This was the 6th year in a row we've hosted our Push/Pull meet at The Strength Lab in Wilmington, Oh. For a small, unsanctioned meet we've had some pretty good lifters over the years; a handful of 500+lb raw benchers and a couple 700+ deadlifters.

This years meet was highlighted by three 500+lb raw benchers. Including, Elitefts CFO Steve Diel, who came down and set a new meet bench record of 520 lbs, after smoking his 500 lb opener. It was pretty cool to have back to back -to back 500+lb benches in our small unsanctioned meet. We had a handful of Strength Lab Trained clients compete and every single one of them did awesome. It takes a lot to get in front of three judges and a crowd and show what you can do. Definitely a proud moment for our Strength Lab coaching staff to have our clients step up to the platform and perform so well. The meet had 30+ benchers and 30+ deadlifters and was finished by 2pm. We're fortunate to have a good powerlifting crew at our gym who did an excellent job judging, spotting and loading.

There are a couple of things I have taken away from running this meet over the past 6 years (aside from what a pain in the @$$ it is to put on a meet). First, is that you can always tell who the veterans of the sport are that truly care about the sport of powerlifting. We have had some elite level lifters come through and despite competing are willing to help out first time competitors or talk to and give advice to lifters throughout the meet. It's pretty awesome to see that guys who probably have nothing to gain from helping out a kid, new to the sport are willing to take the time to help grow the sport of powerlifting.

Second, the energy and excitement you see (especially with the newer lifters) sitting on the sideline of a meet where you are not lifting or handling anyone is a great way to re fuel your passion for training. If you listen to and read a lot of Dave's post he talks about not wanting to be in the gym every day and push the limits in training every day when he was competing, and it's very easy to do. Watching the excitement, and seeing the hard work people have put in pay off was great for me to see and motivate me to keep training hard.