BWT - 305.8

1st - 650.2
2nd - 728.6 VERY close miss
3rd - 728.6 Stalled at the knees

1st Place - 308 Open
1st Place - 308 Master 40-46
State Record - 308 Master 40-46

I had no competition at this meet, so after making my opener to secure the win I decided to go for an all-time PR.  I could have gone for a post-surgery meet PR with a safe 705, or gone 711 or 716, weights which would have been well-within my strength envelope.  In retrospect, perhaps I should have been more conservative as I would have earned one more state record as well as secured a best lifter award.  However, I've been wanting to get past the 727.5 barrier for going on two years now, so I took a chance and tested my performance at this meet, knowing that my grip was still marginal with weights above 720.

Second attempt was close enough that I will probably have nightmares for quite some time, waking up drenched in sweat as the bar pops from my fingers inches from lockout night after restless night.  The bar was moving well, and was in fact accelerating as it rose above my knees.  I haven't seen a picture yet of exactly how high I brought the bar, but I was certain that I was going to lock it out.  Then . . . POP!  The bar came out of both hands simultaneously.  In training and in past meets, when I've lost my grip I can feel it happening.  I have some warning.  Here it was so sudden that it took me totally by surprise.  If someone took a picture just after it happened, perhaps an incredulous look is frozen on my face.  I was in great position because I immediately went backwards into the arms of the equally surprised back spotter, who up until that moment I gather didn't know why he was supposed to stand behind the deadlifters.  Luckily, he was paying enough attention to catch me.  Otherwise I would have had the business end of a Forza deadlift helper in the ass or in the back.  Or maybe I would have just continued through the false wall behind the platform and on into the warmup area.

Third attempt didn't have a chance.  It's rare that I have enough to give two near-limit attempts a good ride.  The bar stalled at the knees and I lost my grip.

I left everything on the platform, of that there is no doubt.  I ripped my left hand open on second and was still bleeding before I took my third.  I earned a blood blister on my right hand.  I blew out capillaries all around my eyes and on my cheeks.  And both eyes are badly bloodshot today.  Oh, and I still feel like shit.

The Good News:  In spite of my leverage disadvantages over my 727.5 in 2004 at 270, I've made up the difference in sheer power so that now I have the strength to pull 728.6 or more.  As I gradually reduce my weight--gradually so as not to torpedo my strength--improved leverage should add much to my potential.

The Bad News:  It's still only potential unless I can hang onto the bar.  Two steps to remedying this are, first, improving my setup such that I can torque the bar deeper into the palms, allowing the bar to rest in softer skin instead of on top of callous.  This way, when the bar digs into the hands, it will pinch the calluses against the fingers and, as long as the skin doesn't tear off, rest on the pinched skin.  Second, I will have to increase grip work tremendously, adding regular farmers holds as well as rack lockouts with holds, one-arm deadlifts, and assorted other painful grip work.

I met my goal of winning nationals for the third year in a row.  However, I was understandably disappointed at my misses with 728.6.  What makes it easier to bear is something that I overheard another good deadlifter say to someone as I was about to get on the platform for third: "Even if he doesn't get this, that there is the best lifter."

Trophies, awards, and records are nice.  But earning the respect of your fellow lifters is priceless.

BWT - 305.6

BWT - 306.7

Bench Press -

135x10
225x5
275x1
315x5

Nothing more . . . resting up for Saturday.

BWT - 308.4

Cardio -

Elliptical X 20mn.

Last deadlift workout before Nationals . . . 

BWT - 307.5

Deadlift -

225x3
315x1
405x1

Straps up . . .

500x1
600x1

Leg Press -

3x5, increasing weight

Grip Work with Captains of Crush

Abs at home . . .

Beginning of deload week . . . 

BWT - 307.3

Bench Press - 

135x10
135x10
185x5
225x5
225x25 PR

Tricep Pressdowns -

Stack X 25

Lateral Raises -

20x15x2

Inverted Lateral Raises -

20x15x2

Front Raises -

20x15x2

Hammer Curls -

40x10

Cardio -

Bike X 20mn.

Last heavy workout before Nationals . . . 

BWT - 308.6

Deadlift - 

225x3
315x1
405x1

Straps up . . . 

500x1
615x1
730x0
730x0

First one was fine in all respects as best I could see on video . . . except that I didn't get my stinkin' left hand sunk in deep enough and lost my grip.  Good speed, but all for naught.

Second one was dumb.  I should know that I don't have enough for two big pulls after a full day of work.  Grip was fine, but the bar got stuck before the knees.

Hips and knees very painful . . . it's the body talking.  Time to rest.  So nothing else today.

Still very confident about a shot at an all-time PR at the meet: 727.5 + chips or more.

As of today, my discussion board logs are no more.  Since it doesn't make sense to keep my log in multiple locations, I will be keeping my training log exclusively here on my website.  This means that the log will be much less interactive; anyone wishing to comment on my training will have to do so by email or messaging service.  Comments and/or questions are welcome.  This move is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time, and has nothing to do with anything happening on the boards which formerly hosted my logs.  It's all about making my log useful, convenient, and enjoyable for me.

Congrats on the Post-Surgery PR!

I can't wait to see you do 730 next week. If it was me, I would go with Ryan's strategy, but you know yourself best.

I'll have alot going for me in Dallas:

- rest
- Gus' bar
- no judging
- no benching
- meet atmosphere

I might amaze myself if it's an "on" day.

