I'm coming up on my first meet since Raw Nationals 2014. Raw Nats, was arguably the best meet I've ever had since I started powerlifting (even better than IPF Worlds)-- and unfortunately the time period that followed my best performance was the roughest training period I've ever encountered. Life happened, things got tough and I felt like the delicate balancing act of juggling law school, training, extracurriculars, and relationships/life was completely out of whack.
That being said, I got through it and I'm back in the game. With the past few months of training not having gone how I envisioned, I was feeling really anxious approaching this meet. I had an amazing performance at Raw Nats, and I was anxious that I was going to be disappointed at the Arnold. Before I let myself get too deep in self-pity-- something just clicked. A couple of nights ago I woke up at 3am wide awake and had trouble getting back to sleep because I was so excited that I was 3 weeks out from the Arnold.
I think this "clicking" phenomena had a lot to do with the fact that one of my best friends, and training partners just competed at RUM and had one of the best meets of his life. He won his class, and took 3rd in the Overall. He's been there in the gym with me on my good days, and bad, but always pushes me to do my best-- to take what's there for the day. Something about seeing him compete so well, and seeing the results of his efforts demonstrated on the platform reminded me how much I love the competition aspect of powerlifting. At the end of the day, it's a sport-- it's not just about training. And at the end of the day, I'm a competitor-- I think it's easy to forget that at times.
2/10
| Exercise: | Squat + ~45c | Exercise: | Touch and Go Bench | Exercise: | CG Floor Press | ||||||
| Set # | Load | Reps | RPE | Set # | Load | Reps | RPE | Set # | Load | Reps | RPE |
| 1 | 225 | 3 | 6.5 | 1 | 155 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 135 | 8 | 6.5 |
| 2 | 245 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 175 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 155 | 8 | 9 |
| 3 | 265 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 180 | 4 | 8.5 | 3 | 145 | 8 | 8 |
| 4 | 265 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 175 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 145 | 8 | 8.5 |
| 5 | 265 | 3 | 8.5 | 5 | 175 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 145 | 8 | 9 |
| 6 | 265 | 3 | 8.5 | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| 7 | 265 | 3 | 8.5 | 7 | 7 | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | 8 |
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYlbNQDyEko]
2/12
| Exercise: | DL + 80c | Exercise: | 2bd Press | Exercise: | Pendlay Rows | ||||||
| Set # | Load | Reps | RPE | Set # | Load | Reps | RPE | Set # | Load | Reps | RPE |
| 1 | 315 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 185 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 135 | 8 | 7.5 |
| 2 | 325 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 195 | 4 | 8.5 | 2 | 135 | 8 | 8 |
| 3 | 325 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 205 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 135 | 8 | 8 |
| 4 | 325 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 195 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 135 | 8 | 8 |
| 5 | 325 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 195 | 4 | 8.5 | 5 | 135 | 8 | 8.5 |
| 6 | 325 | 3 | 8.5 | 6 | 6 | 135 | 8 | 8.5 |
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAPHXWz7tbs]