Meet results:

1st - 534.5 Good. Not an easy touch. Not a good transition to lockout.
2nd - 562 Good. Very well-executed. Fast and smooth.
3rd - 578.5 No Go. Very poorly-executed. Touched too low.

1st Place - 308 Submaster
Best Lifter - Open/Submaster
Heaviest bench of day one. Second heaviest bench of the meet.

Difference between night and day, 562 and 578.5, and the difference was entirely mental. The 562 is how I have to mentally approach a heavy attempt: relax, let the bar come down on its own. On 3rd, I was tense and tried to control the bar too much. As a result, it was moving too slow near touch and drifted too low. It barely moved an inch off my stomach after the "press" command.

Muscle-G: My upper back benefits alot from the lockout portion of stiff-leg deadlifts and of course rack lockouts. I also like to do heavy shrugs. I need to add a few lat exercises. For legs, deadlifts and rack squats. I'll pick up squatting again when I can. When I don't have a meet coming up soon I do leg presses. For shoulders, I have to be very careful about injuries, so I do shoulder rehab with very light dumbbells . . . less than 30 pounds. I do modified lateral raises, reverse grip laterals, front raises. For biceps, I do a couple sets of hammer curls. Heavy bicep work tends to irritate my elbows. I guess I sound like I'm kind of a wreck. Take care of your joints while you're young and you won't have to lift so carefully when you're my age.

John what exercises do you do for shoulders, arms, legs and upper back? I see you have strong chest, triceps, and lower back lol. Just curious of what you do for your other bodyparts.

That sounds like a good plan. You don't need to use the size 52. However, after the meet we will try, at some point, how much you can get out of that size 52 with twisted sleeves etc. Let's see how strong you feel after the first/second attempt. Maybe you should go for something ridiculous on the third.

535 seems like a solid opener. You've been hitting around that several times with no problem.

I think I've seem most of your 500+ lifts, so I would really like to be there to give you all the advice I can give. And I will be there, unless if I have to go to O'Hare at the same time you bench, which would kinda suck.

I guess I have to figure out my bench attempts this Sunday. Right now I have no idea. I don't even know which shirt(s) to use. For squat I have some ideas. Those will be tested tomorrow.

Any advice on attempts, Janne?

1st - 242.5/534.5
2nd - 252.5/556.5~255/562
3rd - 257.5/567.5~ Who Knows?

This would be all in the 50. I've been considering opening light in the 52, but it seems like alot of energy and time to switch shirts.

What do you think?

Don't mention it, John. Alotta people (including me) should be thanking you for creating such a nice team and training environment. Besides, you haven't reached your peak yet. I hope you could bench in Aurora and nail something ridiculous such as 600. I'm sure that would ease the mental pain at least a bit.

I think Ernie completely redefined what the body is capable of doing in the later years of life.

By the way, these doctors I'm talking about are the ones who treated my left rotator and right AC separation in 2003. I email them from time to time with reports on my PRs and pictures from meets . . . just to rub it in.

Tell your doctor that Ernie Frantz hit 820 in the squat (only 6 lbs off his all-time best) when he was 63 years old.

One doctor said I should give up on benching . . . especially "at your age." Another said, "Maybe you could get back in the 300 range, but you'll have to be satisfied with that. Crazy benching . . . 500, 600 . . . is quite simply out of the question."

What? Did they not believe you when you told them how much you were lifting?

Amazing John! You're on the verge of being a world-class pusher-puller.  Get those guts tucked in and we'll see an 800 dl and 650 bp from you in Reno.

I plan on showing my record certificates to Drs. Pencilneck and Quicheater at Carle Sports Medicine.

I'll bring along a great Mexican recipe for Crow.

Thanks for the thoughts and encouragement, everybody. I'll be back better than ever. The rest will be just the ticket for me as I feel I've been getting overtrained in the deadlift. I'll bench at the state meet, and then get the surgery the following week.

easily in a good suit 800+ right now
575-600 in the bench
725-750 DL

2100 being conservative

I hope the rest that you'll get from this little layoff John will give your elbows time to heal for squatting. I would love to see you train the squat and to see what your 3 lift total would be.

