So, the last 15 weeks or so has been devoted to training for my 1st geared powerlifting meet. As you may know, Troy and I did a meet in December in Chicago but that was raw. This meet I was able to use my gear which typically adds about a 100 pounds to my squat and deadlift and about 60-80 pounds on my bench.
I based my training off Westside Barbell principles, utilizing the Max Effort Method and Dynamic Effort methods. I would train the DE bench on Mondays, ME squat on Tuesdays, Wednesdays rest, ME Bench on Thursdays, Fridays rest, and Saturdays DE Squat.
The 1st 8 weeks of training were going great and I was seeing PRs all the time. By week 9 I wasn't just plateauing I was just flat out losing strength. My shoulders where killing me from the overload due to the shirt work. Things just started falling apart. I took a week to deload/recover and when I came back my bench was starting to get better and my deadlift was killing it but my squat never recovered and I just wasn't going where I wanted to with that. My bench though was blowing up and my deadlift was consistant. Throughout my training I ended up PR'ing through everything. Before the downward spiral I ended up pulling 515lbs, squating 515, and benching 345. Towards the end of it all things where different.
A few weeks out and my squat was still not where I thought it'd be and my there were a few times where I missed key lockouts on my deadlift. To say the least I thought I was done. There were numerous days where I did not even see the point of training, where I just wanted to stop trying ... everyone was going to be stronger than me, it was a waste of time and money... excuses where flying. To be honest a few times I missed my workouts - i found other things that appeared to have more relavancy. That brings me to my ah-ha moment, my grass-is-always-greener...
Jake and Troy have always preached consistancy and they are both great examples of the word. Sick as dogs or busy as H ... Jake and Troy will still put their wrench in the weight room. Its not just being in the room that will do the job, you still have to bust hump but getting in there and getting it done is by far the most important thing I learned. You only let yourself down more quitting and then everything turns into a negative feedback cycle. Your not training so you numbers go down, your numbers go down so you don't want to train. Getting into the gym, lifting hard, being consistant...disciplined that is what gets you PRs at meets - not 40-50 pounds under your best lifts.
Now, am I statisfied with myself and my efforts, heck ya. I complained and moaned and cut-out on some workouts and didn't watch my nutrition as well as I should have. But there were times where I did just say to myself, "self, suck it up! You wanted this... your in it... now commit!" When it came to game time - I was there - learning as I went. I squatted 69 pounds under my best, benched 30 pounds under my best, and deadlifted 30 pounds under my best. Would I like to have PRed, yup, woulda loved it, did it happen no...will it happen for sure! I just have to go back with the type of training exemplified before me everyday...consistancy/discipline. Having it will pave your path lacking it will cast shadows and you'll be lost. I learned that lesson but I'm still proud of what I did. I choose the hard way, but I feel I learned from it and all in all I still did pretty good. Towards the end of training 445 burried me and I came up with 446 and i couldn't lock ou 484 in my deadlift but I smoked 485 at the meet. So I am happy.
Total meet results
Weighed in at 218 ... after a 6-8 pound weight cut
Squatted 409, 429, 446
Benched 315, miss 349, miss 349
Deadlift 409, 440, 485
Finished 1st place in UPA division wt class 220, 1 of 1.
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