Wolf's Log: From Cub to Direwolf

[Michael Wolf]

OK kids, here we go. Gonna post quick recaplet now, and full meet experience recap at some point today - probably after I eat A LOT more food!

Squat: 415 easy, 440 pretty easy, 455 got me a bit off balance and I couldn’t recover. Didn’t feel heavy though. Final: 440.

Bench: 320 - easy but forgot to wait for the judge’s ‘rack’ command so got red lighted. 340 - easy, 360 - hard but nailed it. Final: 360.

Deadlift: 490 - easy. 530 - got it but harder than I expected. Went for 545 instead of 550, but still couldn’t quite get it. It had just been too long a day (last DL attempt at about 8pm, awake since 6, at the meet since 7 for weigh-in, hadn’t eaten a meal since 12:30) and I didn’t have any gas left. Final: 530.

Total: 6/9 lifts and 1330 total. Not a bad first meet! Even though this was my first meet, I was not at all concerned with going 9/9. I'm a more experienced lifter than most doing their first meet. For me, it was more about finding what my current capabilities are, and getting used to the meet environment, experience, and commands than gaining confidence in the lifts - I already have the latter, but needed the former. And that's exactly what I got.

Stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home and did major damage. Country fried steak, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, chicken dumplings, biscuits and butter, double fudge cake and ice cream. Traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel @ midnight, of course. Finally got home around 12:30am. An awesome day.

Thanks to everyone for following and cheering me on with your good thoughts!

[Rob Israel]

Super awesome, are you kidding me? Great job!

8pm DL? Holy crap. I'm impressed you made the 2nd attempt.

Congratulation man, your hard work and focus really paid off.

[Mac Ward]

Great job! Terrific total, perfect ending at Cracker Barrel.

[Gillian Mounsey]

Great total. Amazing first meet. Congrats! What a long day that was.

[Michael Wolf]

(Note: had to split this up into 2 posts, since I went over the character limit on here. So if I say something is "below" it might not be till the second post)
Now I am fed and happy. Had an entire pizza, chicken fingers, and eggs and bacon. Iced my back a bit, and barely got up off the couch today. Now I am ready to write this recap. Tomorrow I will foam roll and do some mobility stuff and stretch. Tuesday, I'll do a few very light things: some kb swings and stuff, and then hit a light workout Weds. Friday I'll work up to some reasonable weights, and then start the TM on Monday.

What a day yesterday was. I had an amazingly fun time, learned a ton about how PL meets operate logistically - and what I need to do in the future to maximize my performance, within the limitations of me doing this as a hobby - and got a better idea of my true maxes, which I never do in training. And hell, I even got a trophy for coming first in my division. Which doesn't mean much, considering that of the seven 242 lifters, some were Masters and some were Geared, so I was first of only two "Raw Classic" (belt only, no knee wraps) lifters. But I'll take the hardware nonetheless!

The meet prep started a few days out, when I weighed myself a few times in one day. At one point in the day I was 238, at another I was 241. I didn't intend to cut for this, but didn't want to come in at 242.5 and have to lift as a 275 - so my goal was to be under 242 despite the natural 3-5lb fluctuation that my body goes through every day. I ate 90% caveman starting Tuesday (with some pb and milk here and there for the 10% cheating). I usually eat this way anyway, with 2-3 big cheat meals a week, but am not always strict with it. I was strict these few days.

Then, we had to get there. I was doing the meet with a friend of mine, Jorge, who has been competing for several years. He's a very strong 181 (I think he did a 320/410/550 - 1280 total @ weigh-in weight of like 177, walks around at 185). His girlfriend Sara also competes and was coming down with us, but would only be helping to handle us in the meet. Jorge is a Fitness Manager at an Equinox here in NYC (how we first met), and 2 of the trainers on his staff also came down to do their first meets, Ioan Shrimpton (pronounced like Yo-an; he's from Canada - enough said), and Joe Torado, but really just Torado.

The meet was located in Deptford, NJ, which is just across the Delaware from Philly, so about a 2hr drive from the city. Torado and Ioan were driving in Torado's car, and Jorge and Sara were gonna pick me up at about 5:30 to leave. Right in the midst of Friday rush hour, but what can you do?

