now starting to tighten up. I opened at 281lbs, which flew up and felt better than 260. My second attempt of 303lbs. went up alright, but felt like a challenge. I may have missed my groove a little. My third attempt 314 simply stuck to the floor.
As you can imagine I am extremely disappointed with every lift. I don't really know what went wrong. I felt like I had a good training cycle, plenty of rest before hand and a good plan for the meet itself. At least I got all my second attempts this time, I have had meets where the only lift I get is the opener. I would have to say the only meet that went worse than this one was Raw Nationals. There is another meet in 6 weeks, back to the drawing board, blow it up and start over with a new plan.
Getting into my weight class was a breeze! Again, I stuck close to my weight class, so I didn't have much to cut. I was constantly weighing in at 125lbs for the past week. That is less than 2lbs from the weight class I compete in; 56kg or 123.2lbs. I weighed 123 exactly last night right before bed time, and weighed in at 121.7 this morning at the meet. I had a calm, relaxing day on Friday. My BFF Tracy Reifkind is in town visiting this weekend, we had time to visit and ate lunch together. I slept well and felt really good when I woke up. I had a ton of snacks packed, weigh-ins and equipment check went smoothly.
Best of all I had Aaron by my side. The last meet I did 3 months ago I was on my own. It is very nice to have someone running numbers, timing my warm-ups, and generally watching over my well-being. Having him along at meets is a real luxury!
*Squat - I started warming up at 9am, lifting started almost on time at 9:35. Warm-up went exactly as planned. I smoked 220lbs, my first attempt. I smoked 237lbs. My third attempt 253 never came up. I went down, came up about 1/4 of the way, then crumbled like a sand castle. I'm not sure what happened.
*Bench Press - Warm-ups went well. 105 went up easy. 115lbs got one red light from a side judge for a "belly bench". This was pure BS. I had a chalk line from the bar on my singlet that was clearly on my sternum, which I pointed out the red lighting judge, it didn't make any difference, the lift was good with 2 white lights. I guess the red light shook me up a little because I missed 121lbs. I missed it because I brought the bar too high and was out of my usual groove. Mental note; don't change your groove to make one fussy judge happy. This would have been a white light anywhere else including National Meets. Sometimes judges are wrong and you still have to live with it.
The bad news is I am feeling discouraged because I am having a terrible meet. So far I have no squat pr and I couldn't even tie my last pr on the bench press from 3 months ago. Good news is I haven't lifted anything heavy yet, so I should have a ton of energy left over for the Deadlift.
*Deadlift - This is usually where I crash. Today, my energy is good despite feeling extremely disappointed with how things have been going. My last warm up at 260 felt heavy and my back is now starting to tighten up. I opened at 281lbs, which flew up and felt better than 260. My second attempt of 303lbs. went up alright, but felt like a challenge. I may have missed my groove a little. My third attempt 314 simply stuck to the floor.
As you can imagine I am extremely disappointed with every lift. I don't really know what went wrong. I felt like I had a good training cycle, plenty of rest before hand and a good plan for the meet itself. At least I got all my second attempts this time, I have had meets where the only lift I get is the opener. I would have to say the only meet that went worse than this one was Raw Nationals. There is another meet in 6 weeks, back to the drawing board, blow it up and start over with a new plan.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Training Up-date
No new messages posted lately, but I have been training hard. Lots of changes for me this training cycle. The meet I am preparing for is the Twin Cities Open, September 19. Here are some highlights...
Probably the biggest change for me was training time. Business has picked up for me and I have been working early in the morning, I needed to start training during the day instead of at night. This meant not training with my long time training partner; Bench Press Champion Maura Shuttleworth. The good news is I had a lot more energy in the morning, bad news is training without Maura is lonely.
I have been getting some direct coaching from Matt Gary of Supreme Sports Performance and Training. Matt has me using the Conjugate Method. Mark Reifkind suggested this method way back when I first started messing around with powerlifting. I was simply overwhelmed, I didn't really "get" how the Conjugate Method worked. I needed someone to spell out exactly what I needed to do, and that is what Matt did. Training under the guidance of a coach is invaluable! I have learned more from the coaching I get powerlifting than I can express. I used pistols as one of my conjugate exercises. It's one of my "show off" moves, I eventually worked up to 28kg X 2/2.
