Scott Yard: 2011 USAPL PA State Results

My first step to USAPL Raw nationals is complete. My meet was Sunday and I had a blast. I went into the meet with one goal: to finish and not bomb. Plain and simple. The reason for this is to get to the USAPL nationals you only have to post a total. With my goal being so clear I took this training cycle to do some things I've never done. The biggest thing was going with the “No plan, plan.” I totally winged it. Since I wasn’t worried about numbers for this meet I took that advantage and just did what I felt like. I wanted to experiment with some reverse band squats, heavy band pulls and I pulled heavy every week. I've never done this and decided to give it a shot just in case I was missing out on something. As it turns out, my no plan plan isn’t the best route for me. While my results weren’t too bad bench-wise, my squat and pull felt very weak. I hit great numbers in the gym four to five weeks out, but then slowly fell apart and the over-training crept in. I pulled my last workout two weeks out and barely pulled 700 pounds for a single. Five weeks out I hit a nice 700-pound triple, so I knew it was going to be a tough day. The week before the meet I worked up to a 500 pound pull and it felt heavy. This is not a good sign when your best meet pull is 755 pounds. But then again with the only goal being to finish, I gave the new ideas a shot.

As for the meet, a total of 130 lifters turned out. I weighed in at 256 pounds meet morning. After eating, drinking a liter of water, and snacking on jerky, I weighed 261 pounds prior to the meet. I was 14 pounds lighter then my meet in November. The two hour weigh-in started at noon, and the meet was at 2PM. The judging was strict, but it was fair across the board. I ended up going 4 for 9.

On the squat I opened at 600, and then went 650 pounds and missed on depth. I went 655 pounds next and again was called high. Only this time it was by the head judge too. Ha!

On bench, I opened at 450 pounds for a good lift. I then went 490 pounds for a post-injury PR and got it. I went 502 pounds on a third for a new American record and flat out missed.

On the deadlift I warmed up to 500 and my back was just tired. Not sore, just tired. I opened at 650 pounds and my goal was complete. I then checked the records and decided to go for 716 pounds for a new American record and I missed the damn thing. In total shock I went for it again on a third attempt and the bar didn’t budge. I knew I wasn’t at my best, but damn it was humbling to miss this weight.

I came in first place and received the best lifter award for the raw category. I ended up totaling 1740, but what I really did was gain a ton of experience for my next USAPL meet. I enjoyed the meet and now have a few months to put together a solid plan for Nationals in August. Although my lifts suffered, I gain a lot this meet training-wise. I find it can sometimes be best to learn what NOT to do, rather than to simply keep doing the old tried and true. I enjoyed the USAPL as a whole and look forward to going back. Hopefully next time my squat and pull will come with me and I can put together a total over 1900 pounds.

A few people at the meet asked why I decided to try the USAPL. My answer was very easy, I want more competition. I'm sure I've hit decent numbers in the APA and IPA and I plan to go back eventually. I just came off a 2000 raw total with 765 ,485, 750 pounds in November. But I did it in a class with only one lifter…me. I like to constantly attain new goals. For two years I've been chasing a 2000 pound wrapped raw total. Now that I hit that, I need some new goals. And again that goal is to go to USAPL nationals. Plus the equipment is belt-only and the rules are different. It’s a new challenge in many ways and if your goals don’t evolve you don't evolve either.

Thanks to Elite Fitness Systems for the support. Without them reaching my goals would be so much harder.