John,
I'm very sorry to hear about your injury. Do you recall what exercise you were doing when the tear occurred?

I got a hernia (sounds like the same as yours) from squatting almost 20 years ago. I did not have insurance at the time so I did not get it repaired. I wore a truss for a year and continued lifting. Being in my early 20s, it healed up by itself in a little over a year and I was lifting heavy again. But it was uncomfortable throughout the whole year. While I did not squat or deadlift, I did find that I was able to do seated leg presses as the position of the legs to the hips was such that it did not aggravate the hernia. I also found I could do heavy negatives with leg presses and not feel any discomfort.

The repair route is the way to go though. A friend of mine (former all American shot putter) had the surgery at age 38 a couple years ago and was good as new in 6 weeks

As hard as you've been hitting it, I'l bet Your body will enjoy the rest. You may want to ask your doctor what he thinks about wearing a truss for a short period of time when you're able to come back and deadlift again. I found that it kept the area around the hernia secure.

Rest up. You'll be back.

The Bad News: It's a hernia, and there's a hole in my abdominal wall that you can poke your finger through (not that I give anyone permission to do so, but you know what I mean).

The Good News: It's easy to repair. It will be stronger after recovery than a normal abdominal wall. I get the referral set up Monday and then I'll be in the hands of the hernia specialist.

More Good News: I'm cleared to bench for the time being with some precautions. I'll bench in the state meet and, depending on the surgery date, in Collinsville.

The Hard Part: Recovery will suck. Not lifting for three weeks will suck. Getting back into deadlifting will be frustrating. I'll need all of your support and help, oftentimes to keep me from getting too frustrated. The mental part will be a challenge.

The Promise: 733+ at WABDL Worlds in November at 259. World Record at 259 Master 40-46. 600+ bench press.

The Challenge: You guys racing to 700, you have a chance to catch the old man while my onward march is temporarily halted. I suggest you hurry the hell up and do your best while you have the chance. When I come back it's gonna be with a serious, serious vengeance. My shot at submaster world records has been interfered with and there's gonna be HELL to pay! If you don't catch me by August then watch my pull and despair.

Hope all goes well John. You'll be back in no time. I thought i had a hernia when i was trying out for JV football in school. I had to go to a bunch of different doctors. They told me it turned out to be a varicose vein. Even if you happen to have surgery on it, it's a in&out patient surgery, if it's not in a very serious place. So you'll be back quicker than you think u will  GOOD LUCK

The good news is that the suspicious area might have "asymmetrical muscle development" and an "unusual deposit of adipose tissue" (yeah, kinda gross) that makes it appear to be the beginnings of a hernia. No firm diagnosis yet, though.

John,

I know this is disappointing for you, but even in the worst case a hernia repair is quite simple and you should be pulling monster deadlifts again very soon. Maybe you can be a bench specialist for a few months and crack that 600 mark. Good luck.

Jeff

John,

Please bear with me I'm not use to posting in these things but I just wanted to drop you a note.

I happened to be looking in your Training Log when I spotted a potential set back that you're going through. If it is at all helpful that I will be praying for you. I hope that you will make with a quick return to your dead lifting & with favorable results form your medical team. Please use your head and train wisely so that no further set back(s) come your way and remember all of your lifting friends both close and far away will do the same. (Sorry for sounding like your mother but I care) 

Sidney

Persevering through tough times is what determines the type of person we are.

I know what type of person you are.

We accept no outcome but victory. This is accomplished by never, ever giving up.

Maybe this is Gods way of giving me a chance to catch back up with you.

Ill call you tomorrow after work.

Much love.

