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The Ghost returns! I'm not super active around here as much anymore, but thought I'd still drop a meet report. F TL;DR: Went 7/9 (again) (failed 3rd squat and deadlift attempts (complete fail)), left some pounds on the platform but still set some 4 PRs. Amazing experience for my first meet and reinforced my stance that everyone who ever thinks about doing a meet, competition or race should just do it. PLAN YOUR WORK. WORK YOUR PLAN! TRAINING & MEET PREP: Going into this meet I ran Candito's 6 Week Strength Program, which has been amazing. Prior to that I ran Layne Norton's 13 Week PH3 program which was sweet. Decided to do this meet 6 weeks out, when @miss_marissa told me to just do it. This was my second powerlifting meet, first with AAU. Training went amazingly, especially squats. Bench, as always was a little rough. Deads weren't feeling great either. But overall, all lifts weren't on the decline and I had no lingering injuries or aches & pains. Here are my squats leading up to the meet: As you can see I was feeling strong in squats, which is by far my best lift. MEET: This was my first meet with a 24 hour weigh in, first meet I had to travel and sleep at a hotel for. The original plan was to feel like a bad ass and ride the motorcycle 2 hours South from Vegas to Laughlin, but the wife put the kabosh on that when weather reports were expecting 45-50mph gusts that weekend. So (no thanks to myself) I played it smart and drove down in the car. The day of the meet was a bit long, as anyone who has competed knows. Rules briefing was at 830 and then the meet started...the weightlifting meet. Didn't realize WL would be going first before PL. It's always amazing to see the skill, coordination and grace of weightlifters, but I was mentally amped to start lifting a lot earlier than I would get to. I had been worried about making weight as a couple of months ago I was push 200lbs and debating if I should just cross the border and see how big I could get. The "diet" was relatively simple; cut out beer (6-12/week), cut out fast food, cut out cookies and snacks. That got me down to the mid to high 180s, and then a week out I started to waterload, and water loading SUCKS BALLS. Drinking gallons of water is just not fun and causes so many trips to the bathroom and a few 90mph trips on the highway to avoid pissing myself. Thankfully, I easily made weight coming in at 178.6lbs on that Friday. After I weighed in and got checked into the hotel, I made a dash to the casino buffet and drank & ate ALL THE FOODS. So many carbs were consumed and everything was heavily salted to replenish all the stuff I had been peeing out for the past 5 days. SQUAT: Warmups for squat started while the WLers were on their 3rd snatch attempts. Training at a gym with typical plates in pounds sucks when doing a meet in kilograms. Warm ups were rough and I couldn't take the jumps I normally do because of lifting brain and having to accommodate other lifters as well. The most stressful part for me leading into a meet is picking my attempts. Again @miss_marissa gave me advice to just be conservative with my attempts and I chose not to listen. I really wanted a 435 squat and based my attempts on that goal. Opened at 175kg/386lbs and that felt smooth and easy enough. This was a meet PR, as my best squat last year was 374 or so. Once I racked the bar, any nerves and butterflies instantly disappeared. But as I did for my first meet, I got in my own head when going up to the scorers table to make my second attempt. The plan was for 185/408 or being conservative at 182.5/403, but ended up at 180 and this is where the wheels wobbled. Second attempt was 397 and felt pretty okay. This was another meet PR. Third attempt was 187.5/413 and the wheels fell off. My issue, I think, was not staying on my plan and then not just staying off of it. I should have just stayed conservative here and got a clean lift. Hopefully I will be better at the next meet. Tied for best raw squat at 180kg. BENCH: Warmups for bench was fast...because I'm weak and use light weights. I went 3 for 3 here, which as an improvement over last year where I missed my second attempt. No bench video because poverty bench can't afford recording devices. Opener: 95kg/205lbs Second attempt: 102.5kg/226lbs Third attempt: 105kg/231lbs (Meet & Overall Pause PR) DEADLIFT: Deadlift warmups did not feel especially well due to abnormal warmups. Opened at 375lbs just to make sure I got the first attempt easily and didn't bomb out. Second attempt there is no video but hit 185/408 which is a meet & overall PR. I was a mess. Chalk covered hands and baby powder covered forearms and thighs, I'm the weakest cheater. Third attempt was conservative at 187.5/413, but was a miss. Back started to round and I think I just gave up. RESULTS/WRAP UP: Went 7 for 9 with two complete misses. Ended up getting 4 PRs. Increased my total by 30lbs and increased my squat PR by 20lbs or so. Didn't do nearly as well as I wanted to, especially on squats. Not sure how I placed, as the results are not out yet but I think I came in 4th overall, with the top lifter have an equipped squat and deadlifts in wraps and ended up with a medal. RANDOM THINGS: Masters and youth lifters are still and forever will be the coolest lifters at any meet. 74 year old, 70% blind lifter set a couple of bench world records. 12 year old did the weightlifting meet and then came back and deadlifted. And a 14 year old set multiple world records for all 3 lifts. I was not thinking about competing or seriously lifting weights when I was that age, I was out doing things 12-14 year olds should not be doing, but none of them involved setting records. One lifter flew in from Nigeria to compete, thought that was crazy. Had the day not been so long, I would have participated in the MAS wrestling competition that was held right after MOVING FORWARD: Again I was really happy with this meet experience. I was looking at doing another meet in September that would be more local so the family could finally attend, but that has been pushed up to July. The Sept meet is AAU Worlds and is capped at 300 lifters, July meet is capped at 50. It would seem cruel to have anyone not into lifting sit thru that long of a meet. So the plan is to have a fuck around bodybuilding deload (starting today), run Candito with low training maxes and then run Candito with more accurate maxes.

