FLEXjs
MuscleHead
- Apr 23, 2012
- 4,421
- 1,573
I was pressured repeatedly by a guy on another board to attend a powerlifting meet for nearly a year and a half, and finally buckled under the pressure and did the RPS comp in NY yesterday. I'd been putting off competing due to chronic shoulder pain/weakness that has held back my bench press. I kept wanting to wait until I had what I felt was a bench that wasn't embarrassing. Which mine is. I did the meet and all 3 lifts anyway.
Headed to Rochester NY on Friday with Mrs FLEX, got weighed in (266) and checked out the venue, got my settings for the mono, then met some people from another board for dinner.
The meet was split into two sessions, AM & PM, due to the sheer number of lifters (I think there was 99 in total). Showed up to the event shortly after 10am to watch the end of the AM session, rules meeting at noon, then lifting started at about 2:30 and went to about 9:30pm.
Got the awards and took pics, then headed back across the border home, getting in around 1am.
Overall it was a blast and I will definitely do it again.
My results:
Squats
Got off to a rough start on my opener (495) because the mono was set up for an outside grip and I use an inside grip; was worried I was going to squash my hands re-racking and my grip was too narrow. I got the lift but I was pissed - lesson learned though; it was my first time lifting in a mono and I didn't think to check the set-up before addressing the bar, and didn't think to stop and have them fix it before my lift. Nailed my 2nd attempt at 525, which was a 10lb PR for me, then smashed right past that with a 545 lift for my final attempt. Super effing happy. That is only 10 lbs less than my lifetime best squat almost 20 years ago.
Bench
Went as expected; nailed my opener of 275 no problem, barely squeezed out my 2nd attempt at 305 (tied my recent gym pr) and bombed a 315 attempt when my right shoulder gave out on me. Yes, I am in pain.
Deadlift
It was forever between my final bench and my first dead due to all the lifters that did bench only. I think all of use were feeling like we lost a lot of steam; it was over 2 hours of downtime for sure. So I turned to caffeine to kickstart myself and it turned my stomach a bit, but it calmed down by the time I finished my warmups. Last warmup was a 5 plate pull and it went up like nothing, and I just held it there, looked across at my buddy Alex that pretty much dragged me to this thing and he gave me a nod and I knew I was going to nail my 525 opener, which I did (and was a bit worried about up until then). Now hindsight being 20/20 I should have been more aggressive with the deads, but it is what it is. Second pull was 550 and it again went up no problem. Final pull was 575 and I had to work for it, but I think I had more in me.
That was all good enough for a 1425 total and a trophy, although I am quite sure I won by default; I don't think anyone else was in my class/division.
Some vids:
My 3rd and final squat - 545
Mine and my Buddy Alex's 2nd bench attempt - 305
Alex went right before me so Lisa just let the camera run.
My 3rd and final deadlift - 575
Couple pics.....
Dinner Friday night:
I'm on the left with the glasses and Mrs. Flex is the brunette behind me. Alex is on my right.
Me, Alex and Bando (he's a member here but I don't think he posts at all anymore) with our trophies at the end of the meet:
Headed to Rochester NY on Friday with Mrs FLEX, got weighed in (266) and checked out the venue, got my settings for the mono, then met some people from another board for dinner.
The meet was split into two sessions, AM & PM, due to the sheer number of lifters (I think there was 99 in total). Showed up to the event shortly after 10am to watch the end of the AM session, rules meeting at noon, then lifting started at about 2:30 and went to about 9:30pm.
Got the awards and took pics, then headed back across the border home, getting in around 1am.
Overall it was a blast and I will definitely do it again.
My results:
Squats
Got off to a rough start on my opener (495) because the mono was set up for an outside grip and I use an inside grip; was worried I was going to squash my hands re-racking and my grip was too narrow. I got the lift but I was pissed - lesson learned though; it was my first time lifting in a mono and I didn't think to check the set-up before addressing the bar, and didn't think to stop and have them fix it before my lift. Nailed my 2nd attempt at 525, which was a 10lb PR for me, then smashed right past that with a 545 lift for my final attempt. Super effing happy. That is only 10 lbs less than my lifetime best squat almost 20 years ago.
Bench
Went as expected; nailed my opener of 275 no problem, barely squeezed out my 2nd attempt at 305 (tied my recent gym pr) and bombed a 315 attempt when my right shoulder gave out on me. Yes, I am in pain.
Deadlift
It was forever between my final bench and my first dead due to all the lifters that did bench only. I think all of use were feeling like we lost a lot of steam; it was over 2 hours of downtime for sure. So I turned to caffeine to kickstart myself and it turned my stomach a bit, but it calmed down by the time I finished my warmups. Last warmup was a 5 plate pull and it went up like nothing, and I just held it there, looked across at my buddy Alex that pretty much dragged me to this thing and he gave me a nod and I knew I was going to nail my 525 opener, which I did (and was a bit worried about up until then). Now hindsight being 20/20 I should have been more aggressive with the deads, but it is what it is. Second pull was 550 and it again went up no problem. Final pull was 575 and I had to work for it, but I think I had more in me.
That was all good enough for a 1425 total and a trophy, although I am quite sure I won by default; I don't think anyone else was in my class/division.
Some vids:
My 3rd and final squat - 545
Mine and my Buddy Alex's 2nd bench attempt - 305
Alex went right before me so Lisa just let the camera run.
My 3rd and final deadlift - 575
Couple pics.....
Dinner Friday night:
I'm on the left with the glasses and Mrs. Flex is the brunette behind me. Alex is on my right.
Me, Alex and Bando (he's a member here but I don't think he posts at all anymore) with our trophies at the end of the meet:
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