If you had bombed out you would not have gotten a total and would not have won your division. [/quote]
Joe, you lost me. What aren’t what?[/quote]
Participation ribbons. You have to be successful at at least one of each type of lift attempted to place. So if you had struggled with the technical aspects and been red-lighted, you would not have received your medal or ribbon. Even more difficult in a 3-lift meet as the squat and bench have many more command to screw up.
Got it. I realize that had I blown all 3 attempts, I would have got nothing. I’m proud that I got white lights, it was my goal. What I was trying to say was that no one should be mislead by the “First Place” labels. That implies that I outlifted the others, and I didn’t. The only people who lifted less were some of the women and the pre-teen boys. Everybody else lifted way more than me. They gave me plaques and I’m glad, but I’m still a weakling.
OK, they had the article on building arms. God knows my arms are so thin any change would be for the better. Of course, I’ve worked them for decades, but I can always try something new.
dumbbell bicep row
15 x 25
25 x 10
25 x 17
25 x 15
25 x 15
25 x 15
Kind of weird, trying to get a slant bench work just right, and not knock the db’s into something.
CG pushup just kept feet on floor
x10 x12 x12 x12 x12 x12
Lots of rotator cuff stuff
box squat
45 x 8
65 x 7
95 x 6
95 x 6
had to struggle somewhat with these
Then a fair number of arm curl machine and tricep rope pull
You trained and prepared for the meet. Thousands of other people had the chance to do the same thing but did not. If nothing else your placement is a satement on your willingness to do what it takes to do a meet and to get up on that stage and lift.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Got it. I realize that had I blown all 3 attempts, I would have got nothing. I’m proud that I got white lights, it was my goal. What I was trying to say was that no one should be mislead by the “First Place” labels. That implies that I outlifted the others, and I didn’t. The only people who lifted less were some of the women and the pre-teen boys. Everybody else lifted way more than me. They gave me plaques and I’m glad, but I’m still a weakling.
Dammit. The depression’s come back.[/quote]
there are a multitude of 54 year old men out there who chose to sit on thier respective asses, you on the other hand stood up on the platform and performed! so stop downplaying your accomplishment!
I felt the same after my first meet and got the same kind of “talking too”
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Soldog, how did your first meet go?[/quote]
missed my 1st squat attempt for not waiting for the “Squat” command
Made my 2nd
missed my 3rd for depth
made my 1st bench
missed the next 2 because I raised the weight too much
made my 1st dead
missed the 2nd, fell over lowering the bar
made the 3rd
only competitor in the M1B 220lb division[/quote]
Ouch, falling over a DL. Congrats on making the lifts, was curious about how much weight also.
OK, after Joe’s and dog’s bitchslapping last night, I popped cans of tuna and chicken right after dinner and ate, ate, ate until my belly was distended. Then got a long night’s sleep. Woke up this morning feeling better.
Will take off today from the gym, get chance to recover. Have to keep eating until my stomach files for divorce. Guess the only way I have a prayer of getting strong is to make a real concerted effort at it.
Cav: I know where you’re coming from because I always get first place. And it’s because I’m the only one! However, it’s just like Joe said. Anyone can sign up and compete. The fact that no one else did except you shouldn’t take away from your glory.
My attitude towards meet performance has changed somewhat, though. I used to go to win. Now I go to hit certain goals I have set for myself or to break certain state records. I am honestly only competing against myself. And, hence, why I was so upset going home with a first place trophy last month. I didn’t do what I wanted to do.
Snap, sounds like you and I think alike. Of course I’m proud that I entered the meet. I now feel that I’m an offical lifter. But that’s not the problem. The problem is that the rewards just aren’t coming as fast as I’ve been promised.
Let me explain. Over on the Beginner’s forum, one guy posted that he had never lifted before, was out of shape, flabby, etc. No strength. One person posted the following:
Good bench marks to hit within a year from now: 225 bench, 315 squat, 405 deadlift.
