2018 APF/AAPF IL Raw Power Challenge 12-15-18
Today is the day that all gym bros treat every gym day as, MAX OUT DAY! That's right, today we go for all three projected meet attempts on Squat and Bench. I will quickly tell you that it did not go as PLANNED. I will follow that statement by, thats OK cause when you have been doing this for long enough, I am not claiming to have been doing it for long, PR's usually only come on the platform and not before. Today supports that theory as I missed my third projected Squat and passed on my third bench set.
Squats have been giving me an odd ailment for the past few years that when I get heavy I have this bruise like feeling on the front of my left shin. It almost feels like shin splints and I am always worried about a stress fracture. On my last squat, I started shifting to my left and felt that spot more and more. That got into my head and once I realized I did not have my usual speed out of the hole and started to "grind" I bailed on finishing the squat. I put grind in parentheses cause I tend to not push through for very long before bailing on a heavyweight. I consider myself in the explosive category for lifters and when I strain too much, as mentioned, I shut it down. I would hope at a meet I would push through this lift cause as you see it was almost there.
The bench was feeling awesome and I thought for sure I was going to keep my butt down today. 355 felt great and after taking 375 I was nervous and excited to possibly take 380-385. I felt my butt shift a little bit and when watching the video and saw it came off the bench I did not think a strain and almost certain butt lift on another attempt was worth it. I watched the lift a few more times and also saw that my bar speed slowed drastically from 355 to 375 so I decided to pass, is was still more pissed that my butt lifted on 375.