It’s been 9 long years since I competed in a Powerlifting event. The road to yesterday’s event, albeit a mock meet in my local gym, was a more like a cross country trip where you take a lot of exits, getting on and off the highway frequently, than an actual road. My last meet was equipped, stuffed into a Metal Squat Suit, Bench Shirt and Deadlift Suit. So the first order of business after competing was to relearn how to lift without the gear. I found my raw strength not up to snuff, so I tried a variety of means to improve. Then I decided to diet down to sexy bodyfat levels, then swore off powerlifting and did some chaotic lifting of the heavy variety. I even spent 6 months or so learning how to do the Olympic Lifts. I then focused on hypertrophy and made some real progress and I felt I was in a good place until I saw the most inspirational speech I’d ever witnessed; one by the man, the myth, the legend, Arnold.
- If you don’t have a goal, you drift around, and you don’t end up anywhere.
- You’ve got to have a purpose, no matter what you do in life.
- I hate Plan B. We function better without a safety net.
- Don’t be afraid of failing. There’s nothing wrong with failing.
- What’s not okay, is when you fail, you stay down.
Motivated like never before, I decided then and there that my drifting days were over and I would pursue the training I love, which is Powerlifting. It’s training with a purpose and one that doesn’t involve posing in the mirror in my underwear having shaved my legs and covered myself in tanning spray. I went to the gym the next day and deviated from my predetermined hypertrophy training and did some low bar squats. I went through the treasure trove of Powerlifting programming I had in my possession and selected the only one I felt was supported by the evidence I’d been studying in my PT course, and with my trusty training partner–my daughter–the journey began.
We completed the 12-week peaking cycle (well almost. We cut it short two weeks due to some logistical issues so we could complete the Mock Meet together) and finally, the day arrived to put up or shut up.
I’ve had long term goals for bench marks in the three lifts that are not particularly lofty. After all, lots of people can hit the numbers I’ve wanted. But I hadn’t, and wanted them badly. During our cycle, the estimated 1RM kept climbing based on the RPE chart we were using and I started getting a little skeptical. My first 300-lb squat occurred during the training cycle and there’s something about starting with a ‘3’ that brought on significant nervousness. But it came and went with ease and I started believing in the system we were using, and more importantly, myself.
We both hit numerous PR’s along the way so I started questioning the need to even do the Mock Meet, since its purpose is to be sure the program is working. Thankfully, my daughter was not taking no for an answer, so it was on like Donkey Kong. To keep my mind focused during the taper week where so little training takes place, to allow the fatigue to dissipate, I did a water cut to make weight just as if this was the real deal. I easily dropped 4 lbs in a few days with water loading and cutting carbs and calories and feasted on almost 4,000 calories the day before the meet.
To say it was successful is to understate the results and the experience. We had a great time, we hit milestone numbers for both of us, and I exceeded all my expectations. After squatting 323–easily surpassing the 315 goal I’d always wanted–I wasn’t going to take a third attempt. My kids convinced my otherwise and I put 340-lbs on the bar. It felt like a ton of bricks on my back as I walked it out, and my last thought before squatting was, if I fail, no big deal. But failure was not in the cards. I hit a 30-lb squat PR.
The bench press has always been my nemesis, with my relatively slender frame and gorilla length arms. It remains my weakest lift, but I did PR with a 215-lb competition bench. By competition, I mean with a pause long enough to get a Press command from the judge.
Deadlifting was the biggest surprise of all, since I’d not pulled more than 365-lbs in training, and in fact, I’d never pulled more than 365 lbs Sumo style. I opened with 380 per my e1RM chart and Izzy’s instructions for openers. So I already had a PR on my opening attempt. I don’t recall my second at all, because the third attempt was a 415-lb pull, which I had done once before Conventional style in 2013, resulting in a full distal rupture of the bicep tendon. Using a Hook Grip, I wasn’t worried about a repeat of that disaster, but I was worried about injuring my upper glutes which was a regular occurrence for me in the past on heavy Sumo pulls. Fortunately, there were no injuries on this day and a pulled a 50-lb PR.
My daughter also set PR’s in all three lifts, cementing my decision to use this program again for the real event in September in Charlotte. I will make some modifications to the RPE charts we use, customizing them to our training results so they more accurately reflect our e1RM’s. I will also dig back into the manuals I have stored to select accessory work based on our weakest links, rather than just choosing generic accessory lifts.
Maybe I can put the fear of failure out of my mind going forward, but I’m not counting on it. I think it’s more likely the fear of injury at a maximum effort rather than the actual failure of the lift, but blowing through my previous mental barriers may go a long way toward setting the stage for future monster lifts.
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