What can I make of this? I’ve lifted for 35 yrs. Did things wrongs in early years, but slowly learning and getting things together. Struggled, sweated, strained. And my lifts aren’t even close to these figures. In the past year, planning for this contest and working deadlift, I pushed it from 255 to 275. In one long year. Am I supposed to settle for this? No one else does.
I know everyone tells me not to compare myself to other people. The problem is, I can’t know if I’m training right if I don’t know what the results are supposed to be. Is everyone else a genetic freak and normal training just won’t work for me? Or is everyone normal and I’m a genetic screwup? And if so, tell me how to make a genetic screwup grow. What’s the process?
Everybody’s looked at my training, I’ve eated enough food for an army, doc says my T level’s fine - so will normal programs work for me or not? If not, what do I do?
I don’t like being depressed, especially on a site with so many people succeeding and helping each other. But the only way to stop feeding the depression is to crack the mystery of what’s going to work for me.
First of all, I am a FIRM believer that you have to take BW/age into consideration with numbers. There’s a reason why there are BW/age classes and calculations like Wilks and McCullough coefficents in PL meets. So blanketly saying you should hit a xxx lb. bench and a xxx squat within a certain time frame seems ridiculous to me.
Also, everybody’s body is different. Some people are built for the sport of PLing. They build muscle and strength quickly. Others are hard gainers and have to work harder for similar or even less gain. I’m personally not built for PLing. Too lean. Too tall. It’s difficult to compete against women whose bench stroke is five inches shorter than mine.
That being said, you gotta suck it up, Cav, and move forward. It’s a process of trial and error to learn what training programs will work for your body. For example, I know that I can train reps all day long on a program like 5/3/1 and never see my 1 RM budge with certain lifts. My body loses strength the minute I train submaximally. So maybe you need to resign yourself to a period of trial and error with different programs.
[quote]cavalier wrote:
Soldog, how did your first meet go?[/quote]
missed my 1st squat attempt for not waiting for the “Squat” command
Made my 2nd
missed my 3rd for depth
made my 1st bench
missed the next 2 because I raised the weight too much
made my 1st dead
missed the 2nd, fell over lowering the bar
made the 3rd
only competitor in the M1B 220lb division[/quote]
Ouch, falling over a DL. Congrats on making the lifts, was curious about how much weight also.
OK, after Joe’s and dog’s bitchslapping last night, I popped cans of tuna and chicken right after dinner and ate, ate, ate until my belly was distended. Then got a long night’s sleep. Woke up this morning feeling better.
Will take off today from the gym, get chance to recover. Have to keep eating until my stomach files for divorce. Guess the only way I have a prayer of getting strong is to make a real concerted effort at it.
[/quote]
sorry Cav - I was in a hurry and didn’t look them up this morning.
Wow, it was warm today. I mean warm! And no rain. So I trucked outside and run up the hill behind the apartment. Started off OK, but suddenly someone started pumping the oxygen out of the township. Fortunately, I managed to make it back in one piece. . . barely. . . .
Decided to drive up to Saegertown next Sat and see Old Navy in action. Only an hour and half drive.
Had a job interview, so pulled out the suit and tie. Hadn’t worn dress clothes in a long while, big surprise. The shirt collar didn’t fit, even with an extension clip, neck nearly busted it open. The suit jacket was so tight in the sleeves I was really afraid the seams would rip any moment.
Oh yeah, had to shake hands with the guy. Anyone notice how peoples’ hands are getting really soft nowadays?
I’m starting to like weightlifting.
Workout today. First deads since contest last week:
135 x 8
185 x 4
205 x 3
235 x 3
255 x 1 x1 x1 x1
not bad considering this was just under what I lifted at the meet.
CG pushups
x15 x12 x12 x14 x14 x14
bicep DB row
25 x 20
30 x 18
35 x 7
35 x 8
35 x 9
35 x 8
amazing how fast I’m progressing on these, maybe T-Nation is on to something.
Thanks, guys. Unfortunately, the job’s a contract for only a month, so if I get it, still have to find something else. Right now, my main goal is to get some steady employment so I can stop worrying about changing my routine / moving / etc, all of which play havok with my eating and lifting.