Bodacious Beach Beasts 2018!

[Stonie]

Done! Super happy with 2 new PRs (deadlift and squat) - and the first time I've squatted more then my own bodyweight. And I impressed a random GymBro. 

[Chaosbane]

On 8/8/2018 at 8:15 AM, RollingStoney said:

Done! Super happy with 2 new PRs (deadlift and squat) - and the first time I've squatted more then my own bodyweight. And I impressed a random GymBro. 

Nice one! Motivation level over 9,000 now?

[Chaosbane]

Quick question about 'meet day'

For an actual powerlifting competition, how long is the event, as in, over hat time period are you doing your lifts? And how much rest do you get between sets?

I'll be doing my lifts tonight with about 1.5 hours for everything, which seems short for a bunch of RPE 8-10 heavy singles.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

4 hours ago, Chaosbane said:

Quick question about 'meet day'

For an actual powerlifting competition, how long is the event, as in, over hat time period are you doing your lifts? And how much rest do you get between sets?

I'll be doing my lifts tonight with about 1.5 hours for everything, which seems short for a bunch of RPE 8-10 heavy singles.

 

That's short comapred to competition.

 

Typically the way a powerlifting meet works is you have 10-15 people in your "flight", or group of people you'll be lifting with.  Flight size of 10-12 is around normal, 15 is normally the max allowable by the federation guidelines or rules. Each lifter has 1 minute to start their lift from the point the weight is loaded on the bar, and there's typically about a minute to clear the platform and load the next person's weight. This makes each lift take 1-2 minutes per lift, usually somewhere in the middle of that. Well run, efficient meets will be faster. Being a loader at a meet is a hell of a workout.

 

So, in a 15 person flight, that's 15-30 minutes between your lifts. That's a LONG time and why most federations cap flight size at 15 so as not to have people cooling down too much. Typically I've been in 10-12 person flights, so you're looking at more like 10-24 minutes between your lifts, 30-72 mintues for a full flight of people doing 3 attempts each to finish all attempts for a lift. You'll then take time off and time to warm up while another flight rotates with you, doing their lifts while your warm-up and visa versa, so that's another 30-72 minutes before your flight starts its first attempt at the next lift. All that said you're looking at 3-7 hours for 2 flights to complete all 9 attempts. I wanna say meets I've been a part of have typically run about 4-4.5 hours, so 2 minutes per person is really on the high side as 4.5 hours would be 45 mintues per flight.

 

All of that said, I typically take 1.5-2 hours for virtual meets. Takes me about 10 minutes to warm up bench, 15 for squat and deadlift, and my first attempt is something I could typically triple, so I only take a 5 minute break or so before my second attempt, then usually I take a solid 10 minutes before the third. I'm usually done my bench attempts in under 30 minutes, squats and deadlifts take a bit longer.

[Chaosbane]

1 hour ago, Gainsdalf the Whey said:

 

That's short comapred to competition.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. I've just put a message on the British power-lifting Facebook page, who linked me to a power-lifting group near my area who have an event on the 7th Oct, which I might go and spectate.

 

I actually took a bit longer than expected, about 2 hours 15 minutes. I did get ravenous so had to have a coffee, apple and cheese and pepperoni pitta bread before my deadlifts. I'm assuming food is allowed  I should have had something else before my bench too, I was feeling shaky and my bench didn't go as planned.

[Chaosbane]

So, here goes a recap of my event. What went well, what didn't go well.

 

I just want to start by saying that I really think the internet has completely skewed strength standards everywhere. I have always been feeling really crap about my lifts, because I for the most part lift on my own, in my garage gym. I watch videos by strong dudes on youtube, and go on forum full of strong dudes. But when I step back and think about it, I am strong. I might not be powerlifter strong at all, I'm still a novice, but I am 'strong'; I am stronger than anybody I know, all of my colleagues, family members and friends. This competition, and my recent training has really helped me see that. The short time I spent at a commercial gym, I never saw anybody else deadlift 3 plates, squat close to 3 plates, or bench almost 2 plates (my lifts at the time, I have now surprassed that by FAR). I am strong, and I feel good  justsayin

 

The reason I preface with that, is because this competition has spurred me to look for a local novice meet, and to go a view a championship meet in October thats about 20 miles from me. I then went and looked at the results from the championship meet last year... and I wouldn't actually fare too badly. I would urge anyone with a passing interest to see what may be local to them.

