Making weight
My last meet in July as a light 148 I felt like a chubby, bloated mess. I started working with the nutrition coaching company Working Against Gravity in August to start shedding body fat and make a slow transition back into the 132 class. It paid off big time, I was able to get the bulk of my training in at a lower body weight and continued to feel strong regardless of the deficit. I did a small water cut and weighed in at 131.7 with little stress.

The number one goal going into this meet was to PR my previous total of 1011 in a lighter weight class. I’ve gotten caught up before with trying to have huge PRs in every lift, and leaving with a worse total, or being dissatisfied with myself because I wanted more. My mentality is changing and I’ve started caring more about building a total than trying to be greedy.

Squats
I felt great warming up, the plan was to go bar, 135, 225, 275 (light wrap), 315 (wrap), opener.
I walked out what I thought was 275 and thought it felt heavy, but thought ‘you’re not a pussy, it’s just 275’. It came up way slower than it should have, and I right away knew something was wrong. I looked at the bar and saw two reds, a blue, and a collar. “F*ck that was 385”. I was opening at 380.
It moved slower than 385 should have, but mentally I attributed that to having wraps that were barely tight and thinking it was a light warm-up (not tight enough). I decided not to let it bother me, sat down and just waited for my flight to start.
380 - Easier than my last warm-up
413 (16.5lb PR) - Felt good, I was confident taking another jump
424 - Felt tighter and stronger than 413, but was called on depth. I was happy leaving squats with a PR.

Bench
Warm-ups felt good, Seth and I had to practice doing what I call a ‘monolift hand off’ because I’m too short to use any bench that isn’t a combo rack. I set my back and shoulders and have to absolutely trust him as he unracks the bar for me and I set my grip as he brings the bar over my shoulders (I swear it’s not as scary as it sounds). Warm-ups went bar, 95, 135, 165, 185.
220 - Easy, flew up.
242 - Got the lift, but my back cramped. I knew I’d be better off saving my energy for deads than taking a small jump here. Passed on thirds.

Deadlift
Warm-ups felt really fast, I was feeling good. We went 135, 225, 275, 315.
370 - Good lift, not as fast as I’d like
385 - No go, the bar went forward as I started pulling and the rest of me followed
385 - Again no lift, just out of gas, nothing new for me but still disappointing.

All in all I’m incredibly happy to have PRd my total by 15lbs at a lighter body weight. Thanks so much to teammate Brian Schwab for coaching me into this meet with only 10 weeks to prep. We’re leaving this meet with new ideas for the next training cycle, and will definitely continue to see progress as we figure out what works/doesn’t. The plan for now is to build the strongest back and hamstrings possible, practice more deadlift start positions, and potentially deadlift after squats.

I had the pleasure of competing next to some incredibly strong teenagers, I was so impressed by their strength and genuine enthusiasm for the sport. I hope they continue to find joy in this sport.