| EliteFTS

This Saturday is the RPS Lexen Spring Meet in Columbus, OH; where I'll be competing at 220lbs in the Open Multi-Ply division. My last meet was WPC Worlds in November, where I totaled 1879 with a 716 squat, 518 bench, and 645 deadlift @ 220. Following that competition I spent a few months doing primarily raw training and focusing on volume, and then started increasing intensity over the course of the Spring. Todd Brock has been helping me in getting ready for this meet and it's been good to get some different perspective. I haven't done a post like this before, but if anything for my own benefit I think it'll be interesting to look back and see my perspectives throughout the training cycle compared to after the meet. Below are some of the biggest changes I made from the previous meet prep, and some of the good and bad from this cycle (at least my thoughts from right now, I'll have more insight after the meet):

Biggest Changes in this Training Cycle:

*More Box Squatting - I was doing free squats for most of my training in the past, and this training cycle I did dramatically more box squatting (only free squatting every few weeks). This was to help me with both my technique and to build strength in my posterior chain.

*Less Time in Full Gear - I only squatted in my full squat suit and knee wraps 3 times during this training cycle (since November), as opposed to when I did it almost every week leading up the meet in the past. I benched in my shirt 4 times over the course of the training cycle. (Some of this was from design and some of it was from circumstance).

*Less of the Competition Lifts - I used more variations in training and did the regular competition lifts less. For bench I alternated Floor Press, Dumbbell Press, and Pin Press. For squat I alternated Box Squats and Good Mornings with the Safety Squat Yoke Bar.

*Change in Environment - I moved and started a new full-time job in January, so I was no longer training with my regular training partners Bruce and Mario. I primarily did all my training at the University Rec Center that I work at, and made it up to the EliteFTS Compound a handful of times to train as well. Over the past month I also got some help from Erik who trains at Westside Barbell, who lives in this area as well.

3 Positives from Training:

*Recognition of Technique Improvements - I still have a long way to go with my squat technique, but I've made some improvements and most importantly I recognize what needs to be fixed now.

*More Well-Rounded Focus - In the past I went heavy almost every week on the main lifts and then would slack on assistance work too often. The past few months I've been trying to be more strategic with my main movements and focusing more on assistance work (especially on areas of weakness like my upper back).

*Nutrition - My eating has been dramatically better since my last meet, and I'm eating more and more consistently. This has helped prevent the random weight drops I've experienced leading into a meet in the past.

3 Challenges from Training:

*Lack of Time Mirroring Comp Environment - Without having a normal group to train with and being at the Rec Center most sessions, I haven't been able to train in a monolift or use my gear quite as often as I would've liked. The past few weeks of getting back into my full gear and using a mono I felt pretty out of it and it's taken me a few weeks just to get back to unracking out of the mono correctly. On the flipside, plenty of people are in that boat, and I'm pretty confident that everything will be clicking once I'm in meet-day mode.

*Squat Fixes - I'm still having a lot of issues with my squat, and while some of them have improved, I know I have a long way to go. I'm still struggling with pitching forward and not keeping my body in a position that I get the most out of my gear. With the lack of time spent doing free squats in my full gear, I haven't felt the most confident with my technique. That being said, I know I've put a lot of solid work in this training cycle and I feel good about it all coming together on meet day.

*Recovery - I've had issues with insomnia and anxiety the past several years but it affected me pretty bad this training cycle. Going days without sleeping and rarely being able to relax definitely had me a feeling a lot more run down while trying to balance work, relationships and training, but again, plenty of people are in that boat. I'm hoping that with this week off of training and taking Friday off of work I'll be able to be a little more rested for meet day.

..Overall this training cycle has been a good experience and I've made strength improvements as well as learned a lot (doing things so much differently than in the past). I don't usually put my goals out there for each meet - but just to give you an idea I have 3 tiers of goals that will change as the day goes on. First is PRs, second is a goal total, and third is some goal numbers for certain lifts. That is all obviously under the umbrella of trying to win my weight class, but my primary goal of my meets this summer and fall are to use them for qualifying totals for Spring.

Now it's time to see how it all pans out on the only day that matters: Meet Day.