This was the best meet prep I've ever completed, despite my partially torn hamstring a month before the meet. We all know that I am not one to back out of a meet, so I planned to continue on and do my best despite having to completely pull back on lower body training. I had to utilize Hybrid Performance Therapy five days a week to salvage strength, but adaptation is the backbone of this sport.
I did not cut for this meet and could not have been happier. I enjoyed food and drink and simply focused on POWERLIFTING rather than on a number on the scale. If you follow me on social media, you know how vocal I have been about the actual pursuit of strength rather than the fetishization of a bodyweight coefficient or a weight class.
Squats
Warmups were great. Luckily, Ted Toalston and JP Carroll both showed up to help me at this meet, and they were pivotal in my performance. These dudes are not related to me, but they are my family. My last warmup at 775 flew, and I knew that I would have no problem with hitting depth or with hitting my opener and that my hamstring could hold on for at least that. The 825 opener flew, and I told JP to call 881 on my second. This is when I knew I would “earn my regrets" because I actively prepared myself to become injured due to this decision. This would be a 20-pound competition PR. The bar was loaded, and in walking it out, I knew I was strong enough to hit it. However, on the ascent, I felt tissue pull away and knew that my hamstring had let go. But two white lights got me a recorded 400kg competition squat and the irrevocable doubt that the ATWR at 915 is mine when I am healthy. I scratched my third because the rest of the muscle would not have held.
Bench Press
Bench was flying as well, and even if I hit my opener only at 529, I knew I'd leave this meet happy, as that itself is a 15-pound competition PR. My bench has blown up this year due to weight gain and training without pain thanks to Hybrid Performance Therapy. My last warmup at 505 flew, and I knew I was ready. 529 was mint, but I noticed that the pauses were a little inconsistent, with some being very long and others being more akin to what I had trained with in the gym. I called 540 for my second, and with a gracious pause, it flew as well. However, the head judge parked my ass on my third at 551, and I missed at the transition between chest to triceps. But a 540-pound bench press is still a huge PR, and I am damn happy with it.
Deadlift
Going into this, I was incredibly nervous, as my hamstring HURT, and it still hurts quite a bit. I used straps on my warmups to save my hands and got up to 585 and was okay. I moved my opener to 672 to ensure a total, and I hit it just like I should have to get on the board, albeit with some serious pain. But I wasn’t about to walk away. 711 on my second moved as it should and solidified my 10lb PR total of 2131. My third at 740-something was put in by JP, as I didn’t care to know, but my hamstring wasn't having it past my knees, so it wasn’t there that day.
But either way, I am super happy about the day. I hit a PR total, my wife hit a PR total, and everyone who came down to support me means more to me than the lifting ever will. It was incredible. In a sport filled with so much hate, on meet day, it's hard not to feel anything but love.
