This past weekend I competed at the APF Illinios State meet. I competed in the 148 pound weight class, and this meet only served one purpose: get a total. To do the APF Equipped Nationals (raw with knee wraps), the only requirement is to have a total. After coming off the XPC's only four weeks ago, I decided after talking with Dave that it was best that I "sandbag" this meet. There was no reason to total anything remotely close to my best, and this would also let me continue my training cycle for Nationals anyways. Not exciting, I know. But, I have to take the proper steps if I want to compete at WPC World's.
The Meet
Thursday: I hit the road with my training partner, Trey, to make our way up by Chicago. He was set to compete on Saturday (as a teen), so we needed to get to the hotel Thursday night so he could weigh in on Friday morning. He was a bit over weight, but we got him down to make the 242 weight class. It sure was nice having someone to join the trip and make the 4+ hour car ride, not so bad. We checked in, rested up, and I got some dinner.
Friday: We woke up to help Trey finish making weight, and then headed over to weigh ins. After that, we went and got some breakfast and then headed back to the hotel to rest up and just enjoy the day. I even got in some cardio because I was so bored. Later some of the Purdue Barbell lifters met up with us and we went to Texas Roadhouse for some dinner, and then back to the hotel to crash for the evening. I had to be up to weigh in on Saturday morning, and also get my lifters to the meet to compete.
Saturday: I woke up and was still well under weight, so I ate some breakfast, and then went to the meet site to weigh in and help get the Purdue lifters and Trey all set up. Weigh-ins took over 2 hours, which was ridiculous, but luckily I wasn't cutting weight, so it didn't matter. By about 10:45am I finally weighed in at 145 with some clothes on, and then went to help my lifters get ready with warm ups and getting their flights and such sorted out.
Everyone that I coached did AWESOME!
Heejung - 286 squat, 126 bench press, 314 deadlift (all PR's via 8/9)
Trey - 435 squat, 292 bench press, 435 deadlift (all PR's via 9/9)
Aymen - 462 squat, 352 bench press, 545 deadlift (9/9, squat and bench PR's)
Joseph - 512 deadlift (PR, 2/3)
Cody - 501 squat, 319 bench press, 501 deadlift (8/9, squat and bench PR's)
These lifters are going to be making some big noise in the coming years, and it's always a pleasure to work with them.
After competing we went and grabbed some pizza, and then went back to the room to crash for the next day of lifting.
Sunday: After waking up with a massive bloat (for not reason other than just wanting one), I went to the meet site where I knew I was going to be the first lifter all day long based upon what I put in for my measly openers. Here's how things went..
Squat
Warm Ups
55x10
105x5
145x3
195x2
Opener - 220, Good
I just took this to get something easy and not even have to worry about any belt or working up. I think it really confused the spotters and judges, but whatever.
Second and Third - Pass
No reason to take any other attempts all day long.
In the warm up room after I was done, I continued to work up and get my "training" in, so...
A1) Squat
235x3
285x2
325x1
375x1
410x3
430x2x2
B1) GHR
3x15
C1) Standing Single Leg Leg Curls
4x15 per leg
D1) Stiff Leg Deadlifts
3x20
D2) Standing Band Crunches
3x20
E1) Hanging Leg Raises
3x20
Bench Press
Warm Ups
NONE
Opener - 110, Good
I didn't even bother warming up for a 110 pound bench press. I did however have a nice 5 second pause, because the judge "forgot" to give me a press command. Not sure if that was true, or he was just being a dick. Oh well, it at least looked funny.
Second and Third - Pass
After this my training in the warm up room went like this:
A) Bench Press
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x2
255x1
280x3
295x2x2
B1) Pressdowns
5x15
B2) Curls
4x15
C1) Push Ups
3x25
C2) Face Pulls
3x25
Deadlift
Warm Ups
135x2x5
185x3
Opener - 220, Good
I didn't really even need to warm up for deadlifts, but I did just to be safe and not pull anything. This wrapped up my day, and you could say it was just as uneventful as I expected it to be.
Second and Third - Pass
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJciUPovzro]
Wrap Up
You could say that overall the weekend wasn't all the exciting from my end in terms of lifting. But, it was a great weekend overall. I got to coach many of the lifters I work with, see them all hit PR's on nearly every lift, catch up with teammates Eric Maroscher (and all the MGG crew) and Matt Ladewski, and just enjoy all the other great things powerlifting has to offer.
My focus is now on the APF Equipped Nationals, and I WILL be actually competing there and going down to 132 to try and improve my numbers. It was just not in my best interest to push myself for this meet, so I kept things reigned back on the platform and just followed up with my normal training I would have done on my main lifts for that day. Silly, yes. But smart when looking at the long term goals. But hey, it was my first full power meet at 148, so I guess I did PR with 551.
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