 

I had a chat with my mentor, put up some videos of recent lifts and checked my form - depth on the squat, no bounce on the bench, shoulders behind bar at the top of the deadlift etc. I'm happy with all of that

 

Squat (140,150,155):

Warmups -20Kg*12, 60Kg*8, 80Kg*5, 100Kg*3, 110Kg*2, 125Kg*1

 

I decided to open with 140Kg, my current RPE 8 1RM, I don't go above that for safety, but decided to for this comp.

My original plan was to go 140,145 - but the 140 just felt easy, so I went to 150Kg - tough, but easier than I thought.

For my last attempt I was considering going a bit heavier, but I think I made the right choice with 155, it wasn't a grinder but was tough. Still, so happy I smashed it. Thats a HUGE 15Kg PR for me. But was definitely an RPE10 lift - I wont be going that high again for a while without a spotter.

 

Bench (100, 105, miss 110):

Warmups: 20*8, 40*5, 60*5, 80*3, 90*1

I started with 100, my RPE8 1RM - This went fine.

I went to 105 and this was tough, but I got it. I was getting really hungry at this point, I think I should have had a bit longer break and a small snack, between my squats and bench.

Tried 110, but missed the lift. In hindsight, I should have gone to 107.5. But I think I would have even failed that, I was a bit drained and my setup was just bad.

 

I then took a 30 minute break, had a pear, some pita bread with cheese and meat and a small strong coffee.

 

Deadlift (160, 170, 180):

Warmups: 60*8, 80*5, 100*5, 110*3, 120*2, 140*2 - I probably could have spaced out my warmups a bit better.

I started with 160, my double overhand RPE10 1RM - I don't mind training higher intensity on deadlift, I'm not going to die by failing a rep with no spotter...

But the difference here, was I decided to use alternating grip, something which I don't often do. For no reason other than I forgot it existed until my mentor asked me why I didn't use it on my 1RM attempt a couple of weeks ago. The 160 FLEW up, alternating grip is BEASTLY, I'm going to be using this in training from now on for my top sets.

So I went to 170, which I thought was going to be my top set. again, the bar flew up. This felt harder, but by no means a struggle.

I loaded the bar with 180+, all of my weights, microplates, weighted collars - everything I have, so I now know I definitely need to buy more weights. And the pull was tough, but got it. I got my first callous tear! A deadlifting scar other than some bleeding shins when trying sumo!

 

 Total: 440 HELL YEAH!

 

A few days rest now, I felt like how I used to after running a half marathon after that. I'm starting The Bridge by barbell medicine in a couple of weeks. So I'll start a new log for that.

 

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

3 hours ago, Chaosbane said:

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. I've just put a message on the British power-lifting Facebook page, who linked me to a power-lifting group near my area who have an event on the 7th Oct, which I might go and spectate.

 

I actually took a bit longer than expected, about 2 hours 15 minutes. I did get ravenous so had to have a coffee, apple and cheese and pepperoni pitta bread before my deadlifts. I'm assuming food is allowed  I should have had something else before my bench too, I was feeling shaky and my bench didn't go as planned.

 

Participate! OR even if you don't wanna compete at your first one, volenteer as a loader or spotter,  they're always in high demand.

 

And yeah, food is allowed for sure. I've eaten solid meals while the other flight is lifting.

[Juni0r83]

So it occurred to me that I started filling out my lifts while I was in the gym yesterday, and then when the wheels fell off I failed to finish filling in the spreadsheet. To anyone who’s checked it and seen half of my attempts, I apologize, it is all now fully updated.

 

On to the virtual comp.

 

weigh in went about as I expected, but better than it’s been previously. At 135kg, I’m officially lighter than when I actually competed a couple of years ago, which is new.

 

the lifts weren’t so good.

 

Squat. 

Warm ups felt great, and first attempt was 207.5kg. Easy weight.

Second attempt was 220kg and felt like a tonne of bricks.

Third attempt was 230kg and I was really happy when I bounced out of the hole and cruised through my usual sticking point.

previous max was 240kg, so even though i still feel like I’m rebuilding, I’m at least most of the way there now.

 

Bench.

Everything felt smooth and easy during the warmups. First attempt was 145kg, and it came off the chest and came to a near complete stop but eventually I locked it out. It was at this point that I realized I’d planned my attempts going for a PR at 160kg. Caught myself and made the jump to my actual third attempt goal of 155kg. Didn’t go up. Moving on, nothing to see here.

Previous max was 157.5kg. I might have had 150 if I’d planned my attempts better. Silly me.

