Last weekend we loaded up the crew and headed to Sterling, Connecticut for the RPS New England Revolution Powerlifting meet.
I say it all the time, but here goes again, Gene and Aimee run an awesome meet. You should enter one.
Back on track, we had five lifters compete at this meet.
They were:
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Sabra Mitchell-Multi Ply Pro
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Candace Puopolo-Multi Ply Pro
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Matt Buckingham-Multi Ply Pro
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Ryan Newell-Raw Classic Push Pull
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Mr X/ aka Shoebomber-Raw Classic Push-Pull
As usual, we brought a crew.
Russ Smith and I went along to handle and coach, and we brought Morgan Mitchell and Eyitouyo Amoye (or just T) to spot, and John Romanowski and Tunde Szivak came along for support.
On Saturday, we had Sabra and Candace lifting.
For Sabra, we had one goal.
Attain a Pro total to qualify for bigger meets.
Candace used this meet as a tune up to break in some new gear as she preps for the WPO in November.
Going through warm ups all was as it should be, weights were flying.
Time to lift.
I kept Sabra’s squat very conservative, as this was her first full meet post back injury, and her first full power multi ply.
She went 3 for 3 in the squat at:
335, 360 375
Candace was next.
She finished with a 400 squat, only getting her opener. But hey, 400 is a HUGE squat for a 132.
Bench was next.
Sabra was on schedule for a solid 195-200 pound bench and we opened at a nice and easy 175.
We went on to 185 for her second, but she mis-grooved, so we passed on the third.
This goes back to when I say be tactical.
My plan had her getting the Pro total as long as she hit her second attempts.
As she made the third squat, we were 15 pounds ahead on where she would have been if she got her second squat, but missed the third. With this in mind, we decided to pass on her third bench.
Why?
She didn’t need it, and on the small chance she missed the third, that COULD put her in a bad frame of mind going into deadlifts, so I told her we don’t need it, we are ahead of schedule weight wise and we are saving energy for the deadlift. She agreed.
Tactical.
Candace SMOKED a 265 pound bench for a 10 pound PR.
265 at 132.
Deadlifts were next.
Both ladies are excellent deadlifters and Sabra held the current RPS World Record at 405.
Sabra went 3 for 3 on the Deadlift with:
405, 415 (WR) and 425 (WR)
Her first deadlift gave her the Pro total she needed so we went into second and third attempts with nothing on the line.
She smoked them both.
She finished with a 975 Pro total in the 148’s; 20 pounds over what was needed.
Candace hit the most amazing and gutsy pull I have ever seen at 390.
The crowd felt the same.
She finished with a 1055 Pro total at a weight of 129 pounds.
And, as usual, I had to sit in the judges chair after, no booze for me.
Yet.
Sunday:
This guy held boards.
We had Matt, Ryan and the Shoebomber up.
Squats:
Matt had a great day finishing with a 710 pound squat and a 5 pound PR.
Squat in the books. It’s all downhill from here right?
Wrong.
Carl asked me to sit in for him at the Head Judge seat so I said yes. Everyone needs to pee and grab a drink right?
Well, Carl had to leave for the day and I had to sit there.
For the rest of the session.
Head Judging is the worst.
You have to raise your arm up and down 5000 times and you get a crippling, Mountain Dog style pump in your shoulders.
You gotta give back to the sport though.
But I digress.
Bench was up next, as usual.
This was Ryan’s first meet, and Candace prepped him well for it.
He went 285, 305 and 315.
Matt hit a 485 bench for a 5 pound PR!
Bomber hit 400 pound bench on his third after a little trouble with missing commands on the others.
You know I tortured him about that, it’s not like this was his first, or 20th meet.
Lesson: Listen to your training partners and use commands in the gym, don’t be like Bomber.
Deadlifts:
Ryan had a great day here going 485, 510, 530 in his first meet.
Matt finished with 600, 645 for a 5 pound PR, and 670 for a 30 pound PR.
Matt also had an 1865 RPS Elite total.
We are now back to the drawing board and back to training for the bigger meets coming.
I can’t say how proud I am of my Team, not just the lifters.
All of them.
I said before, this really is a Team sport.
You can do it alone, but it works better with a solid crew to have your back.
I have theirs.
They have mine.
I’ll be on the platform next week and so will our ladies from the TPS Method for Powerlifting.
I’ll give you a meet report on that too.
Ask me a question-Be sure and Type to Murph in the header
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Vincere vel mori
