RPS Supreme Iron Warrior World Championships: 9/13/14 in Newark, NJ
Official Weight: 131.6
TL;DR results: 340 Squat, 240 Bench, 400 Deadlift - 980 Total (Yes, the same exact numbers as July)
The original plan was to do a USPA meet in Allentown, PA in October, but rumors that the date of the meet was to be moved to November left me concerned that I wouldn’t be able to post a RUM-qualifying total in time, so we chose this meet instead. It was Jason’s birthday weekend so he wasn’t there, and one of my training partners was originally going to go, but he had a last-minute work-related thing come up, so I was by myself.
This was the toughest weight cut I went through, as I ended up using a sauna for the first time to sweat off that last pound before weigh-ins. I spent more time than I would have liked, as I didn’t realize the sauna I was using had temperature controls. But I did manage to make weight right in time for weigh-ins.
Squat
Warm-ups (65 lb. Bar): 65x8, 115x5, 170x3, 200x3, 230x2, 260x1, 280x1, 310x1
Opener: 320 - Good lift, though I couldn’t see my form all that well from the angle that was used to record my lift (depth-wise it actually looked a little high, but I couldn’t see anything else in terms of set-up, etc.)
2nd: 340 - Good (2-to-1) - Speed was much better than July, but it wasn’t convincingly deep (one of the judges did give a red light). My squats didn’t feel high to me, so this had me worried - I shouldn’t be having this much trouble feeling depth. Still, I felt like I was on pace to hit 350, so I went for that.
3rd: 350 - MISS - couldn’t make it out of the hole, just like my 345 attempt last meet. It would’ve been high anyway, which is a definite cause for concern. During warm-ups I thought about the tightness of my belt (as this was something I didn’t figure out until deadlifts in July), but it didn’t feel loose with two holes showing (which is how I normally wear my belt) - but I clearly had the same issues with tightness on that last attempt as I did on my last attempt in July. I didn’t have any difficulty putting weight back on but the changes that happen to my body as a result of my weight cut are something I need to consider.
Bench
Warm-ups (50 lb. Bar): 50x8, 100x5, 140x5, Paused 165x2, 185x1, 200x1
Opener: 220 - Good! Couldn’t get a recording, but felt like a 7 RPE.
2nd: 240 - Good! Felt slow, so I didn’t think I had 250 in me, but it was closer to a 9 than a 10 so I figured 245 was worth a shot.
3rd: 245 - Missed halfway up. Leg drive could probably have been better.
Deadlift
The original plan was to open with 390 and take what I would need to qualify with a 2nd attempt. Since I needed 420 I ended up changing my opener to 400 and my last warm-up to 380. Not only did I not hit 420, but I nearly bombed out.
Warm-ups: 135x5, 225x3, 275x1, 315x1, 360x1, 380x1
Opener: Got to my knees but the bar drifted away from me and I lost my balance.
2nd: Couldn’t even budge off the floor. I was on the verge of tears here because I knew qualifying was out of reach at that point. But with actual competition in my weight class, I didn’t want to bomb out, either.
3rd: This was an absolute grinder, with my legs shaking the whole time, but I got it!
So my final numbers were exactly the same as they were in July, despite my worst performance in terms of successful lifts (5-for-9) and failing to achieve any new PRs. Obviously I can’t expect to hit big PRs all the time, especially so soon after a meet where I did add 15 lbs. or more to all three of my lifts. But to come so close to qualifying, only to fall short again, is disappointing.
Sometimes, though, you learn a lot more from unsuccessful lifts than you do from successful ones, and that definitely was the case here. There are a lot of technical adjustments I have to make, especially after cutting weight, to succeed at the highest level. And even though this was a poor meet by my standards, I did notice a lot more support both from the crowd and on social media when I was struggling through this meet than I did in July when I was crushing my old PRs like they were nothing. It’s times like these that you truly appreciate how difficult this sport is.
