Well, didn’t have the best day that I could have. Was nervous last night and didn’t sleep all that well. I competed in the AAU Pushpull in Vista, CA which is about 40 minutes north of San Diego.
Bench
I felt pretty crappy in the warmup room, everything was much slower than it should have been. Openned with 336 and got it. Went to 358 and got it although it was really slow. This was a 6 pound p.r. and a weight I missed twice at the USAPL California State meet. Then went to 369 - it barely moved off the chest.
Was pretty happy with the p.r. although I didn’t have to squat first so it’s hard to call it a true p.r. On a good day the 369 might have gone but I’m not sure.
Deadlift
This was close to an unmitigated disaster. Contrary to bench, I felt great in the warmup room on this and all the weights were really fast. Openned at 518 and nailed it. Went to 551 and barely budged it from the floor - it got out in front a bit. Tried 551 again and barely budged it again - was very angry at this point and frustrated.
Several hours later I think that today just might not have been my day. I’m stronger in the gym on both the bench and all the deadlift assistance work such as good mornings, the reverse hyper and pin pulls at various heights. I set prs on all this cycle so I think that I may have just had a bad day. I was also heavier than ever before, weighing in at 237 last night - 7 pounds heavier than the last meet.
I lifted in my chuck taylors for this training cycle in the deadlift so that might have had some impact. I was using wrestling shoes before and I may go back to them. Any thoughts are welcome on that. Also, the deadlift bar was an Okie bar, never used one of those before and I think that I might not have been used to how much give it had in it. But the bottom line is that I was the one that sucked it today so I need to get my ass back in the gym and hit the weights.
Excellent numbers. Within three months, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear that you’d cleared 600 from the floor.
DI
I would love it if 600 went in three months. With studying for the bar exam though I don’t know if that will happen. I’m going to keep training and try and get it at least by December though. I need a 400 pound bench and 600 deadlift by December - gotta win a bet with one of my buddies.
great job…
just curious, what is your squat?
My official squat is 501, done at the USAPL California State meet in April. I had a bit more in me and am stronger now so I should be good for about 520-530 now under the same conditions (gear, judging, etc.)
Good job, guy!
What do you think of USAPL? Curious, since a meet planned for October here is USAPL and I plan on entering.
I have nothing but good things to say about the USAPL. I’ve done two meets in California, both run by Jason Burnell (aka deepsquatter). Both very well run and full of friendly people. For me, the USAPL is the federation that I will focus my lifting on. It being the IPF affiliate in the US, I think that it draws some of the best athletes that chose to compete in single ply poly gear. (That’s in no way knocking those that choose to use multi-ply, denim, and canvas, it’s just not for me at this stage in my powerlifting career.)
Some have problems with the USAPL and feel that the judging, particularly on squat depth, is too strict. Again, to each is own. I like my squats deep and tend to go deep myself, so I prefer USAPL judging. Being careful to hit depth on squats and watching the uneven extension on the bench are to the two things that I would be aware of going into a USAPL meet, or any meet for that matter.
Finally, the one thing that I don’t like is the commands on the bench. USAPL has a “start” and a “rack” command, meaning that the lifter is responsible for pausing on the chest. I much prefer a “press” and “rack” command because you don’t have to think about the pause. But that’s the way the IPF does it so I’m okay with it.
Not bad at all, man, not bad at all.
I actually prefer deadlifting in my Chucks over wrestling shoes. I actually like doing just about anything in my Chucks, though, so I guess it’s no big surprise.