I'd like to organize an Edmonton meetup for Rebels, new and veteran alike, to meet and get to know each other. It's a great opportunity to creat a support network and maybe even a group to adventure with. Anyone interested? Reply here!

I’m a bit late to posting my challenge as life has been crazy with work and grad school. Now I’ve found some time to settle down and actually write this out. So here goes my first challenge, counting to 4! I just put down my entry fee for a powerlifting meet at the end of August which will be my first meet. The meet is part of a bigger GoRuck weekend event so rather than strict PvP competition, the event is based more on hitting certain totals to win ruck patches. Patches are awarded for 1000lb, 1250lb and 1500lb totals. My goal for this competition is to break the 1000lb mark and I know it will require some dedicated training in the next few months leading up. Currently sitting at a 930 estimated total: 305 squat, 250 bench, 375 dead (155 OHP not included) with I think a few more pounds in reserve but haven't tested 1RM in a while. Quest 1: 1…2…UHH...3…... This was my original lifting goal before the competition signup and I’m sticking with it as a good intermediate step towards the 1000lb total. 135lb OHP, 225lb bench, 315lb squat, and 405lb deadlift would be 1,2,3,4 45lb plates per side. I have already gotten the OHP and bench but squat and deadlift are not quite there. I’ve got a new strength program with a coach that I have been running for 8 weeks now and seeing awesome improvements that helped me hit the OHP and bench goals so staying on track with that routine. Goal: Squat to up 315lb and increase deadlift (405 is stretch for 1 month of training but would be bonus PR). Quest 2: #SwoleAndFlexy New favorite hashtag. Started doing ROMWOD a few weeks ago to help with range of motion and flexibility. Its 20min a day(40min on Thursdays) which I have no reason not to make time for regardless of what else I am busy doing. Goal: Keep doing this daily. Quest 3: Eat the right things Nutrition has always been a struggle for me. I got stuck in a weight loss mentality for a long time trying to eat <1800cal at 325+lb BW and it was killing my ability to do anything especially lifting. Slowly working my calorie intake up to break this cycle, currently 2300-2500 on lifting days and 1900-2100 on rest days. My lifts feel better with high daily protein intake and carbs centered on lifting sessions so going maintain that trend. Goal: Keep tracking on MFP to keep honest with calorie intake and macros.

