Kyle's PL log

[John Hanley]

How'd things go?

[KyleMask]

Relatively well, John. Reckon I’ll proceed with a meet write-up.

I weighed in at 214.6.

I opened with 500 on the squat, thinking I would play things a little conservatively since I wasn't familiar with the equipment and platform. 500 went smoothly, but I noticed there was a lot of whip in the bar. This wasn't due to any deficiency in the bar. The bar we used was really nice. It was a B&R, and I'll get one once I'm in the market for a barbell. I prefer it to the Texas power bar because the knurl doesn't cut you, and it was great to hook grip on the deadlift.

I put in 535 for my second at the scoring table, then got to thinking…(the biggest mistake a redneck can make). I came to the meet to squat 550. Anything less would be a disappointment. So I changed my second to 550 and was confident that it would go based on my opener. As soon as I picked the weight, however, I thought, “Oh shit, this feels heavy.” Then I started walking and the bar started whipping. We used really thick bumpers, and the plates being so close to the end of the barbell was responsible for the whip. Adding an additional 25 on each side for the second attempt exacerbated this.

So I started walking out. Then I kept walking out. Then kept walking out… You’ll see what I mean. I finally got settled with my left foot turned too far outward but knew that I couldn’t pick up my foot again. I had to squat NOW or never. I could feel myself rapidly fatiguing. I went down, started coming up, and then the bar slowed and the thought of quitting crossed my mind. I squashed that fucker, finished the lift, and passed on my third.

Despite this shit show of a squat, I was proud of the mental toughness I showed to hit the lift. But I’m certainly not proud of the squat. Kids, don’t squat like this at home. Overall, I was happy to get a PR and accomplish a 550 squat.

The press didn’t go so well. I opened with 220, which felt good. I took 240 on my second and it was way harder than I expected. The squat had taken a lot out of me and I knew it. I called for 250 on my third but didn’t get it even close. Just not strong enough on this day.

Deadlifts did go well, although I’m a little irritated with myself on the attempt selection. I decided to hook grip all attempts, and this was a good decision. I learned that I can train without a hook and then use it at meets, and I plan to do so going forward. I absolutely loved it.

I opened with 600, which was smooth. My second at 630 also was smooth. My stiff bar PR was 640 before the meet, so I called for 650, which, while a 10 lb stiff bar PR, was 11 lbs under my best on a deadlift bar. It went well, but I finished the lift in just over 3 seconds, which means it was sub maximal. A true max takes me 6 seconds. I should have called for 665-670. However, I feared that the squat had taken a lot out of me and wanted to ensure a decent total. Not an incredibly stupid decision, but not exactly ballsy.

I ended up with a 1440 total via 550/240/650.

The meet was exceptionally well run. We had 17 lifters and finished in just over 3 hours. All the spotters, loaders, scorers, and judges did a great job. I’d like to thank Darren Jackson for putting on a great meet, and I’ll definitely be back next year should there be another meet.

Here are my 550 squat and 650 deadlift (the videos clear up after a few seconds):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppIv...zKFDHw&index=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Vg...Ga_x2ndOzKFDHw

[sking1001]

Well that was a fine demonstration of strength regardless if the other shit in your head. That was a tough squat and you are a tough dude.

Congratulations.

[jenica]

Man, you did take that squat for a walk! That was some good mental fortitude to get it done. Near max attempts aren't supposed to be pretty.

Impressive lifting and total. Congrats on the overall win too!

[Adam Skillin]

Just wanted to drop in here and say congratulations on winning Iron Fest, Kyle. Very impressive lifting!

[sking1001]

I called it. Told ya you would win the whole thing. And you left weight in the platform too.

Congrats man!

[John Hanley]

Congrats Kyle! Huge total.

[Dwayne_KONG_Wint]

Congratulations Kyle!

[Manimal]

It was absolutely awesome to watch you lift. That squat was insane, I though you were gonna fall over for sure. If not i thought the clamps were going to slide off. Some of the folks said the squishy platform threw them off on press, you have any issues with that? Then when you called for that 650 DL and destroyed it, I was in shock I've never seen someone pull that much outside of interweb videos.

[John Petrizzo]

Just wanted to congratulate you on your performance at the Iron Fest, Kyle. Very impressive lifting.