Bench Press - Still a weak lift for me and challenge. Getting tight and staying tight is what I am trying to focus on.
Squat - Going well! I like this lift and Matt has me doing a much different volume/weight scheme. Here is a video for your viewing pleasure...
Deadlift - I will be deadlifting heavy for the last time before the meet on Monday. Deadlift is a hit and miss lift for me. My best pull is 315lbs, done in Tarman's basement. My best meet pull is 308lbs done at the ASF in March, I missed 319lbs. I had an extremely disappointing pull in June at the TPO meet. So, who knows, hopefully things go better this time.
Probably the biggest change for me was training time. Business has picked up for me and I have been working early in the morning, I needed to start training during the day instead of at night. This meant not training with my long time training partner; Bench Press Champion Maura Shuttleworth. The good news is I had a lot more energy in the morning, bad news is training without Maura is lonely.
I have been getting some direct coaching from Matt Gary of Supreme Sports Performance and Training. Matt has me using the Conjugate Method. Mark Reifkind suggested this method way back when I first started messing around with powerlifting. I was simply overwhelmed, I didn't really "get" how the Conjugate Method worked. I needed someone to spell out exactly what I needed to do, and that is what Matt did. Training under the guidance of a coach is invaluable! I have learned more from the coaching I get powerlifting than I can express. I used pistols as one of my conjugate exercises. It's one of my "show off" moves, I eventually worked up to 28kg X 2/2.
Bench Press - Still a weak lift for me and challenge. Getting tight and staying tight is what I am trying to focus on.
Squat - Going well! I like this lift and Matt has me doing a much different volume/weight scheme. Here is a video for your viewing pleasure...
Deadlift - I will be deadlifting heavy for the last time before the meet on Monday. Deadlift is a hit and miss lift for me. My best pull is 315lbs, done in Tarman's basement. My best meet pull is 308lbs done at the ASF in March, I missed 319lbs. I had an extremely disappointing pull in June at the TPO meet. So, who knows, hopefully things go better this time.
Monday, July 6, 2009
New Training Cycle and PR
I am finally able to press the 24kg. I have not been specifically working toward a 24kg press, but I have been wanting to press that pig for a long time. Every month or so I give the 24kg a try... suddenly I can press the 24kg, no problem. I have pressed it 5 times now. Twice on the 4th of July before we left to spend the weekend with Aaron's parents. Today, Monday I have pressed it 3 times. I can't get a double in yet, but I feel like that should come soon. I haven't been able to press it with the left arm either... only on the right side so far. Here is something for your viewing pleasure.
In other news, I have a new training cycle mapped out specifically for me by Matt Gary. Yep, I am finally going to get serious about powerlifting. Matt coaches Team Quest as well as his wife Sioux-z Hartwig-Gary. I know I am going to learn A TON from working with Matt. My cycle is "Shieko Like". I can't wait to see what happens with my strength. I was inspired by Becky Rich who is training with Wild Iron in California; she just put 20lbs on her squat, 17 pounds on her Bench Press and 13 pounds on her deadlift. WOW!! That is amazing improvement. I want those kind of numbers! Check out Powerlifting Watch!
Friday July 3 I did a max effort deadlift day. I was able to pull 305lbs, no problem... but missed 315lbs. I was still just too tired from meet in Duluth and the long drive. My back really tightened up on me after our drive up to Alexandria. Not a nice feeling. This happened to me a few years ago when I first learned how to dl. Deadlifting + Long drive = sore back.
Also, a bench press. Not my strength, but getting better. Long monkey arms; but I do have a great arch. Check it out if you feel like you need a laugh...
In other news, I have a new training cycle mapped out specifically for me by Matt Gary. Yep, I am finally going to get serious about powerlifting. Matt coaches Team Quest as well as his wife Sioux-z Hartwig-Gary. I know I am going to learn A TON from working with Matt. My cycle is "Shieko Like". I can't wait to see what happens with my strength. I was inspired by Becky Rich who is training with Wild Iron in California; she just put 20lbs on her squat, 17 pounds on her Bench Press and 13 pounds on her deadlift. WOW!! That is amazing improvement. I want those kind of numbers! Check out Powerlifting Watch!
