I’ve been meaning to do a write up on my recent Powerlifting Meet, but just haven’t felt up to writing these days. It was May 22, 2021 and overall, I’m very pleased with how it went.
My goal was use this as a practice run for the November Competition I’ve already signed up for, so I treated it exactly as that Meet should go. I did a small weight cut, 24-hour weigh in, and even wore a singlet for the lifts (see Instagram for my carb-depleted dehydrated condition).
I was fortunate enough to have a Live Stream of the Hoosier Cup Powerlifting Meet that same day, so I had it on in the background which created a real competition ambiance.
I opened with a 292-lb Squat which I had done the Tuesday before, so it was smooth and easy. I waited 12 minutes between attempts since that seemed to be the average for each lifter in the various flights. I used an Attempt Selector spreadsheet I had saved from years ago and based my attempts on that. I chose 309-lbs for my second, which was 4 lbs more than any singles I done during prep. Again, smooth and easy. So for my third and final, I went with 320-lbs,. My RPE calculator said my estimated 1RM was 334-lbs, but I played it conservatively as I wanted to hit all my lifts and after all, I was lifting alone. The 320-lb Squat slowed quite a bit, but I wouldn’t say it ever stopped so I was probably good for at least another 5-10 lbs. Nonetheless, the 320-lbs was only 20 lbs off my all time PR from the Mock Meet in 2019, but I’m 20 lbs lighter in body weight now, so I’ll take that.
I was pretty stoked about how my Bench Press progressed through my training blocks. While I’m still a lousy Bencher, and probably always will be with my gorilla arms, I knew I’d match my 215-lb PR even at a svelte 162.6 lbs. I opened with an easy 198, took my 12 minutes to hit 209 for my second and then did the expected 215 without issue.
The Deadlift was an interesting adventure. Unbeknownst to me, my barbells are 32mm in diameter, which is much thicker than a Competition Power Bar, and even more than a Deadlift Bar, which they use in the USPA. I’ve been having grip issues throughout training, and I’ve torn lots of skin off my thumbs, which I didn’t realize was due to that 32mm barbell. When I bought them, I just figured a barbell was barbell, you know? Anyway, I opened with 375-lbs which I had done in training several times and had no issues with it. I took 397-lbs for my second, and while I pulled it without trouble, I could feel it slipping even though I was Hook Gripping the hell out of it. When I took 405-lbs for a third, I got to lockout, but somehow lost my balance at the top and had to take a small step forward to not fall over. That would surely have gotten Red Lights in competition, so I count that as a No Lift and will take the 397-lbs.
So all in all, a successful Meet with a 932-lb total in the Masters 55-59 age group, 165-lb weight class. That’s good enough for 11th place all time in that class in the USPA. I’ve got my eyes set on a top 10 finish come November, so I’ll need to find a few more pounds between now and then. I’m looking forward to basically starting over from scratch; trying different strategies from the RTS system to find the ones that work best for me.
My primary goal was to compete, and finish without injury. I didn’t quite get that though as I have some pretty serious bicep tendinitis and lateral epycondilitis working at the moment, in the same arm too, which is no joy. But it is tolerable and I’m working to rehab it with some at home PT.
Link to the best three lifts and my Certificate of Completion.
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