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Thread: Geezer's Long March Toward the Elite Sneaking Up On the Finish Line

  1. #5911
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Murphysboro, IL
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    726

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    • starting strength seminar april 2024
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    I warmed up with elliptical, rower, and medicine ball tosses. Then I did some empty bar squats to keep form and depth in good stead. This was followed by loading another bar minimally with 10 lb. plates on each side to get the standard 17.5" diameter to the right height for a 65 lb. practice of form there as well.

  2. #5912
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Murphysboro, IL
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    726

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    Yesterday saw me clear of the willies for the first time in over a week. A blessed respite, I must say. But they came back on me today, thankfully in diminished form, but lurking in my chest and gut like snakes under rocks. So I resorted to my go-to antidote, getting busy in the gym. Rounds of speed bag, air assault bike, cable rotations, plate halos, crunches, and heavy bag. It helped some.

    While I was there a guy my age asked when the meet was, since he and a couple others know I compete. "This Sunday. I got state and national records in the bag. With any luck, a couple of world records too, unless I suffer a mental meltdown." I realized almost as soon as the words left my mouth that I was prepping myself for consolation prizes. Had to break that mindset ASAP. So when another guy my age asked the same thing about the meet, I affirmed that I was going after a couple of world records and intended to get them. This had the desired effect on me. I've been practicing visualizations of successful lifts to further reinforce my performance.

  3. #5913
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    735

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    Hey Mark, good luck at your meet this weekend, we're all pulling for you.

  4. #5914
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Garage Gym
    Posts
    8,787

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    Kick some Arse, Mark and post some videos if possible.

  5. #5915
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Paradise Valley, BC
    Posts
    1,907

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    Yup, kick some butt and set some records!

  6. #5916
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Murphysboro, IL
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    726

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    Well I'm back.

    Executive summary:
    An Illinois state record in the squat with 242.
    A national record in the bench press with 187.
    I set the world record in the deadlift on my first attempt with 336 and broke my own record in my second attempt with 341.

  7. #5917
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Murphysboro, IL
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    726

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    Now for the details.

    Friday:
    I woke up with some tendinitis in my AC joint in my right shoulder. Probably from sleeping on my side for too long. It ramped up and got really bad as the 12 hours of travel from Murphysboro to St. Louis to Chicago to Costa Mesa drug on. Also had trouble sleeping and eating. It got so bad in the hotel that night I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get my right hand on the bar with it on my shoulders to squat, let alone manage the lockout on the bench press. More bad sleep that night from stress and pain. I was taking heavy doses of Aleve and slathering Voltaren on my shoulder all day.

    Saturday:
    The pain subsided a little, but I wasn't sure of my capabilities and capacities as I woke up. I had a 10:00 registration for weigh-in, rack heights, and opening attempt recordings. It wasn't until I shouldered the bar for squat rack heights that I got some relief in that department. It was uncomfortable in the shoulder but manageable. The bench press was more painful, but I was confident I could at least lock out the bar even if it hurt. I also was banking on more recovery from the tendinitis through the day adding ice, hot water, and wearing a sling alpong with the OTC medications I was using. It did in fact get a little better still overnight.

    I weighed in at 234. Eight pounds below the cutoff. The eating problems got me way under the 242 I needed to make weight. This almost certainly had a role in biting me in the butt on Sunday from weakness.

    Gave my opening attempts to a young recorder who fumbled with his paperwork a bit and then scribbled them down. He had me review them and I pencil whipped my way through initialing off on them. The weigh-in guy (around my age) apologized in a quiet aside as I was leaving that this guy was new and he was training him and getting him some more experience. More on this later.

    Sunday:
    SHOW TIME!

    Squat:
    I didn't have big aspirations for this lift. I know my squat sucks. But I did think I could set a national record in it.

    Warmed up waaaay too early. I also managed to screw up my last warmup set thanks of fatigue and brain deadness of plate math errors. I intended to only warm up to 225 lbs. which was a little below what I determined my easy opening attempt of 242 was going to be. Instead (thank you metric plates) my final set was 264 lbs. and I had a struggle to come up with it. This spooked me big time and I think it affected my opening attempt.

    The short version is I got red lighted for not making a deep enough squat on my first two attempts with 242. Something that has never happened to me on other than one or two 3rd attempts. If I didn't make the third attempt, I was out of the meet. All that time, training, travel, and money spent for it wasted. DB came in the lifting and warmup area after my second attempt and Gibbs-slapped the back of my noggin a couple of times to get my head in the game and of somewhere the Sun doesn't shine. I made the last one with 2 out of 3 white lights, which was enough to get the lift passed and keep me in the meet.

    Ducked that bullet.

    Bench Press:
    I warmed up to 176 lbs. Once again, a little below my planned opening attempt of 187. The shoulder hurt a little, but I KNEW I had my opener even if I had to draw blood biting my tongue through it and crying a little. The opener was a snap. Didn't hurt any more than the warmup did. So I had my next attempt at 225 entered, which would have been a world record. At 242 I could not get the bar to the halfway up sticking point where the triceps take over for the final lockout. I repeated the same weight for my last attempt thinking that application of some powerful leg drive might take me past the problematic shoulder failure. I barely moved the bar off my chest by a couple of inches.

    This was the result I think of a couple of things. The AC joint of the shoulder simply failed under the increased load. Strangely, it didn't hurt that much, it seemed that my shoulder lacked the starch to git er done. The other factor I think was the weight loss. Too much, too fast, too late. It was really aggravating too because last Monday I bench pressed 225 in the gym without excessive strain. The weight loss probably affected my squat as well.

    By now I was getting tired and unhappy over not making my goals so far. Lifting had begun at 9:00 and it was around 4:00 at that point. I had had enough of the charged atmosphere of younger lifters and metal music and needed a respite. So DB and I went to the hotel lobby and sat around sipping coffees while I decompressed. Don't get me wrong, the other lifters were not obnoxious, just the accumulation of "stuff" was getting to be too much. As we sat there, my old Judo wounded right knee had a sudden twinge. This has never happened and I wondered if it might be a problem for deadlifts.

    Deadlifts:
    Warmups went well and one of the loaders was a nice young woman who was an experienced lifter herself who advised me my knees might not be locked out all the way at the top of the lift. Many thanks for that to Melissa. I was watching my position on the lifting display projection board and saw that my opening attempt was not the 336 lbs. I planned, but 363 lbs. So I scrambled to the scoring table and reviewed my card. Sure enough, I had pencil whipped my way right past the entry error made by the young guy Saturday and not caught it myself. Fortunately, the officials let me change the number back to my plan.

    The first attempt was fine and I set a new world record. I got conservative and only increased the weight to 241 for the next attempt which also went right up. So I went for 352 for my last attempt and got the plates all of 2 inches off the platform. Ah well.

    The meet lasted over 9 hours. Exhausting. But I have 2022 to set a national record in the squat, a world record in the bench press, and break my current world record in the deadlift.

  8. #5918
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Garage Gym
    Posts
    8,787

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    Great job Mark. Powerlifting Meets are just too long winded, just one of many reasons I stopped doing them.
    Your comment at 1:29 reminded of another main reason. I was the only person in my age and weight class.
    Last edited by Meshuggah; 11-09-2021 at 03:47 PM.

  9. #5919
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    3,367

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    Good to see you did well Mark. I give you credit for continuing your goal to set records.

  10. #5920
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Treasure Coast, FL
    Posts
    1,552

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    starting strength coach development program
    Congratulations!!! Were there many others in your age group and weight class?

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