Bitten by the competition bug...let's go for 1300...

[Brodie Butland]

Did my first powerlifting comp last Sunday...great experience, even though it went from 8am to 10:30pm. And I figure since I have this singlet and deadlift socks, I might as well do a few more and get some use out of them. So here goes.

[Walter Palmer]

Did my first powerlifting comp on Sunday...great experience, even though it went from 8am to 10:30pm. And I figure since I have this singlet and deadlift socks, I might as well do a few more and get some use out of them. So here goes.

Brodie, bravo! I'll be following your progress. I am looking for the same number and have 40 lbs. to go to get there but they will be hard-won pounds for me. What did you total on Sunday?

[Brodie Butland]

Meet results - Aug. 10

Lead-up: Had to thread a needle, because I was about 235 lbs in April and wanted to compete as a 220, while still gaining strength. Apparently I overshot, because I weighed in at 211. Training-wise, I was making remarkable progress, but then had three different muscle strains that screeched it back...esp. on the deadlift. Sucks, but that's life. Still haven't fully resolved the psoas strain, but we're getting there--it's much better now than it was two months ago.

Results:

Squat:
Attempt 1: 350 - 2W, 1R - I got excited and racked before the command
Attempt 2: 370 - 3W
Attempt 3: 402 - 3W. Highest I ever did in training was 375, but 370 felt so easy I thought I'd go for it. Might have left a few pounds on the table.

Video of third attempt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX077iT7yyw

Bench:
Attempt 1: 245 - 2W, 1R
Attempt 2: 270 - 3W
Attempt 3: 292 - 3R. Got greedy on this one...should have gone for 281.

Video of second attempt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMahDgXxus8


Deadlift:

Backgrond: As mentioned above, was still fighting through a psoas strain, and it really fucked up my conventional deadlift. I hadn't been able to convention deadlift over 385 for a single in training for the previous month (in June I was lifting 405 for reps). So I played around with sumo style and, it turns out, it didn't bother me as much. So I made a gametime decision to sumo at the meet, because I figured at least the ceiling would be higher.

Attempt 1: 350 - 3W
Attempt 2: 380 - 3W
Attempt 3: 402 - 3W. Definitely left weight on the table here, which was unfortunate. But I really wanted to hit 400, so I didn't leave it to chance.

Video of third attempt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpAsi7u9b7U


1075 total (all of the lifts had a little extra on them...they used the metric system, so the weights in pounds were strange). Which all things considered, I was happy with...almost certainly would have had 1100 with smarter weight selection.

I consider that a good start. I would like to hit 1300 within two years.

[Brodie Butland]

8/12

Back off after meet

Beltless squat:
300x3
315x3

Pause bench
225x3
235x3

Sumo DL
315x7

[Brodie Butland]

8/14

Still back-off...

3-0-3 squat
275x4
295x4

2-sec pause bench
185x4
205x4

[Brodie Butland]

8/18

Now back to the good part...

Squat
300x4@7
315x4@8
335x4@9
320x4@9


2-sec pause bench
165x7 @7.5
185x7 @8.5
195x7 @9.5

Quite a change from doubles and singles leading up to the meeting...look forward to getting back into heavy 4's and supplemental 6/7's.

[Nick Klemetson]

Nice job, Brodie! Can't believe the meet was that long. Lifted started for mine at 9:00 AM, and was completed by 12:30.

[Brodie Butland]

Brodie, bravo! I'll be following your progress. I am looking for the same number and have 40 lbs. to go to get there but they will be hard-won pounds for me. What did you total on Sunday?

Thanks. You're a lot closer than me...I've got 225 to go. I guess the real journey starts now.

Good news is, I have my form really dialed in at this point. This time I'll have to be more cognizant of recovery and try to avoid strains building up over time. That's really what killed my progress...letting manageable stuff get worse for too long. For example, for a couple months I thought I had bicep tendinitis or a shoulder problem (you may have noticed at the Lexington seminar...I had a lot of left arm and shoulder pain). It turns out it was a really bad tricep strain that I let get out of control.

[Brodie Butland]

Nice job, Brodie! Can't believe the meet was that long. Lifted started for mine at 9:00 AM, and was completed by 12:30.

It was supposed to be done at 5:00. But it was a 60-person meet, and six volunteers cancelled very shortly beforehand. The head honcho called in a few favors so they could have five there rather than cancel the meet entirely, but basically you had five volunteers to judge and set up the weights for each competitor. They did a great job with what they had, but they're human--and also have to do human things like use the bathroom and eat.

Deadlifting after being awake for 16 hours was interesting...

[gtl]

That 402 squat looked easy. During training, what did you do with 375 (sets x reps)?