Meet day write-up.. Great day 8-for-8.. 1680 PR total

Meet day went great. Need to appreciate it, and enjoy it when it happens.. because there are plenty of times it doesn't. Everything clicked well and I made every attempt. Now its time to take a few days off and recover before heading into off-season to attack my weaknesses and grow for October.

Attempts:

Squat: 550, 600 (PR), 630 (PR)

Bench: 460, 480, 500 (PR)

Deadlift: 510, 550 (PR), pass



Assorted:

Getting a hotel room close by was such a big help. Got to sleep by 9:30, woke up at 6 refreshed, grabbed breakfast and headed over. No rush.

Usually I make a 1 hour drive on meet day and it really kicks the shit out of you.

Also had a bunch of guys I train with show up and handle. This was key as well. Not just wrapping and stuff, but also helping make smart decisions and keep me on track and reminding me to rest and such.

Huge thanks to my training partners Fred Mackinnon and Tyler Linster. I can honestly say I wouldn't have had this success without them.

Squat:
Smartest thing I did was open here with a true "last warm-up".. 550 was a joke and really got me feeling good to attack the 600 and 630 pr lifts.

My setup was totally comfortable here. we've been training on a monolift since moving to my garage gym, and it was key to having my setup perfect.

3 big things i needed to remember today was knees out, arch hard, and make sure my first move out of the hole was into the bar, and not rising with my hips and throwing me forward.

Maybe had another 20lbs here to 650 or so, but I'm happy. This was without briefs, and the suit is kinda big since i sized it to work with briefs.

Bench:
Real surprise here. My pre-meet bench touches went shitty quite honestly. Only 3 successful touches in the meet prep cycle.

What did I focus on?
Bend the bar, keeping it on my lats, being patient on the way down and letting it touch instead of forcing it, and I also kept my head planted. I didn't lift my head. I think that helped keep the shoulders set. All 3 lifts flew up, and I think this lift has the greatest opportunity for gain in the coming month. Finished up with 500, but I think 520/530 is in the near future.

Deadlift:
Like Brian Carroll always told me, you gotta know yourself and pull for a total. Here's the deal. I'm 43 years old. I'm a 2 deadlift guy. I just don't have 3 heavy pulls in me right now.

I opened with a light 510 just to get in a total, then went to 550 which was a 5lb pr over last meet. 570 would've given me 1700 but it wasn't there today. I knew it. why risk injury and ruin a good day. 8 for 8.

Here's something strange that happened on deadlift:

In training, I never, ever have a problem with my deadlifts getting out in front of me. I drag that shit up my shins and drive my chest back...

On BOTH deadlifts (the opener 510 more than the 550 because I realized it and tried to fix it).. not sure why..but about mid-shin the bar drifted out front.. I'm wondering if something was pre-exhausted from the squats/benches and causing a weakness somewhere and making me go forward on my pulls.. anyhow.. its something for me to work on.

In the coming off-season I want to really hammer my deadlift, especially now that we have a GHR at the gym. Also, I think I am going to try geared sumo pulls and see how I do. Right now I still pull raw conventional.

October we are chasing 1700/1800 ...