No, USAPL Meet Report

So after thinking two days, I don't actually have much to say. Everything was working, the bar path was nearly perfect, 401 pounds felt surprisingly light, and I still fucked it up.

I have laid out my next six weeks of training which starts Monday, and after six weeks, I'll probably do a four week shock micro-cycle.

The hardest thing for me now is resisting the temptation to lift August 20th and put 400 to bed. Really all that will do is cost me two weeks of training. I'd rather train smart and open with 400 in November.

What is probably worth relating is how I eventually calmed down before the meet. On the last Friday I suddenly realized that all I really had to do was go to the meet and hit my 340 pound opening squat. Suddenly all the pressure was off, and I had an enjoyable weekend. I think my arousal level was always between 8 and 9; I never came close to red-lining my brain and losing the ability to think.

I felt very off-form and weak in the bench press, probably because of the weight cut. I did hit a meet PR, and I realized I have a lot of room to improve my bench technique. I'm projecting 275 in November.

Unexpectedly, the dead lift proved to be the high point for me. I have been afraid to dead lift for just over a year now, so I decided to open at a light 330 pounds. Nothing felt good in the warm-up, and I realized I wasn't even sure how I would dead lift. I warmed up the conventional and sumo both, and I decided there was no good reason not to use the sumo pull as I had intended. I thought maybe I would just hit the opener and pass my next two attempts, but after hitting 330 I thought to myself, "okay, that didn't re-injure me, I wonder if I can still do 360." I got 360 though it was a grind and again finding myself uninjured, I wondered if I could still do 375 which is more than I've had on the bar in a year. After my second lift, Elite lifter Matt Wenning told me to concentrate on lowering my butt and getting into an uncomfortable starting position. I made a real effort to to touch my nuts to the bar, and feeling a high degree of discomfort, I started to pull. The first part of the lift was a grind then the bar accelerated and locked out easily. I think the dead lift stopped scaring me, and I think it holds the most possibility for a big increase. I'll take 405 in November.

That's it. Things don't always work. You do a failure analysis, which I have, and move on.