Are you going to pull 730 next week then?

If it goes I would go:

1-628
2-733
3-skip and rest
4-755 WR

If you pull 730 in the gym, and you ar enot benching or judging you know 733 will go in the meet.

Just my .02. However my .02 and what you should do hasnt always been the same.

That's right John! U da man! I'll be at that world meet to watch you take it, as well!

-Brett "LIL' SUPERMAN"

This will be a four attempt strategy, adjustable depending on the competition and also Gus' recommendations. He's been 100% on calling my attempts in meets. As usual, I'll open with something light.

1st - 622~628
2nd - 677~683
3rd - 727+chips, 733, or 738 for an all-time PR
4th - 755+chips for the 308 WR

Everything depends on how I feel and on the competition. All-time PR is goal #1; WR is #2. If I feel great on the opener, I'll go right to a PR. Taking a moderate intermediate attempt between target and opener hasn't hurt me in meets. But I train to take the big jump from opener to target, so I'll be well-prepared to do that mentally and physically.

This is all building up to my long-term goal of taking Bull Stewart's 275 WR in 2007. And I hope he's there when I take it. I hope it's at a world meet so that he also experiences yet another Illinois team thrashing his team. In Portland 2004, he saw the future of WABDL deadlifting. He was, shall we say, "unsettled" by our approach: puking, flying into the back spotter, passing out, having to be carried off the platform and revived.

He saw the future, and the future trains in Illinois.

so what's the attempt theory?

650
738
756

Thurs next week for the last pull? So 16 days rest? 655 for one on the final pull?

Sorry I am just excited to see you break into new territory.

Keep at it. 800 is waiting. And I am simply in hibernation...

August 5 is the date. Next week will be my last heavy pull, then deload with a light pull the following week.

I'll bring the cam in next week for the final heavy pull: 730 or 735.

What is the date of the meet, and what is your peaking plan?

How about some video?

Nice pull by the way.

nice deadlift John... 715 in training... WOW

Excellent! Nice rack squat too.

Congrats on the 835 x 1 PR. Lots of weight. You should have a big pull in store for them at Dallas.

To clarify my rant on my bench workout, it was just that: a rant. It wasn't directed at any ILPL guys or anyone from the Lockup. As I said, our lifters are smart and understand the way it is with shirted benching. The reasons for my rant were the following:

1. Sheer Frustration - It's frustrating to find that even after all the progress I've made in the shirt, I still have fundamental stability issues with my shoulders. It's difficult and frustrating to have to admit that I may never be able to pursue heavy raw benching at all in the remainder of my lifting career. It's also frustrating to realize that had we known back in the '80s what we know today about taking care of the shoulders, the situation might be very, very different.

2. Pent up Anger - I appreciated the support I received from ILPL and Lockup lifters following my 677 bench. What pissed me off, though, was the response I got from some lifting "friends" from out of our area. Some of these guys are retired from lifting, but all of them are guys who I respected and admired. A few have been mentors to me in recent years. Rather than congratulations, they reacted with incredulity and suspicion. Some claimed that it was all because of the shirt and suggested that the federations really have to start reining in shirt technology. Some suggested that it was just wrong that a lousy raw bencher with bad shoulders should be able to bench so much. It seemed as if they thought that I should just accept my shoulder fate and bench less. I found these reactions insulting, particularly as I had put in months of work learning to use the shirt. Interestingly, the commonality among all these guys is that none of them have benched more than 600 (and a few of them don't even use shirts).

So all these feelings came out in my rant.

We all use discussion boards such as this for varying purposes and to satisfy different needs. When I'm writing in my logs, one of the purposes of doing so is to express how I feel about things. Often this comes out very strongly, as I am a person of strong feelings. Often this makes me seem very stubborn and opinionated. I admit to being both, depending on the context and the topic. Yes, there are some issues on which my mind is mostly made up and on which I have extremely strong viewpoints. There are many more things I really don't have a clue about. It just so happens that it is usually the things I feel strongly about that move me to take time out of my busy schedule to write something. Thus, if a person knows me only from my posts, I very likely would seem to be an asshole. Those who frequent this board, however, know that there is more to me than what can be seen and/or inferred from my posts.

It is not my intention to make anyone feel intimidated or apprehensive about adding comments to my logs.

Now that my webpage is up and running, I have a place where I can express my views on whatever I want, and I'll try to keep my stronger opinions confined to that space. I also have my log there, and I'll try to trim this log to the bare essentials and provide the fuller edition on my website log.

I can seem like a pretty intense person at times. Emotional intensity is a double-edged sword, of course. However, I like to think that I . . . and others . . . benefit from such intensity, at least in some ways. Without that intensity, Illini Powerlifting might be very different today.

Bad news. I woke up today with the right side of my face paralyzed and spent some time at Carle Hospital Emergency Room before heading up to Willowbrook. I knew it was Bells Palsey, but I wanted to be sure . . . thus the ER trip. I'll be sleeping with my right eye taped shut, and will probably drool on myself for a few weeks when deadlifting.

Tuesday, June 6 - Bench Day

BWT - 308.2

Fighting an upper-respiratory infection since last Friday, so didn't do much today.

Bench Press -

135x10
135x10
185x10
225x5
275x1
315x1

F6 54 on . . .

3-boards -

405x3
500x3

Shoulder P/Re-hab

Abs at home . . .