5/16

UPA Spring Showdown meet (my first geared meet)

A bunch of my Nemisis teammates showed up to help and cheer me on. That was awesome, especially after my 3rd bench attempt.

I was in flight C. I thought they were still lifting in flight B when was standing in the crowd and heard my name as on deck. My knee wrap guy was way at the other end of the place in the warmup room. I ran in there and yelled at him to get out. He hurriedly wrapped me, not very tight, but we got it done just in time.

Squat
584 - rushed, but no problem
628 - solid
661 failed. The weight got slightly forward and it was way too heavy to finish with a good morning. It was very close to the top and moving fast too. I'll get this.

Bench - I had three teammates as spotters plus another guy yelling cues to me while I was benching. This was awesome.
452 - I had trouble touching this one because I tucked my elbows way to soon on the descent (I have always done this). It went up fast.
485 - Much better form. This was the best I have done at keeping my elbows out from the top while wearing a shirt.
507 - Better on the descent than the previous lift. Locking it out was hard, but I got it. This is a UPA national record for equipped 50-54 years old at 242.5 bw.

DL
606 - no problem, but I rounded my upper back a little when I was grabbing the bar.
650 - felt heavy, but it went up with no problem. Again, I rounded my upper back a little when I was grabbing the bar. That made it feel heavier than it should have. This is a UPA national record for equipped 50-54 years old at 242.5 bw.
683 failed a few inches off the ground. Again, despite trying to focus on not rounding my back as I grabbed the bar, I rounded my upper back a little when I was grabbing the bar. That made it so I had no chance of getting this weight up. I was completely gassed. I'm sure being worn out had a lot to do with the upper back rounding.

Total 1785. I missed the total national record by 17 lbs. A guy went 755/462/584 = 1802 on 4/25/15. I should have beat this if I had got my squat. Several people commented about how my squat form looked perfect. Some said I should be able to squat 700 no problem. I agree. I think once I get used to putting that much on my back, I will squat 700+.

I'm working on videos now.

Cliffs:
7/9 lifts, narrowly missed going 8/9, 1785 total, two UPA national records, narrowly missed a third.

Individual video links before I edit them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVDr1kKLvIM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePPLVVsjdqc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wBad0rT2C4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GQ-v4paDHc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXGwOlj_YSA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ydwP5y1kVA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZbssCTJv5A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo46klvJxxE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNVpmsEG5nY

cha continues the awesomeness. Nice work

BEAST

Awesome performance, man!

You keep crushing those weights cha, insane!

Looking at your bench spotters, do you think these guys would be able to catch that weight in time if your suit would rip, like in that gif? I honestly don't think so. Or are these guys not your usual spotters? Just curious

Jesus. Those lifts

I couldn't believe you missed that last squat. It went up so smooth and easy until the moment of failure. 700+ for sure soon.jpg

wow awesome. those bench presses looked soo hard.

3rd bench was the best shirted bench ive seen from you.

How the hell did your first bench pass

Awesome lifting!

Great work cha

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Yes. All three of those guys squat and DL > 600. The middle guy does it raw. The guy on the left of the screen regularly squats >700 in briefs. The guy on the right looks skinny, but he squats and DLs over 600 on a regular basis and he is one of the best spotters I know. They are all used to spotting people benching over 700 and sometimes 800. I've seen them save people benching and squatting a hell of a lot more weight than I've ever attempted. They are the best.

The biggest danger in shirted benching is when your elbows get lower (like more towards your feet) than the bar. When that happens, you can dump the bar right on your face very easily. This particular bench has a face protector so that cant happen. All these guys are used to benches without that, and spotting way heavier weights.

Thanks!

yeah, it started moving forward and I couldnt stop it.
Thanks!

lol, I know, right? Apparently in UPA, the bar can rock back and forth on the descent. Once it touches your chest, you have to demonstrate control, then once you get the press command, it has to continue upward with no downward movement.

Thanks!

Thanks!

I knocked Priest off one of his white boards spots, woot! (242 DL)

Inspiring stuff. Great work

That white board is awesome. Only you and Eddie (he's the native american guy?) have kept him from running a block of 5 weight classes, lol.

Awesome meet! That last bench looked really good to me btw. The DL it kind of just looked like you were tired on all of them. Which makes sense given the previous lifts.

Thanks!

Thanks!

yeah, that's Eddie. He's pulled 655 in training - super strong for a guy his size.

I was tired after the squats. I ate some stuff that upset my stomach the day before the meet and that made it hard to sleep Friday night - I was awake over half the night. I woke up super tired the day of the meet and if that wasnt bad enough, I had the runs during warmups. Along with it being hot and humid in there, that made it hard for me to get/stay hydrated all day. I was definitely not at my best by the end of the meet.

I'm still satisfied with how everything went though. According to the USPA classification chart (this was not a USPA meet, but UPA's chart doesnt account for age), my total was "Elite" at 1786 (1783 is "Elite") and my DL is "Int'l Elite" at 650 (632). My understanding is Int'l Elite is pro level, so I now have a pro level DL. I'll need a 1944 total for a pro total. I dont expect that at my June meet, but I have a shot to get that by August or November maybe.

That is so sick.

Who is Priest and how on earth does he have an 80lb difference through his different weight classes? That is rather crazy.

This is Priest: http://www.powerliftingwatch.com/node/28316

He's my main coach and has become a good friend - he's a great guy. He's one of the best thinkers about powerlifting in the world imo - he's spent a lot of time studying all the great lifters' techniques and programs. He knows and has spent significant time with the biggest names in the sport, including Louie Simmons, Andy Bolton, Ed Coan, Scott Mendelson & a whole lot more.

The 165 was many years ago. He's been in powerlifting for more than 20 years. He's worked hard to get bigger and struggles to stay close to 220 lbs. He's usually ~210-215 these days. One meet, he got a little over 220 and had to lift at 242.

Thanks. I should have figured it was a long career. Even 165 to 220 is a huge difference. Kind of sickening to think his 2350 is only good for 5th.

Late, but nice TR and nice job as always, cha!

yeah, he has packed on a lot of muscle over the years. As a frame of reference, I've put on about 30 lbs over the past 20 years. I'm at roughly similar BF% now as I was back then I think (cant say for sure, but I was a fairly lean 205 lbs back then), and I have only lifted regularly about half of the time or less since then. I dont think Priest's body weight/muscle gains are unusual for someone who has been at the top levels of PLing for so long.

2350 is 5th in open class, which he still competes in, but if you filter out lifters over 40 years old, his 2353 is first by a long way. For 220 multiply over 40 years old, 2021 is a distant second. He's 41. You have to subscribe to Powerliftingwatch.com to have access to these stats.

Changing the subject slightly, once UPA posts results from my last meet & Powerliftingwatch.com updates the 242 multiply over 50 years old list for all federations, I'll have the #5 squat, #5 bench (which I did in a single ply shirt), tied for #2 DL and #3 total.

Thanks!

So awesome.

Just my own 2 cents here:

I think rolling 1x per day is probably ok for ITBs that are flaring up. But you also need to focus on what other potential issues could be at the root of the problem.

My own experience was that my hips were very tight and my ankles had way too much range of motion. These two things combined were the primary causes of my ITB problems -- at least according to my ART guy.

I need to look into those Voodoo things.

Tom, congrats on making the whiteboard!