My ten week training cycle has come to an end. How do I feel? Did I make gainz? If so, am I happy with the gainz I made? Am I injured? And the questions can keep mounting. At the end of a training cycle 9 times out of 10 I am doing a meet. That has not been the case the last several months. I have been mainly rehabbing, working on weak areas, trying to gain mass and size back and I am also trying to get a gauge of where I am physically.
I can answer all of these questions:
1. I feel pretty good. Physcally I am in as good a shape as I have been in 3 years. I hurt but that's expected being 41 years old, been training for over 25 years, competing for 20 years and recovering from multiple surgeries. If I didn't hurt I would think something is wrong. My pain is not the pain of injuries as much as it is wear and time. Overall though I feel good!
2. Yes I am happy with the "gainz" I have made. My knee is good now. I just squatted 750 pounds raw last week with ease. My raw squat is doing great. My geared squat is still a work in process. I have gained new mass in my quads and hamstrings I never had due to my focus on this over the last several months. My back has really seen huge gainz in size again to my focus on this area for months. My deadlift? Don't ask it is what is always is. It sucks....My bench-press? Raw its suffering due to my torn labrum. I'm scared to push it full range and its affecting my power. This is just a problem I can keep ignoring and one that will have to be addressed soon. My shirted bench has been doing well in training. Am I a 800 pound bencher again? No not yet. It takes time to build technique, power, CNS and most importantly confidence back up to that kind of weight. My shirt protects my shoulders but my raw power I have always relied on to carry over in my gear is not there.
3. Yep Im injured. This shoulder is deterring me heavily. I just need a break from back to back surgeries before I tackle this one.
Im overall happy with where I am. Better than I was 2 years ago but not 100 percent by no means. There is only so long you can train like we do with a debilitating injury. I am trying my best though. This is where I am right now. Not done but 100 either. But when are we ever. I will keep pushing and doing my best to stay healthy and train smart. This is all I can do for now....
I joined team elitefts™ in 2007. I have been competing in powerlifting for 20 years now. During these past 20 years I have competed raw bench only, multiply bench only, raw push/pull, multiply push/pull, multiply deadlift only, raw full power and multiply full power. I got my start as a raw bench only lifter. My best raw bench-press in competition is 530 pounds in the 242 weight class. I competed raw bench only many years then switched over to multiply bench only. My best multiply bench-press in competition is 805 pounds in the 308 weight class weighing in at 286 pounds.
I have remained ranked as one of the top 15 multiply bench pressers in the world for my weight class for the past 10 years. My best ranking for the year is currently 4th place for my weight class. I hold several APF and SPF Federation state, national and world records. I also have an elite total for full power raw and an elite total for full power multiply.
I am 41 years old. I am a circulation manager for two NC newspapers. I live in Nebo, NC and train at my own private training facility – Nebobarbell. My Greatest achievement is that I am a father of one magnificent, wonderful, smart and beautiful daughter - Katelyn Smith. She trains with me, she is a McDowell High Lady Titan Basketball Player, Lady Bandits Travel Basketball Player, throws shot-put and discs for her High School Track Team, competes with Team Nebobarbell in powerlifting meets and above all is a straight A student with a current 5.0 GPA.
I am currently in off season training and still rehabbing from 2 major surgeries in the past 18 months. The first surgery I went under the knife to have repaired was a complete anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear and a lateral meniscus tear. Both of these injuries were done on the right knee. 7 months later the second surgery was to repair a complete distal biceps tendon tear. I had this reattached to the bone. The injury was to my left arm.