Well, what you can do is get stuck coming into NYC from Rockland County, and that's what happened to Sara as she picked up the car from her parent's house. They didn't get to me till 7pm. It took us about 45 minutes from that point to get out of the city (a total of about 3 miles of driving), but once we were on the Turnpike, we were ok. We had to stop for dinner at a local diner near Deptford, and the waitress was very confused about me asking for veggies instead of fries with my steak, and not wanting the dessert that came with my dinner. But I still had to make weight, since we missed the PM weigh in. We finaly got to the Hotel at about 11:30pm, after one wrong turn, and Ioan and Torado came in shortly after. Torado, my first time meeting him (had met Ioan once before) was driving a black Dodge Charger with tinted windows, and wearing a red hoodie and a red baseball hat that just said "RECKLESS." He was eating a burger from Wendy's. I liked him already. I knew this was gonna be a fun trip.

Wake up at 6:20, shower, and get to weigh in by 7:20. Weigh in at 237.8, perfect. Quick trip to Dunkin Donuts for a sausage and cheese on whole wheat bagel, then back for the mandatory rules clinic. I saw that had monolifts for the warmup and platform, so knew that would be different. They took my setting for the monolift, and i noticed the bar they had there to squat with was a MUCH thicker bar than I'd ever used. It was an Iron Wolfe bar (ironic, right?) with all knurling and a little center ring to delineate the center of the bar. Must've been 35mm around. I was worried about using the SS grip, but knew I couldn't switch last second to a thumbs-around grip, especially without wrist wraps, so just hoped it would be ok.

Jorge and Ioan were both 181s, so they stayed to change and warmup for lifting that started @ 9. Torado and I headed to Friendly's for breakfast. I got 5 eggs over easy with 2 sausages, 2 strips of bacon, home fries, and toast with butter. Nice.

Back to the meet to watch our boys Squat. Ioan is a pretty skinny guy who's only been lifting for maybe 6 mos. Definitely not on SS - he weighed at 170 or so, at maybe 5'10". He hit 300 and 325 on his squats, missed 350. Jorge hit a solid 390, then a shaky 410. Missed 415.

Squatting took a while with many competitors and not so strict with keeping it moving. We headed back to Friendly's for lunch, and missed their benching. I had chicken quesadillas and a bacon cheddar burger with fries. Solid.

We came back for the DL. Ioan hit something in the low 400s, and Jorge smoked 525, hit a solid 550, and missed 575. Oh, and by the way, he hasn't lifted regularly in 4 weeks because he's been too busy at work. Ironic considering he works at a gym, but true; I know because I used to do that! He's a strong guy at 181!

FInally time for the heavier men to lift. Started warming up, foam rolling and such, about 25 mins before my flight was to start - I was 3rd to last in my flight. Got in my rolling and warmup sets, and there was another iron wolfe thick and all knurled bar there, so I used it. It felt odd on my back - turns out it was a 55lb bar - but it stayed where it was supposed to, so I got some confidence back. I practiced walking out with the monolift, and it wasn't bad. My warmups felt good, so I was confident with my planned 415 opener. Finished with a single at 365.

As they called my name for "Fourth Out" I started getting really excited, but surprisingly not at all nervous. Sara chalked up my back and helped me get by belt on tight, and I was ready. I went up when called, and told them I was gonna walk it out - so they removed the chain things, which was very helpful. I went up and hit 415 real deep and real easy. BOOM! I'm on the board. Felt just as easy as it did in training. I was stoked, and any small nerves I had at all were gone.

Chose 440 as 2nd attempt, since I wanted to PR there, and go for broke on 3rd attempt to see where I was at. There was a long time between attempts, as there were 15 lifters in the flight, and it wasn't that quick between lifters. At first, I stayed in the lifting area, but then went out and talked to Cara (my gf) and Claire and Suze (friends who came down to watch me). I wasn't nervous and it was too long to stay in the zone the whole time.

When it was time, went up and hit 440 pretty easily, as you can see in the video below. I chose 455 for my 3rd, confident I'd get it. But again with the long wait, I lost a bit of focus. I wnet up for my 3rd and 455 didn't feel heavy, despite 440 being a 5lb PR - so it was 20lbs more than I'd ever had on my back for a squat. I went down and started up confidently, but as I went up, I tilted a bit to the side and couldn't recover. It didn't feel heavy, and I know if I had another shot, I'd have gotten it - but it was a no lift. I still felt good hitting a 5lb PR with 440.

