"What's it Worth"
Conjugate Program
Every real powerlifter goes through cycles, on the outside, each cycle looks different, but it will always come full circle and they all look the same at one point in their training and that is on meet day. Many lifters, nowadays, will put all their eggs in one basket - one meet- and it's all or nothing. If they get their "all" it will still not be enough, they left it all on the platform and have higher expectations for the meet, if they can make it there. If they find themselves in the nothing category you will see apologetic and depressive posts explaining all the excuses and a picture of an animal and something about resiliency. Let's see where my dice fall on this write-up, lol.
For me, powerlifting is the hardest ON meet day, not because of the weight, not because of the plan, but because of my nerves. That's right, the tip of the pyramid. Everyone has an area they struggle within sports, even the best go through "slumps", powerlifting, though drastically different than other mainstream sports, is not an exception to this and individuals seem to struggle with the same problem for longer periods of time. Triceps are weak and lock-outs on my bench are a struggle, I cannot catch my breath between attempts, my depth sucks, this hurts, that hurts, *insert your major dilemma here*. Our training blocks are the times to work on these shortcomings and it boils down to one day to see if you can make it all come together. My struggle, Mental state, it always has been and I refuse to accept the end phrase, it always will be. Unfortunately, this meet was no different as the mental struggle kicked in 2 days before the meet even started.
APF Nationals
This meet that lasts 4 days, they do single lifts on Thursday, another group on Friday, Heavy mean Saturday, and guys (people under 200lbs not considered men) on Sunday. Don't get too offended, I fall into that last category. I had a client compete on Thursday when I coach I am very passionate so my nerves get jacked up when my clients compete cause I want them to do well, this does not bode well when I have a competition 3 days later. I was off the entire time even though my client made it through his lifts, after not competing for 4 years due to shoulder surgery. That should call for excitement, right? Oh, there was plenty, but I still had to focus on what was to come.
Back Story
My best total came about 2 years ago, I made some choices in my life that affected that and have been chipping away to get back there ever since. My last meet my wife and I overtrained and I got injured to the point I almost pulled out of the meet. With the help of EliteFTS teammate Dani I was able to get through the meet but not with the total I wanted. Even after the meet when I started training my back issue and adductor issue were still present. I sought out the help of a local Chiro who specialized in DNS and we started on the right path. After several conversations with key people and long talks with my wife Julia we decided on a short prep and to hop into this meet without worrying about a weight cut. I was diligent with my rehab, meticulous about my deadlifting and squat positioning and with all the nerves and worry it paid off.
The Plan
The meet went great for me, I had a plan and I did not stray from the plan, not once. I gave myself some leeway on deadlifts cause I really had no idea where I was at. During training, I only took second attempts and if I felt good would have taken a reverse band third attempt, well, I never felt good enough during training to go for a perceived third. That being said, I am a firm believer of NOT taking a third attempt and doing prep meets to get my nerves out of the way! I was able to go 8/9 hitting all my lifts, I was told by some I did not go heavy enough by the way the lifts looked. I could not disagree more as I know how they felt and what I was dealing with, those comments reaffirmed to me that my peak, taper, and de-load were done perfectly.
Squats
Everything was runnings great, warm up area was efficiently set up, the flights moved VERY quick for the number of people we had going and it was comfortable, physically. Guys I am going to be 100% transparent, my squats were garbage. You will see in the video that my last warm-up was borderline on depth, I had Julia and Teammate Dan Dalenburg give me the heads up on judging and it was generous. I thought I was where I needed to be based off how I felt, the video shows me now that I was not. Even at the meet, I was not concerned about the depth I was strictly looking at position and speed to make my next jump. Opener Flew up, so I stuck to the plan, Second attempt moved better than it did anytime in training so I went for the number I wanted and literally said to Julia, "if they are being generous I am going to play Russian roulette on depth". I did and it paid off, I got three white lights, now, all the videos I have posted below are not straight from the side so you are unable to see true "depth" but I can tell you right now my opener squat MIGHT have been the only one that was below or equal to my last warm up at best, lol.
Bench
This section will be short and sweet, which never happens! This, BY FAR, was the best lift of the day. during training I missed my second attempt once and did not even take an opener 1.5 weeks out, I opted for my last warm-up due to how I felt. There were a few nerves during warm-up as Dan mentioned my butt was coming up. Since every bench was different I had to manipulate my feet just a bit to ensure I stayed in contact. I set up for my opener and I could feel my ass stay down and the weight felt light because the press command was so fast I almost cried with excitement. I thought to myself if this command stays this fast we are in business. Well, the commands stayed fast and I stayed conservative and went for a 1# lifetime meet bench PR that took 2 years to get. Was 196 there, I believe so, but the goal was to get my total back to where it was and giving up 11 lbs on my total for a bigger bench was not part of the plan.
Deadlift
Here is where we were walking in the dark. This training block I only deadlifted heavy 3 times? On top of that, I changed my setup, for those of you who do not know, that changes everything. My last heavy deads during prep went well but 650 (planned second attempt) felt super heavy. I was fine with this cause I was not having any grip issues at all, nor was my back hurting from improper loading. My opener was 611, and it moved extremely well, needed this for confidence as 622 slipped out of my hand last meet. Jumped to 650 to ensure my "better total" this meet, my confidence was even higher as the 650 moved very well also. I almost got too excited cause of how it felt, I decided to "send it" on my last one and beat my best meet deadlift by three lbs. Although my confidence and excitement was high, I could tell I was out of gas trying to amp myself up for the last pull of the day. Side note, I did not realize I was the last deadlifter of the day, I don't care who you are, being the last lifter of the third flight is a pretty cool thing and this may have changed my mindset, I digress, I knew the weight was gonna feel heavy (680+ on meet day always does after 8 ME attempts) and when I started pulling I was meet with a ton of resistance that I was not expecting. I felt my right side move the weight off the floor, but also my entire right side shifting. I made this entire prep, and thus far the entire meet injury free. I could have attempted to correct and keep pulling but I am not a grinder and did not want to take on that fight, my goal for the day was already accomplished.
Closing
This was a 62lb meet pr (1725 @198) from my last meet, it is not my best total (1770 @181), I am still 45lbs shy of it and it was at a lower weight class. The plan is to reach and exceed my previous total not cutting weight, which by the way, I was a LIGHT 198. Then, once I have developed a little more at this weight, cut fast at the very end and give myself the best chance of success to beat my previous best total at 181. I cannot thank EliteFTS enough for the continual opportunity to represent them. My wife as my training partner, my ElitFTS teammates, and last but not least, all the people at Illinana Power Asylum that came out to support me along with others who I have never met that wanted to see me lift as a representative of EliteFTS. Thank you Dave and Traci Tate for everything you do for the industry and what for me.