Friday July 3 I did a max effort deadlift day. I was able to pull 305lbs, no problem... but missed 315lbs. I was still just too tired from meet in Duluth and the long drive. My back really tightened up on me after our drive up to Alexandria. Not a nice feeling. This happened to me a few years ago when I first learned how to dl. Deadlifting + Long drive = sore back.
Also, a bench press. Not my strength, but getting better. Long monkey arms; but I do have a great arch. Check it out if you feel like you need a laugh...
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Duluth Twin Ports Powerlifting Meet
Just got home from Duluth, learned A LOT, just like I do at every meet. Here is how it all went down...
Making Weight
I stuck pretty close to my weight class since competing at the Arnold in March. I did need to cut a pound and a half, which was really pretty easy. I woke up this morning weighing 122lbs, which is almost 1 pound under. Great news, that means I can drink coffee on the drive up to Duluth.
Travel Time
Maura Shuttleworth and I decided we didn't want the expense of a hotel room in Duluth, so we drove the 2.5 hours this morning. That meant we had to leave at 4:30 am. I got up at 3am, which isn't that different than my usual 4:30-5am wake up call. No biggie.
Maura drove her Mustang, which was pretty nice for me, but a two and a half hour drive, no matter how nice the car or how great the company is still awful. By the time Maura and I got to Duluth we were hungry and thirsty and all we wanted was to eat and drink.
* No more long drives the day of the meet. Had to learn the hard way.
We got weighed in right away, which was really nice. I had about an hour to eat, drink and get rack heights. Chit chat with some of the other lifters. Relax from our drive.
Squats
Time to start warming up for Squats. I had my warm-ups and first two attempts all planned out. I was feeling very prepared. About 10 minutes into warm-ups, there was a meeting to explain the rules, which lasted 20 minutes. I don't usually take 20 minutes of rest between lifts. The extra long rules meeting left the first flight of 10 lifters about 10 minutes to finish warming up, before lifting began. This didn't seam right to me, so I complained. We got an extra 5 minutes. When I finally found out I was 9th in the line-up, I decided to take my last warm up when the first lifter was called. That seamed to workout pretty well, except the next flight stripped my weights. Thank you Sid Reid for reloading for me!
My first squat was 226lbs. Easy, just how it should be. Great choice. Second attempt was 242lbs, my Meet PR from the Arnold in March. I had squat 240lbs lots of times in the gym, I was feeling very confident. The confidence was a mistake, 242lbs felt heavy and went up slow. My plan was to go for 253lbs, which would have been an overall PR, but the slow moving 2nd attempt forced me to choose 248lbs instead for a Meet PR. I absolutely smoked 248lbs. I instantly felt regretful for not choosing my original weight of 253lbs. Oh well, better to start a meet strong with a small pr.
*Treat every lift seriously! Trust your training cycle! This is the second time I felt regretful for choosing a smaller third attempt on squat.
Waiting
This was a 4 flight meet of 43 lifters. Instead of dividing up the meet into two sets of two flights, (a morning session and afternoon session), the four flights ran consecutively. This left me with about an hour and half to rest up for bench press.
Bench Press
Bench Press is my weakest lift. Luckily Pavel gave me and Ellen Stein a private bench press lesson in April when I was an RKC Assistant. He showed me a technique to use my lats more. I really felt like I made an improvement form what I learned. I felt like that training cycle went really well, until two weeks ago. My last heavy bench press workout went terribly. This left me feeling worried... but I had Mike Seigler (who has a 600lb raw bench @ 242lbs) lifting off for me. I opened with 99lbs - super easy. Next was 110lbs - again, super easy. 3rd attempt was a all time pr of 121lbs, which also flew up easily! I think I might have even had 126lbs in me that day.
*A terrible workout two weeks out is no sign of how things will go down in a meet.
More Waiting
Another 1.5 hours between bench press and deadlift. I snacked on food I brought from home, plus two Famous Dave's Pork sandwiches. Now I have a headache, and my back is starting to tighten up. I am seriously running out of gas. Plus it is hotter than hell in the venue. Mike Seigler is sweating just standing next to me.
*Long meets are a challenge for me... I have to figure this one out somehow. I don't normally eat food like Famous Dave's (sugary sauce, white bread, preservatives, stabilizers, etc.), better to stick to my food I got from home.
