Yesterday, I competed in the Long Island RPS meet. If you read this blog you'll know that I've been in a peaking cycle for about 12 weeks now to prepare for it. I had a pretty decent day overall, going 7 for 9 and setting meet PRs in all 3 lifts (410 squat, 280 bench, 510 deadlift) for a 1200 total at 165. I won first place in the Raw Classic (which means squatting without knee wraps) men's amateur (meaning I could be randomly drug tested) junior (20-23 years old) 165 lb weight class. I was the only person that fell under all 4 categories simultaneously, so I won first place in a field of one.
"Participant"
Regardless of my placing as both first and last place, I consider it a decent day since it was a 45 lb PR on my total. I only PRed my best meet squat and bench by 5 lbs each, because I missed my 3rd attempts for big PRs. I did go 3 for 3 on deadlifts for a 35 lb meet PR.
Here's a breakdown of the day and the day leading up to it.
Friday: before meet day
I had to start off this day working on a group project at school, then drove home and started getting everything together for the meet. I had everything that was due for school for the week done by this point, so the only thing on my mind was powerlifting. I made a checklist of what I needed, then ran out to get the few things I didn't have. Originally, I was planning to pick up a few egg white flatbreads (which are delicious btw, highly recommended) and some coffee from Dunkin Donuts for me and Melissa before we left the next morning. I had to be in Long Island for a 7 AM weigh-in the next day, so I decided to leave nothing to chance come morning and bought it all in advance to keep in the fridge overnight.
That night, I went to Muscle Maker with Melissa and waited what seemed like 3000 hours for our food, and generally just relaxed. I got home, popped 5g of melatonin (which I've never taken before) and some ZMA, and laid down in bed at about 9:20. The plan was to be up at 4:15. I've been waking up around 10 AM all semester because I have later classes, so I wasn't exactly adapted to that -- which is why I took the melatonin, so I could fall asleep earlier. While I was waiting for it to kick in, I picked up No Country for Old Men, which I started reading about 2 years ago but lost interest for some reason about 2/3 of the way through. I found it more interesting at this time, and read through it for a while until I was sufficiently tired to fall asleep at 10.
Saturday: meet day
Well, the whole "wake up at 4:15" thing didn't go exactly as planned. I didn't oversleep, but rather woke up at 1:52 and was wide awake. So I picked up No Country for Old Men again, and read until about 4.
Then I got out of bed, got ready, and heated up the sandwiches and coffee. I was already packed up from the day before, so I ate and headed over to Melissa's to pick her up at 5. My breakfast was 2 egg white flatbreads and a banana.
Turns out she had gotten about 4 hours of sleep like me, but it was from 12-4 instead of 10-2. I was wide awake, while she was pretty drowsy. The drive, which was mostly in the dark, took about an hour and 15, and we arrived around 6:30 before the gym was even open. Better early than late.
When Gene arrived and let everyone in, I went to the bathroom one more time before weigh-ins and weighed in at 161.2, so obviously I had plenty of room to spare but it wasn't like I had tried to cut weight -- that's just where I was that morning.
Then, I had about an hour to kill before the meet. I focused on doing some general warming up, during which Melissa sniped a picture that she thinks is hilarious but I'm not posting here.
We had the rules briefing, and the lifting started soon after at 8:30. The AM session was all women and men up to 165. I was in the third flight for all 3 lifts, so my first squat wasn't for almost an hour later.
The Squat
My warmups were 155x2, 205x2, 245x2, 295x1, and 335x1. They all felt good, but not great. I never like squatting in the morning.
First attempt: 380 - good lift
I think this was a good choice for my opener. So fast, I almost came up on my toes. I really sunk it deep, as I did with all of my squats that day. I didn't realize I'd been squatting that deep in training because I didn't have video like I did here. Crushing a squat opener is a good feeling. 3 whites lights.
Second attempt: 410 - good lift
This was a bit harder than I expected and it drained me a bit. I sunk it deep, and slowed down through the sticking point but powered through it. 3 whites and a 5 lb PR.
Third attempt: 425 - miss
The weight felt extremely light on my back, but I lost some tightness in the bottom (in particular, my knees shook a bit) and got just under halfway up but wasn't able to finish the squat. Missing a squat is draining. Mentally, sure, a bit. I wanted that 3rd. But it was more so physically -- I was just tired after that miss.
Benching started soon after, but since I was in the 3rd flight again I had some time to rest up before I actually went again. I had been sipping gatorade throughout the day so far, and ate one of John Meadows's new chocolate coconut food bars while I was sitting around. Those things are delicious.
The Bench
I popped some caffeine and headed over to warm up. Everything felt really smooth and light. 100x2, 140x2, 190x1, 210x1, 230x1, 250x1. I asked someone to give me a handoff for my last warmup.
"Well... sure but do you have a handler for the platform?"
"Uh no... the spotters will do that right?"
"Nope"
"Oh. Fuck. Never mind then."