I usually only pop up round these here parts when I'm going to compete (and likely fail) in something. And this time is no different. March 6th I will be (finally) competing in my first powerlifting meet. This is just a placeholder for when I actually think of goals and all the bullshit, which will likely beon Wednesday, but for now... ====================================================================================================================================== So despite bringing a strange, crying, needy alien being into my house I've decided to do my first...long awaited powerlifting meet. So in efforts to not completely embarrass myself I need to focus on the three things that lead to gains...three things that I do not get enough. Lift the weights...consistently. Since the end of December I've been in the gym less then 5 times, previous to that I was in the gym 4-5 times a week. There's no way I'll come anywhere close to hitting the numbers I want without consistent workouts, The missus has been supportive of me finding ways to get training in which has been very helpful in letting me feel considerably less guilty.I'm running Candito's 6 Week Strength Program in preparation for the meet. This calls for me to be in the gym 5 times the first 2 weeks and then 4 the next 2. Find time to recover...any time. Babies are the killers of sleep (as shown by the fact that I'm typing this up at 5am). Lack of sleep is the killer of gains, Between work, a newborn, a toddler, and the gym I've been pulling 1-3 hours a day. I need to get back to consistently hitting at least 5 hours. In addition to sleep, BCAAs and creatine (SUPP LIFE BITCHES) need to be consumed consistently. Lastly, contrast showers after EVERY squat/deads session. I've found that these almost completely reduce my DOMS. Eat ALL the foods...ALL. THE. FOODS. Lack of sleep and just generally being preoccupied, I forget to eat. I've generally been eating one meal a day...da fuq!? I need to start getting back to eating like a normal person and eating at least 3 meals a day with 2-3 protein shakes (SUPP LIFE BITCHES) mixed in there. Level Up Yo Life, Fool. I need to declutter my life and mind, but we'll just start with my life. Each week I will try to do something to declutter my office, apartment, inbox, et cetera.****Hopefully I'll come back to this and add the appropriate GIFs, memes and pictures.

Hi All! I recently got the bug to compete and decided to sign up for my first USAW weightlifting meet. It's scheduled on November 8, so I have a few months to prepare for it. Anyone have experience with oly meets? Any advice for a noob to the meet scene? Thanks! Nicc

Hey everyone! I have a few more spots open for the so cal ragnar april 10-11th 2015, and I know I have room for some people for the Nappa one (date's not released yet). If you run both in a year you get the special gold rush medal!!! We may not be the fastest runners, but we will have fun. Some of us will be representing different causes during the race, Who I run 4 and Team Red White Blue in particular, but you don't have to belong to either to join us! Send me a message or post if you're interested

Ok so, it's very, very possible that I'm getting far ahead of myself and am being guilty of DTM (doing too much) however; I'm thinking about entering into my first powerlifting meet this fall/winter. The idea is barely a glint in my eye. Keep in mind that I also recently just registered for the Chicago SuperSprint Triathlon for August 24, so its entirely possible that my weights will drop once I start running (ugh), swimming, and biking regularly to prepare for it. I know your first meet is you competing against yourself, but obviously I don't want to put up the lowest numbers in my weight class. Current stats (most recent numbers from this week) Age - 26 Weight - Varies from 165lbs to 171lbs Squat - 5x5 @ 190# Bench - 5/5/4/4/4 @ 175# Deadlift - 1x5 @ 245# So, any advice from those of you who have competed at a meet would be welcomed. Should I do it? Can I do it? Do my current numbers look at all respectable where I won't embarrass myself? And any general advice is appreciated!

Anyone else signed up for the Manchester NH Color Me Rad 5k? I just registered yesterday! Feel free to join my team (Team Badass)... I'd love some more company! Also - Until St. Paddy's Day there is a $10 discount with the promo code LUCKYMANCHESTER

Hey guys, is anyone going to this convention? http://www.upintheaether.com/

Looking for people in my area to start a group and help motivate eachother. Im in muskegon MI.