To say I am proud of this woman is an understatement. In the past several months adversity has hit her in the mouth and she has taken the punches and came back and kicked adversities ass! Besides her working her ass off all the time and taking care of her family, she is constantly taking care of others, namely myself. When my father past away a few weeks ago (by the way she lost here father several months ago as well) she was my rock. When I was hurting and crying she held my head up. No matter how tough or long her days were she was there making sure I was taken care of. Melissa Byrd is more than my woman or friend she is now my fiancé and my fiancé kicked some ass at her meet this weekend after a 16 pound weight cut to the 114 weight class (loosing the final 3 pounds the morning of weigh in's in the sauna!). Melissa was going after her elite total for this meet but came of short. The weight cut seemed to be too much and really affected her achieving this but she battled through this meet achieving PR's on her squat, bench, deadlift and total! She never allowed herself to get shook on the squats after going 1 for 3 and battled through the bench and deadlift to hit a 77 pound meet PR total at the 114 weight class! You showed me what you were made of Lil momma and I think you showed yourself too. You never gave up and never stopped believing in yourself. I am so proud of you and so very in love with you. Thank you for all you do and who you are. Congratulations! I want to thank all of Team Nebobarbell for supporting each other and helping one another today. We are a Team and a family and that shinned through today! I also want to thank Laura Phelps Sweatt and Shane Sweatt for putting on one of the best meets I have ever attended. Thank you to all the judges, spotters, loaders, announcer and ladies running the table at this event. You each did a fantastic job today! We are already looking forward to coming back next year!
Here is what Melissa accomplished:
6 for 9 on attempts
31 pound PR Squat - 190 pounds
13 pound PR Bench - 85 pounds
33 pound PR deadlift - 275 pounds
77 pound PR total - 550 pounds
4 - New SPF State Records
1st Place Victory
Current National Female 114 Class Raw with wraps Master 40+ Rankings:
Melissa Byrd:
Squat - 4th!
Deadlift - 7th!
Total - 5th!
Melissa Byrd's continued progress from her 1st Powerlifting meet to her meet this past weekend (yes I keep spred sheets with all info on everyone of my lifters). Numbers don't lie. She has had a 230 pound meet total increase in less than 21 months. That comes out to an 11 pound increase she is having every month on her total....just saying....
In Melissa's own words from her Facebook post:
"It has taken me a couple days to let everything sink in...what a weekend! I went into this meet with big goals in my head..some of which I did not achieve but walked away with many many bigger and better things. I stood in awe and admiration of all the women I was privileged enough to share the platform with, all the wonderful people I met and new friends I made. I went 1 for 3 on my squat (not at all what I wanted to do) got upset and mad at myself. Had a long talk with myself and inner demons...came back and went 2 for 3 on bench and 3 for 3 on deadlift...hit PRS on all my lifts and a 77 lb total PR. I can't begin to thank you enough Joey for all that you do for me and our team. Thank you for all the coaching, pushing, wrapping my knees, planning each and everything out, teaching, caring, and believing in me when I can't believe in myself. Yes it took me getting the lifts but it is you that is my strength. Your my coach, my best friend and now my fiance what a perfect day....Thank you to my team for being there supporting and cheering and those that sat in the sauna and died with me when you didn't have to..that means so much. Thank you to Complete Nutrition for providing me with all the supplements for my training and weight cut...which by the way see ya 114s, my body just can't handle that cut any more. Thank you for believing in me. A special thank you to Laura for holding an incredible meet! Already looking forward to next year!"