This was weird to me because there was someone from the meet staff giving handoffs at the same meet that I did last year. I realized that almost everyone there was with a powerlifting team that had a coach doing handoffs. There were very few people there like me that didn't have someone to help them with handling, attempt selection, etc. Of course I had Melissa, and while she's the best supporter ever, she's not exactly a powerlifting expert, and asking her to give me a liftoff for a 300 pound bench probably wouldn't be the best idea.
I figured I'd have to go without a handoff, which wasn't
such a big deal because I never trained with a spotter and hit a 275x2 paused bench in training without one. Still, I wished I had one, because it makes maintaining tightness while you unrack significantly easier. I had also been dealing with some elbow pain leading into the meet, and while I had no pain on that day, I was slightly worried that unracking a heavy attempt alone would aggravate that.
I was standing near the platform mulling this over, and realized I was standing next to a guy in my flight. He seemed to be alone.
"Hey, do you have a handler?"
Clearly thinking about the same thing, he laughs, "Nope."
"Do you want to..."
"Yup"
And then I had a handler.
First attempt: 260 - good lift
We went over exactly what we wanted in terms of the handoff, and soon enough it was his turn. He opened with 235 (same opener I took at my last meet). Good lift, and easy.
Then it was my turn for my 260 opener. My new handler did a great job, and it was an easy lift. 3 whites.
Second attempt: 280 - good lift
255 for Gavin. Same second attempt I had last year, too. Solid lift.
280 for me. It was damn easy, even more so than the 260. Hit this perfectly. 3 whites.
Third attempt: 300 - miss
Going into bench, my plan was 260, 280, then 290-300 depending on how 280 felt. Since 280 was as easy as it could've possibly been, I decided to go for the big 300.
Gavin went for a conservative 265 and made it pretty easy.
300 didn't feel heavy in my hands, I brought it down well, and pressed it up halfway before it started to drift back and slightly to the side. Lost it there. This was especially disappointing because it was a close lift, and if I could've taken another attempt I might have gotten it. I also don't think I was consciously using enough leg drive. 300 will come soon enough.
I've hit a 290 touch-and-go bench before at home, but in powerlifting you have to pause the bench on your chest, which makes the lift significantly harder. So this 280 was a PR. 275 last year was a major grinder, while this 280 looked like an empty bar.
The Deadlift
By the time it came to deadlifts, I was very relaxed but focused since the other 2 lifts were over with. I started warming up a little later than I had previously, and went 185, 225, 275, 315, 365, and 405 all for singles.
Then I asked Melissa to baby powder the front of my thighs, which I'd never done before but is very common in powerlifting because it decreases the friction as you drag the bar up your leg. I'm not sure if it helped, but it didn't hurt.
First attempt: 445 - good lift
Not much to say about this one. Really damn fast and easy. 3 whites.
Second attempt: 480 - good lift
This obviously felt heavier, but it was still very fast. I did get pretty lightheaded at the top of the lift though. Glad I didn't KO myself. 3 whites, 5 lb meet PR.
Third attempt: 510 - good lift
Just walked up to the bar, set my hands, and pushed off the floor as hard as possible. The bar slowed a little towards lockout, but it was still a pretty fast lift. I actually only got 2 whites on this, but I didn't even think of asking about what the one red was for because I was so damn happy I got the lift. I'm guessing one of the side judges didn't think I waited sufficiently for the "down" command but I don't know. Felt good to finally get a big PR 3rd attempt and it was nice to end the meet on a high note. 35 meet PR, 10 lb PR over my best gym deadlift.
510. My facial expression is actually a reaction to the dirty things he's whispering in my ear, not due to the lift.
That dude with the afro is probably in more deadlifting pictures than any other human being in the planet.
Overall, this was a fun meet. Lots of nice people, like last year. I talked to a guy who was coaching his 16-year old son in his first meet. The dad had been powerlifting for a long time, so that must've meant a lot to him and I thought that was pretty cool. He and a few other people told me my lifting was impressive, which felt good -- it's always great to have a positive environment like that. In powerlifting, there's really more camaraderie than competition in my experience.
In general, there was some really impressive lifting from both the men and women. There were even some women in the third flights, which is when the heaviest lifts are.
I have a few thank yous to mention.
Thank you to caffeine for giving me the energy to set PRs on all 3 lifts on 4 hours of sleep.
Thank you to all of the people that have put information on powerlifting out there. Without books and online resources, training alone and being my own coach would have taken years to figure out.
Thank you to Gavin for coming in clutch and handling me. Nice lifting too, man.
Most importantly, thank you to Melissa for waking up at 4:30, sitting through a 7-hour meet, baby powdering my legs, being the best support section ever, and buying me dinner after. I let her do that sometimes. She's the best.
I have no plans to do a meet in the near future, but I'll definitely do another eventually. For now, I'm looking forward to doing some bodybuilding work, turning up the volume, and getting bigger.
