2021 was quite the year for me when it comes to Powerlifting. I finally stopped just periodically training the Powerlifts and actually competed again. It wasn’t my first time competing obviously, since I competed back in 2008 and 2010 in the Equipped Glory Days, but my first time competing in Raw Powerlifting. I also did the Garage Gym Competition, which while not an officially sanctioned Meet, I still prepped for it and ran it myself like an actual Meet. The bottom line is, I prepped and competed three times in a span of 9 months.
I’ve learned so much it’s hard to quantify. After competing Saturday, I spent Sunday reflecting on what I’ve accomplished. It’s hard to put the feeling into words, but I’m going to try, since that’s why I pay for this blog. To begin with, I had to figure out how to actually prep for a competition, and I spent countless days reading, watching videos and even completed the RTS Emerging Strategies course. I had to improve my knowledge of how Meets are run, so that I could practice how I’d compete. I did this by watching many, many Meets on YouTube. I had to determine the best means of cutting weight to ensure I came in under my weight class limit. I had to determine attempt selection, pick out my gear and figure out how to manage my warm-up’s on Meet day. Most of all, I had to improve my technique and practice, practice, practice. I did all of this alone, with only YouTube, podcasts and blogs to guide me. Probably the coolest thing I did was train my brain to think in kilograms. I wasn’t going to repeat the mistake from my July Meet, where I tried to do the conversions from pounds to kilos in the warm up area. So I spent the last 4 months or so using only KG’s for my training weights, and I even adjusted my bathroom scale to KG’s. It was a hard road, but my brain eventually got with the program.
I’m not satisfied with my overall performance, and I imagine I may never be, but I’m very satisfied with how far I’ve come and I’m proud of myself for the effort and putting up on the platform. There aren’t many of us doing this thing, and the population declines precipitously as the birthdays accumulate. I competed Saturday as a 58-year old, and I believe there was only one competitor older than me in an 80-lifter competition. He competed Bench Press only, so that makes me the oldest Full Power competitor for the USPA 2021 Winter Bash. More on that shortly.
As I mentioned, I basically spent the last 9 months prepping and competing so my body was pretty beat up going into his competition. All my joints hurt, although my elbows are dramatically improved after altering my gripping strategy on the Bench and Deadlift. The most problematic issue is a hip tendon pain that has been bad enough to wake me up at night. I finally decided to try moving my Squat stance in narrower to see if that took some of the pressure off my hip, and it did the trick, but altering my stance so close to the Meet made everything feel a little off. Nonetheless, I was able to Squat without pain and just stayed conservative with my attempts to ensure I was able to complete each Squat to proper depth, and to avoid further aggravating the situation. Success on both counts.
I chose my attempts differently for this Meet after listening to an interview with a couple of the coaches from The Strength Guys. Their approach at attempt selection made a lot of sense to me, so I ran with it. I basically looked back at my block of training and chose the heaviest lift I’d actually done and made that my Second Attempt. My Opening Attempt was the second heaviest lift I’d done during my training leading up to the Meet. This did two things for me: 1) removed a lot of nervousness and anxiety as I knew I could do both my Opener and my Second as I’d recently done them, and 2) allowed me to pick a Third Attempt based on how the Meet was actually going vs. trying to hit a predetermined number.
Opening Squat was as easy as an Opening Squat should be, and I got 3 White Lights from the judges. I felt very comfortable with the closer stance which added to my confidence. For my Second Squat, I tried to only Squat as deep as I needed to, which is a big deal for me as I typically Squat way too deep and that makes it harder, and obviously limits how much weight I can Squat. I knew I cut it a little high but I still got 2 White Lights which still counts! I know I could have called for more weight on my Third, but honestly, it was a crazy busy Meet, with people everywhere, two platforms running simultaneously and I was concerned about my hip knowing I’d have to sink my last Squat a bit deeper to be sure I made depth. So I played it safe and called for a 135 KG third, which I sunk deep and got 3 White Lights for my effort. Sure enough, my hip made its presence known on that last Squat.
Bench Press went very well, especially in light of the longer than expected Press command. I was surprised by how long it took to get the Press on my first Bench, so I’m glad it was an easy weight I could manage without issue. My Second was also a long pause so when it came to pick a Third, I had to back off from the 95 KG Bench I both wanted to hit, and knew I could hit. I had jut done a 94 KG Bench in training a week before, but with the longer pause and my overwhelming desire not to miss a Third Bench as I’ve done in all 3 of my previous Meets, I went with 92.5 KG. The Press command took even longer on this one, and I honestly jumped it. I started pressing the moment I heard a sound emerge from the center judges mouth, and she gave me a Red Light as a result. But the lift itself was flawless and I got 2 White Lights from the side judges. I must say I feel like more of a Powerlifter now that I’ve gotten a few Reds. It means I’m riding right on the edge; not doing more than I need to.
Deadlifts were a little odd as for some reason, the emcee started calling out the attempts in pounds. No idea why they did that. My first two were things of beauty, and so while I was tired and really ready to call it a day, I asked for 185 KG for my Third, which would be a 2.5 KG PR over my last Meet, and smoked it like a cheap cigar. All in all, I ended up with a lower Total than July, but I’m more pleased with this result as my technique was much better, I went 9 for 9 and I wasn’t mindlessly just trying to get through the Competition. I actually had a plan and stuck to it.
Now what? Well, I’ve committed to try gaining some weight and move into a more appropriate weight class for my height. This will be a more difficult task than it sounds, because the weight I want to gain is lean body mass, i.e. muscular weight. I have no illusions about how much more muscle I can add at my age, and with the decades of lifting my body has already adapted to. But I’m going to try. The other issue I’m contending with is actual competition. I look at Powerlifting Meets in two ways; one is competing against my own self improvement and thanks to Open Powerlifting, my peers around the world. The other is competing against peers on the actual Game Day. In the 4 Meets I have done so far, I’ve been the only lifter in my age group and weight class. So I’ve never gone head to head against anyone else. I’d like to do that at some point! This creates a bit of a dilemma for me. I can compete in the Open Division, but that means I’ll be competing against guys half my age or even younger. The Open Division starts at 24 years old. Not exactly comparing myself to my peers. The other option is to look at other Federations where there may be more members. The USPA is one of the largest Federations in the US, but there’s also the USAPL. I believe the USAPL is the largest Federation, but even there, I wouldn’t have much competition at the local or even state level. For example, in last year’s State Championship, there were no Master 2, 75 KG lifters. I don’t plan on being 75 KG for my next Meet, but even in the 83 KG class, there was only one other Masters 2. Not to mention when I turn 60, I’ll be a Masters 3. Slimmer pickings there. There was only one Masters 3 lifter in any weight class. So if I want to experience head to head competition against other lifters, I may have no choice but to compete in the Open, or try to qualify for Regional or National Level Meets. Plenty of time for these decisions.
For now, it’s time to focus on doing more work. More total volume of lifting, and taking some sets to failure, or as close as I’m willing to get. I’ll be trying out the Stronger by Science Reps to Failure program and running it for at least 7-9 months while eating a surplus of calories. My goal is to get to the weight my body is willing to sustain and see where that is. Based on all the reasonable calculators I’ve found, my best case scenario where I’ve packed on as much muscle as my body will likely carry and not allowed myself to get unreasonably fat is the 90 KG weight class. It may take me years to get there, if I ever do. But I’m going to try.
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