Deadlift
I start warming up for deadlift as the big guys are finishing up on the bench press. Almost all warmed up, then I find out there will be a 10 minute brake between bench and deadlift. Wow, that would have been nice to know a little earlier. The 10 minute break turned into a 20 minute break... sheesh. I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I planned to open with 281lbs, I already pulled 265lbs, (which felt heavy), my back is achy, my head is throbbing. I decide I am better off just not lifting any more and reserving what little energy I had left.
My first pull at 281lbs was a train wreck. I have a grip and rip style which is great when you hit your mark... well I missed my mark... by a lot. I ended up re-gripping and pulling so ugly I got one red light from Shawn Cain. Shawn coached my deadlift when I was preparing for the Arnold back in February. I'm not sure what the technical error was, maybe the red was for sheer ugliness. Second attempt at 303lbs was nailed to the floor, I had no juice left. Three weeks ago I pulled 300lbs for two easy singles. I felt like I had 319lbs in me. Third attempt was no better, I move up to 308lbs, which I pulled easily at the Arnold in March. I am stuck with my opener of 281lbs, what a colossal disappointment.
*I really thought my Deadlift cycle went well... a great workout 3 weeks out is no guarantee of a good performance.
This meet was disappointing to me, but I'm not discouraged. Disappointments like this are fuel for change, growth and learning. I KNOW I can overcome the fatigue of a long meet. How do I do that? Other lifters didn't have this problem, it is just a matter of figuring it out.
I had a chance to talk to Shawn Cain, who was side judge, about what went wrong with my deadlift. In short... bad setup, bad execution. I also had Mike to get feedback from. Plus Maura and I had 2.5 hours to talk over the meet. Learning from other lifters is invaluable.
*It pays to know a judge and have friends to talk to. Competition is a learning experience.
I placed 2nd in the women's class by Wilks formula. Now I have a big ugly trophy reminding me of the wrong turn this meet took. I don't regret going... it was a learning experience.
Making Weight
I stuck pretty close to my weight class since competing at the Arnold in March. I did need to cut a pound and a half, which was really pretty easy. I woke up this morning weighing 122lbs, which is almost 1 pound under. Great news, that means I can drink coffee on the drive up to Duluth.
Travel Time
Maura Shuttleworth and I decided we didn't want the expense of a hotel room in Duluth, so we drove the 2.5 hours this morning. That meant we had to leave at 4:30 am. I got up at 3am, which isn't that different than my usual 4:30-5am wake up call. No biggie.
Maura drove her Mustang, which was pretty nice for me, but a two and a half hour drive, no matter how nice the car or how great the company is still awful. By the time Maura and I got to Duluth we were hungry and thirsty and all we wanted was to eat and drink.
* No more long drives the day of the meet. Had to learn the hard way.
We got weighed in right away, which was really nice. I had about an hour to eat, drink and get rack heights. Chit chat with some of the other lifters. Relax from our drive.
Squats
Time to start warming up for Squats. I had my warm-ups and first two attempts all planned out. I was feeling very prepared. About 10 minutes into warm-ups, there was a meeting to explain the rules, which lasted 20 minutes. I don't usually take 20 minutes of rest between lifts. The extra long rules meeting left the first flight of 10 lifters about 10 minutes to finish warming up, before lifting began. This didn't seam right to me, so I complained. We got an extra 5 minutes. When I finally found out I was 9th in the line-up, I decided to take my last warm up when the first lifter was called. That seamed to workout pretty well, except the next flight stripped my weights. Thank you Sid Reid for reloading for me!
My first squat was 226lbs. Easy, just how it should be. Great choice. Second attempt was 242lbs, my Meet PR from the Arnold in March. I had squat 240lbs lots of times in the gym, I was feeling very confident. The confidence was a mistake, 242lbs felt heavy and went up slow. My plan was to go for 253lbs, which would have been an overall PR, but the slow moving 2nd attempt forced me to choose 248lbs instead for a Meet PR. I absolutely smoked 248lbs. I instantly felt regretful for not choosing my original weight of 253lbs. Oh well, better to start a meet strong with a small pr.
*Treat every lift seriously! Trust your training cycle! This is the second time I felt regretful for choosing a smaller third attempt on squat.
Waiting
This was a 4 flight meet of 43 lifters. Instead of dividing up the meet into two sets of two flights, (a morning session and afternoon session), the four flights ran consecutively. This left me with about an hour and half to rest up for bench press.
