Saturday 07/16/11

Phil:

Cornhusker State Games
Powerlifting Meet


Kiley:

Rest Day

4 comments:

chris said...

1:00 1.5PD KBS
Rest 1:00
1:00 Pushups
Rest 1:00
1:00 Burpees

26 / 32 / 19

Phil said...

This comment will be in several parts - disregard at will.

The meet went well, was a lot of fun, and I'd definitely do another one. I still prefer O-lift meets, but for now, I'll take what I can get (and then again, I've never done an O-lift meet - I've only spectated).

I went conservative with all my lifts. I was actually somewhat impressed with myself - I planned out all the lifts ahead of time and actually stuck with those numbers. The conservative approach was for several reasons:

1. Earlier this week marked the first time I had benched and deadlifted in over 2-3 months, so I didn't want to injure myself (especially with a stupidly heavy deadlift attempt).

2. My right arm was definitely hurting from back squat since I squatted on Sunday, Wednesday, and then again Thursday to figure out my opener. And then of course, I squatted in the meet as well. As a result, although I stuck by my planned BP numbers, that was the only lift were I was actually a little bummed by the numbers. That said, I'm still glad I went with those numbers - I just definitely want to do more next time.

3. I was coaching Reid, Ian, and Lotte, and it was their first meet as well as mine, so I didn't want to have to think about much when getting ready for my own lifts.

4. I wanted to leave my first meet having gone 9 for 9, knowing I could have probably done more, and more importantly, wanting to do more.

Back Squat
1. 162.5 kg (358#)
2. 170 kg (374.7#)
3. 182.5 kg (402.2#)

I wanted to at least break 400#. All three lifts were smooth, but I definitely benefited from a quick judge on the last one - he said "rack" as soon as I stood up, which was good because I started to walk forward to rack it without thinking about the rack command.

Bench Press
1. 107.5 kg (236.7#)
2. 115 kg (253.5#)
3. 120 kg (264.5#)

The paused benching takes some getting used to, and it does reduce one's bench numbers a bit (but not much), but it's not too bad - I think I could have hit 275# and more without the elbow pain . . . next time.

Deadlift
1. 207.5 kg (457.2#)
2. 217.5 kg (479.5#)
3. 227.5 kg (501.5#)

I looked forward to deadlifting the most. Both squat and deadlift were about 20# below my maxes, but I don't know if I could have hit those numbers right now anyway (deadlift probably, back squat very iffy). I got a compliment of sorts on the last deadlift - one of the head guys said to me, "You're just warming up!" in a "Why didn't you do more for your DL attempts" manner. The state record is 562#, and I'd like to try to break that next summer.

Phil said...

I got to see a few 600# deadlifts as well (fortunately, not in my weight class - one was below my class, and I think several were above my class). That was impressive - as were some 500# squats.

I got 2nd in my weight class (220# - open), but that's not impressive since I was effectively competing against only one other guy - he beat me by about 40#. Two of the other guys in my weight class were in the special olympics, and it was awesome to see them lift - there was actually a whole team of them lifting - probably 8-10 guys . . . really neat to see.

Let's see . . . what else?
1. Most everyone was very friendly and helpful, and we were able to help out a couple of high school lifters from Hastings as well since their belts weren't legal. Related to that - the belt I like to use for deadlifting wasn't legal either (which I knew would probably be the case), and borrowing someone else's to use was very simple since everyone was friendly (thanks Marvin).

2. I lifted all my openers once in my warm-ups (and had Reid, Ian, and Lotte do the same). As I become more experienced (and my openers get harder), I probably won't do this, but I wanted to approach my first lift already knowing that it wasn't a problem so I could think about the commands (and thus not getting red-lighted . . . like I almost did on my last squat).

3. I warmed up for deadlift with a guy named Matt - he's in the 242# class and pretty darn strong (he finished with a 600# DL). I learned something new from him. He and I finished warming up the DL with 455# (the competition lifts were with kilo plates, but Lincoln Christian's weight room has the usual pound plates, and that was where everyone warmed up). After lifting it once, he said, "Yep, definitely changing my opener . . . that was light as $@#% [poop]." I never knew the official weight of poop, and since I never intended to pick it up, I had always resigned myself to never knowing. But now I know (and knowing's half the battle - Go Joe!). I was surprised to learn how heavy poop really was.

Also, I guess that makes my opener a pretty poopy attempt.

4. I do not understand the draw of equipped lifting. I truly don't get it. Neither do Reid, Ian, and Lotte, and in fact they do some pretty good impersonations of people wearing bench shirts (we had to work on minimizing all such comments and impersonations . . . especially when one is sitting near equipped lifters). That said, it seems unlikely that all equipped lifters are simply ridiculous people, so perhaps there is something there that I just don't understand and perhaps simply won't understand until I try it myself. I don't anticipate that happening anytime soon (ok, pretty much ever, but who knows?).

5. As with many weight class sports, it often seems that many athletes - though not all - in the highest weight class(es) are there by convenience rather than by choice. This is unfortunate.

Phil said...

Chris - you would really enjoy this. I will be on the look-out for more (since Lotte certainly wants to do more of them, so do a few other students, and I do as well).

It does make for a long day - we left at school at 6:30 a.m. and returned at about 6:30 p.m. I then went home, showered, ate some more (after my BK Double Stack and chocolate shake in Lincoln . . . awesome), and then headed for the WL nationals in Council Bluffs. I missed seeing the 85 kg-ers snatch, but I saw them C & J, and the 85 kg class ended with Kendrick Farris attempting to break the American record for the C & J - he already holds it with 203 kg and was going for 204 kg. He cleaned it easily but missed the jerk forward. Awesome to watch, and the atmosphere was sweet. I stuck around to watch the 94 kg class snatch, and saw Jon North win the snatch by hitting 150 kg and then 160 kg. North is interesting - his antics are somewhere between obnoxious and pretty darn entertaining. Most of a WL meet is not very loud, but he gets the crowd going both before and after a lift (and then Glen Pendlay yells at him to get back to the warm-up room - also entertaining).

I then went home, had a glass of milk, and fell asleep on the couch in the middle of selecting something on Netflix to watch. Awesome.

Longest comment ever. A three-parter.