While I have competed in numerous powerlifting meets and each one has something memorial to them, a significant amount of factors will keep this one in my brain’s database. This past weekend (3.23.13) I competed in the 39th annual USAPL Missouri State/Ozark Championships in St. Louis, MO.
The Meet Director, Rick Fowler and his staff did an amazing job, there was 110 lifters total. Two platforms were running and from the warm up equipment to the flights being projected real-time on the wall, it made it a great environment.
My training for this meet was the DUP protocol from Dr. Mike Zourdos, which has been amazing and challenging. Doing squats, bench press and deadlifts multiple times a week however has shown to be an effective way for me to train. Considering my last meet was in January and the amount of progress I made in 8 weeks, this has been an effective training cycle.
In addition to an intense training program, my recovery was crucial and I had Cindy McGuire from Hands on Sports Massage and Dr Tyler Molstre from True Life Chiropractic to help make sure my body stayed healthy and injury free. Supplementation was crucial and a majority of them came from the Scivation line, which has always been a core standby for me.
The training cycle did go great and I hit squat PRs each week for the final 4 weeks leading up to the meet. This was exciting, but also very mentally challenging. Maxing out on squats helped me find a new love of ice baths the night before. Also, I had some tendonitis, but a good dynamic warm up helped that along with some deep tissue work.
The day of the meet I weighed in at 161, which was well below my cut-off of 165lbs, but I have been dieting for my bodybuilding contest (more below on that). My two main goals was to hit a PR on squats, go 9 for 9 and hit a total PR, which I achieved all 3 of those things.
Squats started it off and I opened with 374lbs, which felt good, but not as solid as I was hoping. Always a little nervous on the very first lift of the meet (which is why you should open light). Second attempt I went up to 402, which was a 2lb PR over my last meet. This actually felt very light and I knew it was going to be a good day. The 3rd attempt I went to 413 as I wanted to nail it and a 13lb PR is a great thing! Got it with 3 white lights!
Bench press was interesting to say the least. Opened with 275, which was silly light, no problem. The second attempt was 297, or so I thought. I unracked it and as the video below shows, it took me awhile to stabilize it. I figured I just wasn’t set up right, so I got myself set and did the press, 3 white lights. However I looked back at the bar just to check and saw that there was a 15lb difference on each side of the bar! I pointed this out the the referees and they gave me the option of taking it again in 3 minutes or I could get credited with that lift, I chose to keep it as I didn’t want to waste any extra energy. At first they said it was less than what I wanted, so I was going for a conservative 3rd, but then they informed me that I actually had lifted more and had got what I was planning on for my conservative 3rd. That being said, I went for 314lbs on my 3rd and smoked it. Probably had 7-10lbs left in me, but can’t be upset by that.
Deadlifts were the last (as usual) and the one lift that is my strength but also the one I have the most challenge with getting 3 good lifts in (in fact never have). Opened with 462, went up easy, but listening too and seeing a head referee in front of you is always a change. For my 2nd, I pulled 496, which was less than I usually go for on my 2nd, but again, was shooting for a perfect day. On my last attempt, I had to go for a weight I was confident in but yet was an improvement, so I pulled 518, which was 3lbs over what I had at my Jan meet. Went up smoothly and was happy with that pull.
Clik here to view.
3rd attempt 518lbs
Here is the video:
Overall my total was 1245, which was a 30lb PR over my previous best meet wearing only knee sleeves for squats. So NOW my goal is to switch gears and compete in bodybuilding in July at the IFPA Pro USA in Sacremanto, CA. Of course, the secondary goal is to keep my strength as high as possible so that when I return to the powerlifting platform in the fall I don’t have to start by re-gaining a bunch of lost strength.
Huge thanks to my always supportive wife, who I couldn’t do any of this without. Also for my training partner, Mike Beiter, for pushing me each training day. Joe Symonds and Jerry Rodriguez for coming down with and helping along with the rest of the Team FPT gang!! Additionally, all of the Nutri-Sport crew for everything they do, our Team rocks!!!
Stay tuned to my training log and other social media channels to see the latest!
For more information on supplements, nutrition coaching or personal training in Des Moines, Iowa, email ryan@nutrisportFPT.com or visit either our Clive or Altoona locations, where you go for results and not a sales pitch!
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