Bench Press
Bench Press is my weakest lift. Luckily Pavel gave me and Ellen Stein a private bench press lesson in April when I was an RKC Assistant. He showed me a technique to use my lats more. I really felt like I made an improvement form what I learned. I felt like that training cycle went really well, until two weeks ago. My last heavy bench press workout went terribly. This left me feeling worried... but I had Mike Seigler (who has a 600lb raw bench @ 242lbs) lifting off for me. I opened with 99lbs - super easy. Next was 110lbs - again, super easy. 3rd attempt was a all time pr of 121lbs, which also flew up easily! I think I might have even had 126lbs in me that day.
*A terrible workout two weeks out is no sign of how things will go down in a meet.
More Waiting
Another 1.5 hours between bench press and deadlift. I snacked on food I brought from home, plus two Famous Dave's Pork sandwiches. Now I have a headache, and my back is starting to tighten up. I am seriously running out of gas. Plus it is hotter than hell in the venue. Mike Seigler is sweating just standing next to me.
*Long meets are a challenge for me... I have to figure this one out somehow. I don't normally eat food like Famous Dave's (sugary sauce, white bread, preservatives, stabilizers, etc.), better to stick to my food I got from home.
Deadlift
I start warming up for deadlift as the big guys are finishing up on the bench press. Almost all warmed up, then I find out there will be a 10 minute brake between bench and deadlift. Wow, that would have been nice to know a little earlier. The 10 minute break turned into a 20 minute break... sheesh. I'm not really sure what to do at this point. I planned to open with 281lbs, I already pulled 265lbs, (which felt heavy), my back is achy, my head is throbbing. I decide I am better off just not lifting any more and reserving what little energy I had left.
My first pull at 281lbs was a train wreck. I have a grip and rip style which is great when you hit your mark... well I missed my mark... by a lot. I ended up re-gripping and pulling so ugly I got one red light from Shawn Cain. Shawn coached my deadlift when I was preparing for the Arnold back in February. I'm not sure what the technical error was, maybe the red was for sheer ugliness. Second attempt at 303lbs was nailed to the floor, I had no juice left. Three weeks ago I pulled 300lbs for two easy singles. I felt like I had 319lbs in me. Third attempt was no better, I move up to 308lbs, which I pulled easily at the Arnold in March. I am stuck with my opener of 281lbs, what a colossal disappointment.
*I really thought my Deadlift cycle went well... a great workout 3 weeks out is no guarantee of a good performance.
This meet was disappointing to me, but I'm not discouraged. Disappointments like this are fuel for change, growth and learning. I KNOW I can overcome the fatigue of a long meet. How do I do that? Other lifters didn't have this problem, it is just a matter of figuring it out.
I had a chance to talk to Shawn Cain, who was side judge, about what went wrong with my deadlift. In short... bad setup, bad execution. I also had Mike to get feedback from. Plus Maura and I had 2.5 hours to talk over the meet. Learning from other lifters is invaluable.
*It pays to know a judge and have friends to talk to. Competition is a learning experience.
I placed 2nd in the women's class by Wilks formula. Now I have a big ugly trophy reminding me of the wrong turn this meet took. I don't regret going... it was a learning experience.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Week of Rest
Even though I haven't been a good blogger, I have been training for a powerlifting meet. I have been trying to put all my programing research to use. I made a spread sheet based on percentages, factored in rest, reps, and assistance work. I had to make a few adjustments, but stuck to the plan for the most part.
The most difficult part for me is trusting the program, waiting until the meet to test a 1RM. I like to KNOW I can make the lift before I try it in a meet, but that isn't how it works. You are not supposed to test your lifts before you try them in a meet. In fact, you aren't really supposed to lift more than 90% of your 1RM in training.
Right now I am supposed to be resting and getting ready for the meet. Because I teach kettlebell classes, I have to do a few swings, snatches, cleans and squats everyday, but I am keeping the weight low, and trying to back off a little. Everyone has to move, and kettlebell movement is normal everyday activity for me, so that shouldn't interfere with my preformence at the meet.
Goals for this meet; getting more comfortable in competition. I am what you call a "gym lifter". That is someone who does better in the gym than in a meet, that is no good. I'm not a natural preformer, I have to practice competing to get better at it. This will be meet number 5. After competing at The Arnold, the little Duluth meet should be cake...
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