Funny anecdote: the rear spotter on the squat was this huge dude. I mean just one large giant of a man. I'd put him at 6'5" 350. Now, I'm 6' and walk around at 240, approximately the size of an average NFL linebacker - I'm bigger than most men I meet, and get asked by strangers not too infrequently where I wrestled or played football in college (I did neither, but that's ok). This guy made me feel legit small. Like if he stood in front of me, he'd eclipse me. Just a huge man. So during my 3rd attempt squat, as I'm trying to drive up and overcome being off balance, he keeps yelling "head up! look up! put your head up!" And keep in mind, he's right behind me, with his hands around my torso. Considering the SS Squat method, it wasn't the most useful intra-set cueing. After I missed, he says to me "you gotta look up! If you'd looked up you would have gotten it." I had a split second to choose my response, and in the midst of all that, Rip's explanations and demonstrations of why looking down is better all came to my mind. Then I looked at the dude, glowering down at me, and said "thanks for the tip!" And just walked out of the lifter's area. LOL

To be continued...

[Michael Wolf]

Had to wait along time for the next flight to get through their squats. Alot of geared lifters in that flight (one opened at 880, and hit 1000 on his second - even with a multi ply suit and wraps, it was still very cool to see someone squat 1000, @ 242 no less!), and they were taking a lot of time to load/unload between lifters. I squatted my 3rd attempt at about 3:45, and didn't bench till about 5:15. Warmups felt good here too, so I was confident in my opener.

I hit 320 on my bench opener like it was a warmup. As you can see on the video below, it was super easy and fast. But I forgot to wait for the rack command and put it back as soon as I locked out, so I lost the lift. Sara wanted me to repeat it to be sure to get it in, but I was so confident with how it went, that I insisted on 340.

340 went up smooth, but not as easy as I expected, considering how easy 320 was. Video on that below too. I wavered between 355 and 360, ultimately chose 355 because I missed hitting a big PR on that squat (only 5lbs) so wanted to be sure to get a big one in the bench. I've benched up to 405 touch and go (this was weighing 265, about 7 yrs ao when all I did was bench and arms, and squats were a Smith Machine exercise), but had never trained paused until a few weeks ago, and 335 was as high as I went. 340 was a 5lb PR, but wanted more, so picked 355, confident I'd get it.

They call my 3rd attempt and the judge says "360 on the bar for Mike Wolf." I was like whaaaaaaaaat? Jorge and Sara had big smirks on their faces. I believe I said, "I'm going to kill you both when this is over," but it may have been "destroy" instead of "kill." I got down, Jorge gave me the hand-off, and it was a slow grinder of a rep. One side going up a bit faster than the other. For a split second, I didn't think I'd get it but I kept pushing. Eventually, it went up and I locked it out. And waited. And got 3 whites. 360, 25lb PR on the bench!

Deadlift time didn't start till 7pm. By this point, I'd been up for 13hrs already. I'd been watching, cheering for, and helping to handle Jorge and Ioan. I didn't bring food, so hadn't eaten a meal since my 12:30 Friendly's run. I had a PB&J sandwich after benching, but I needed a meal. So was a bit tired going into the DLs, considering everything.

Foam rolled again and started lifting. My warmup pulls felt fine, but not HOT like squats and bench did. I pulled my last warmup @ 435 and it went up fine, but didn't have the POP I wanted it to. I knew the DLs were gonne be hard. I went up and hit 490 with no problem, but it wasn't as easy as 490 in the gym usually is.

2nd attempt at 530 was a toughy. Even with the long day, fatigue, and lack of food, I think 530 would be easier, considering 525 was relatively easy in the gym last Saturday. But - this was also a bar I hadn't used before - I think maybe a TExas DL bar? - with a little flex. I wasn't used to that. And when I'd pulled the fairly easy 525 last week, I had DL'd fresh from warming up, not after a 13hr day of spectating and then squatting and benching to max.

I didn't think I could even hit 530 again if I had to, but wasn't about to forgo my 3rd attempt - not like I had anything to save it for. I tried 545 (instead of the planned 550), but there was no way it was happening. Barley broke it off the floor and I knew I wasn't going to get up with it, so didn't fight for too long.

