RPS South Jersey Rumble
This past weekend, I was at the RPS South Jersey Rumble helping out a total of 5 lifters over course of the 2-day event.
When you commit to a powerlifting team, you tend to find yourself at meets to help as much, if not more than actually lifting. While far more tiring then lifting, It’s become one of my favorite aspects of this sport, especially when I get to help a new lifter crush it in their first meet, or a more seasoned athlete break through a landmark pr.
This weekend I got to be a part of both, as well as everything in between.
Saturday morning we had three ladies from the group, Jessica, Tina and Lauren. Jessica has a few meets under her belt, While Lauren and Tina were hitting the platform for the first time.
All three crushed it! Jessica and Lauren both tend 8 for 9, while Tina had a 9 for 9 day with more in the tank. We were all extremely happy with how these ladies represented our growing team, and we’re looking forward to seeing just how strong they will get as they continue on.
After the morning session, we grabbed some lunch at the hotel restaurant where we made fun of our training partner James’ ridiculously juvenile lunch of chicken fingers and a Mountain Dew. After recharging a bit , we got ready for the second session to coach another newish addition to the team, Demetrius Barefield in the afternoon.
We all stayed, that is, except for Ferret, who had to leave to catch a flight. He was on his way to a Caribbean Cruise… with his parents. Yeah, I know.
“D” as we call him (because “Demetrius” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue when you’re trying to psych a guy up) got off to a rocky start, only making his opener squat. D is super long limbed with a short torso, so this lift does not come naturally to him, and he had some technique issues we will need to address for the next meet. He did however make up some ground, going 3 for 3 in the bench, then went on to pull a landmark pr of 500 in the deadlift.
Congrats D!
The rest of the crew was off the hook for Sunday, but I still had one more session to go to handle my client, Jarred.
I’ve been training Jarred for almost 2 years now, and while he has made steady progress, the last year has not been kind to him lifting wise. A series of personal and professional commitments (Jarred is a NYC cop) have kept on throwing monkey wrenches into his contest schedule, causing him to have to back out of multiple meets. Although he’s been training hard, It had been a year since he made it to a contest platform and he was eager to make up for lost time.
Jarred came out strong in the squat, going 3 for 3 and smoking a 30lb pr.
We stayed conservative in the bench due to a nagging shoulder issue but he was able to get within 5 lbs of his pr , which put him in position to make a pr total on his first attempt deadlift. He went on to make all his pulls, earning him a 55lb pr total to finish the day.
In addition to seeing some good friends crush prs, I also got to catch up with some great friends that I only get to see a couple of times per year (if that). There were honestly too many to mention, and I’d hate to leave anyone out, but lately, meets have been feeling more like reunions than competitions. I guess that means I am getting old.
Before I sign off, I also need to thank the meet directors. The last thing you want to see as a coach is your lifters unable to perform to their best due to issues with the meet itself (bad equipment, inconsistent judging, meet dragging on forever, etc). For that reason, I’d like to thank Gene and Ame Rychlak for providing another quality event. I try to stay out of the typical powerlifting politics, but I really do have to say that the RPS runs some of the best meets on the East Coast. Plenty of equipment, brisk pace, and consistent calls. Plus, the meet was at a nice hotel with a restaurant. As a handler, it’s a big plus to be able to sit down to a good meal at the meet, rather than go off searching for a Subway or McDonalds between flights.
So that’s all for this meet report, now it’s time to get back to work and get strong myself!