John, sorry to hear your situation. I don't really know much about hernias except straining yourself tends to cause them. Will taking it easy help it heal? Better to take a couple weeks off and finish with some good training before Collinsville. Even if you not 100% by April I'm sure you'll still put most of us to shame. I hope everything goes well. Be smart, rest will only make you come back stronger. My thoughts are with you.

I put the bar at or just below the knee since it's just above the knee that I get stuck. You should try to place the bar at or just below your sticking point. To tell you the truth, by the end of my workout I have very little left for these and I sometimes do them with much lighter weight than I had planned. I think this is okay since my heavy stiff-leg deadlifts also work lockouts. I'm going to start adding shrugs back into my program, too, since heavy shrugs (500+) really fry my traps.

John where do u put the bar at when u do rack pulls? I put the bar at mid-shin level when i do them, i feel any higher is doing nothing for me, but just under knee level i can get up more weight but i feel i get side tracked with my form, and it does nothing to help me.

The rack wasn't wide enough. What we need is a fully adjustable competition rack, but that will have to wait until we have a good bench. So still no squats.

For squat assistance I would do:

box squats
front squats
pause squats
leg press

Pretty basic, but heavy.

John have u been able to do any squat work in that wide rack your gym just got? Also what assistant exercises would you do for squats if u trained for a 3 lift meet?

I used to train right through the pain . . . until a rotator cuff went out on me and I had to stop benching for six months. I learned the hard way to walk away and recover when the body says so.

Your program is so simple, yet clearly effective. Beautiful. Lift heavy weights once a week. If it hurts stop, and rest. I wonder if i could ever manage such self control??? Probably not.

Hahaha, sing it brother! Long live Old School!

For anyone interested in my training methods, there are two key points to keep in mind:

1. The only "bands" I have come from Office Max; and,

2. My only "chain" is on a bicycle.

In these days of overcomplicated training programs, I hope I can be living proof that you don't have to get fancy in your training methods to have decent lifts. Simple, Basic, Heavy: it worked in the old days. It still works today.

10 seconds? I thought it was more like 5. My suit is VERY tight. But Blake's has to be tighter by far.

not to mention the limited amount of time you have until you pass out. If i don't get down and get the bar up to my knees in about 10 seconds I'll pass out. right john.

. . . and getting the breathing right. That's probably the hardest part. I don't mind seeing stars at the top of the pull, but passing out is something I try to avoid.

Ernie has me working in my canvas on deads now. I do pull sumo, but still, in the canvas, it is tough getting down the bar, so I know what you mean. He has me go with no briefs so it is not as tight, and wants me to do it just like my squat. I do some conventional pulls for assistance work, I can imagine how tough it is to get down to the bar in a really tight suit.

Yes, same one I wore at your meet. My extra pounds make it a little harder to get down to the bar. The weight came up easy both times. It was just that on the first try I didn't get the bar deep enough into my hand. That's what these singles are for: to practice the movement and make it second nature.

I do the rack squats and rack lockouts RAW.

You saw how tough it is for me to get down to the bar. One of my new lifters said it looks like I "attack the bar" when I make that last little dive to reach the bar.

Were you in your tight suit for this workout?

John,
Fantastic! Congrats it looks like 600 will be here soon. See you Sunday.

Randy

Wednesday, February 2 - Supplemental

Pauses will be another story, but I've got time. I've decided to bench at the state meet since I can only deadlift at Collinsville (Gus wants me to judge bench).

Congrats on the 585#! That's great. Puts you in the lead, by far, on the 600# race. I think the rest of us are still trying to touch with something "lockoutable". Only 15 more pounds at a meet, means a case of Samuel Adams.

Damn!!!!!!!!! I can't believe how far you guys have come in the last few months on the bench. Janne already up close to 100 pounds over what i remember him doing in the DD in August. John at 550!!! God damn. Illini Powerlifting is well on its way to making a BIG name for itself.

Damn.

3 lifters with-in striking distance of 600.

That is amazing.

Good job guys.

To bad you cant squat John you could post a hell of a total.