I don't have any DL vids to post as of yet, but if I get my hands on some, will do so.

I finished with 440/360/530 - PRs in every lift. 5lb PRs on Squat and DL, and a 25lb PR on the Bench, for a 1330 total, nailing my goal of 1300!

Looking back at my first log entry, I said the following:

I will be competing in my first PL meet in May, and currently have the following goals (subject to change based on training and life stuff):
1st attempt: 365/335/500
2nd attempt: 385/350/525
3rd attempt: 400/365/540

That was 3.5 months ago, and turned out to be pretty accurate. I was better than I expected in my squat, and made more progress; my DL and Bench were just about exactly where I thought they'd be. Not bad Wolf, not bad at all.

(And if you're wondering, Torado lifted as a 220 - he was eating the burger Friday night because he was planning to get down to 198, since he walks around at about 202, but didn't stick with the plan the last few days, so he just figured he'd get as big as he could. He's a funny dude, that Torado. It was his first meet, and he's not an experienced lifter, only a few months of training. He finished with (I think) 355/275/435, and was pretty happy with the whole experience).

My new goal is to be at a 1500 total by year's end (though if I get this within the first quarter of 2013, I wouldn't be upset either). I'd like it to be relatively even with a 500/400/600. My DL has the furthest to go here, but it is definitely doable. I have only just switched from Novice to Intermediate programming, so should be able to make weekly jumps as long as my training is injury free and consistent. So adding 170 in 7 months should definitely be doable.

After waiting for the last flight to finish DLing, we had the awards ceremony. There were 71 lifters, but between 1. male/female 2. all the weight classes 3. raw classic (belt, no wraps) / raw modern (belt and wraps) / single ply / multi ply 4. open / masters, there were only 2-3 lifters in most classes. Ioan took 3rd, Jorge took 1st and Best Lifter by formula in the AM Session. Torado took 2nd in his division, and I took first in the "242, Raw Classic, Open" division - of two lifters. OK, not really a big deal. I did not get best lifter as I'd hoped for. I think that went to a 198 who totaled 12-something. They let us pick our own trophies, which was super cool. I picked one that barely resembles anything to do with lifting - it's a big gold colored chunk with a roman gladiator on it, and a bench press in the background. It's Boss. Spar herself commented (on facebook) that it's the coolest trophy ever.

We left around 9. Cara (my gf) had to leave before the DLing, because one of her best friend's had a bachelorette in the city at 8 - she's a bridesmaid and had to be there - so she left at 6. So instead of sprawling out in the Durango, I stuffed myself once more in the back seat of Sara's Sebring Convertible and off we went. We got lost finding Cracker Barrel, but it was worth it. We ate like KINGS (see Recaplet above) for $37 + tip. Now, maybe that's normal around the country, but where I live, $37 isn't even dinner for 1. It was amazing. Hit some traffic at the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel, but finally got home at about 12:30am - very tired, very beat, and very happy. I can't WAIT to do this again.

There's a USAPL meet in August not too far away that I think Paulie is taking some lifters to. If not that, I'll probably do the Rip Invitational. Either way, I should be closer to my 1500 by then.

Here's the video footage I currently have. It only lets me post 4 videos here, so I'm gonna post one more with my bench opener. There are a lot more pictures up on facebook, too (including one with the gladiator trophy). If you're not friends with me there, find me and add me and you can see them - of all the people who follow my log here, I think I'm only friends with Gillian on FB.

1st Attempt Squat @ 415lbs:

2nd Attempt Squat @ 440lbs:

2nd Attempt Bench Press @ 340:

3rd Attempt Bench @ 360:

[Michael Wolf]

1st Attempt Bench Press @ 320lbs - red lights because I didn't wait for the "rack" command, as you can see in the vid:

[Mac Ward]

Nice write up...great job!

I too experienced the "help" of "Head up!" Amazing job, I know you are proud, and you should be!

[djl236]

Nice write up...great job!

I too experienced the "help" of "Head up!" Amazing job, I know you are proud, and you should be!

That was a great write up. Some strong lifting in here too. Good stuff.

I never got the heads up but I did get the "you don't have to go that deep" after squatting haha.

[djl236]

double post.