 

Deadlift.

warmups felt good, I didn’t use my belt or chalk until later than I normally do, and everything was moving easier than expected.

first attempt at 207.5kg came off the floor nice and smooth.

Second attempt at 220kg was a true max out, legs wobbling, back shaking, the whole bit. I really wanted to give it away about half way up but i stuck with it and managed to get my hips through in the end.

There was no third attempt. Previous max was 235kg so I’ve lost more here than in the other two, and I’m going to have to start working on some imbalances that are becoming quite obvious as time goes by if I want to keep getting stronger.

 

Final total of 595kg, wilks of 334. Let the rebuild continue.

[Rooks]

Did my lifts yesterday. Run down in my Instagram post. 

 

Snatch: 95 / 115 / 125
Clean & Jerk: 135 / 165 / X
Squat: 300 / 325 / 340
Bench: 225 / 250x / X
Deadlift: 385 / 415x / X

 

 

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Completed my lifts Friday. Squat I eased into a 315 lb single. Could have pushed for more but my left knee is still recovering and doesn't quite feel fully stable under loads at the bottom, so I didn't go further. Going to continue rehabbing it, its coming along really well and I think I'll be back to full squatting strength in 4-6 weeks. Bench I hit a 315 single,  focusing on not leg driving at all and just using my upper body until I have more confidence in my knee. I probably could have just gone for broke and used my legs and been just fine. Was running out of time on deadlifts, so just knocked out 3 quick attempts. I could have done my 405 3rd attempt for plenty of reps. It was refreshign to be under heavyish weights again, and the results will feed into my rehab approach.

[miss_marissa]

I did a "crossfit total" attempt on Friday (because that's what I do now apparently instead of benching) which is the same as powerlifting except OHP instead of bench.  If it's ok with ya'll I'd like to sub that value in for my bench (it is significantly less than my bench).

 

The coach is was working with wrote all the attempts down on the white board and erased them as we went so I don't have the full lineup but here's what we did:

Squat: 85/90/93X

OHP: 30/31X/31X

Deadlift: 95/103/107X

 

Squat I was actually pretty pleased with! 85 felt super strong and 90 was pretty slow through my sticking point, but still felt good so we attempted 93. Which I couldn't even get out of the hole.

Barbell OHP is not something I've worked on at all over the past ~1.5 years, focusing mostly on kettlebell or dumbbell variations including a lot of unilateral variations. Prior to that I really only worked sets of 5+ with barbell variations (never attempting max effort). Therefore there is a lot of technique work to be done here. My sticking point was right about at my forehead/top of my head level. 30 was slow, but 31 I just stuck and held it for a few seconds before coming down.

Deadlifts I was very pleased with! The workout called for deadlift triples on Thursday (the day before) in which I managed 95x3 so I was pretty confident I could reach 100x1. Unfortunately this meant I was somewhat fatigued for my deadlifts, especially compounding squats and press on top of it. 103 moved well, but 107 did not budge from the floor. I think if I was fresh, there is more there (likely ~110)

We were aiming for a 500 lb total and fell short by just a few lbs.

 

With my all time best squat at 97.5 and deadlift at 112.5, I am SUPER pleased with these numbers!  With my injury in last February, I haven't done much maximal effort lifting, focusing mostly on rehab, improving in all planes of motion, and increasing core strength, flexibility, balance, and motor control. With not doing any powerlifting specific training, nor peaking for max effort, the fact that I've lost minimal strength over this time period is super encouraging.

 

I know it's past the dates, but I'd still like to test my Oly lifts (timing of this comp along with my life stuff just did not work out well). Again, if ya'll will let me... Otherwise, I'm probably still going to do it and just not be eligible for titles/prizes if anyone has an issue.

[Rooks]

1 hour ago, miss_marissa said:

I know it's past the dates, but I'd still like to test my Oly lifts (timing of this comp along with my life stuff just did not work out well). Again, if ya'll will let me... Otherwise, I'm probably still going to do it and just not be eligible for titles/prizes if anyone has an issue.

 

I, for one, have zero problems with extending the dates a bit. 

[Chaosbane]

6 hours ago, miss_marissa said:

I did a "crossfit total" attempt on Friday (because that's what I do now apparently instead of benching) which is the same as powerlifting except OHP instead of bench.  If it's ok with ya'll I'd like to sub that value in for my bench (it is significantly less than my bench).

 

The coach is was working with wrote all the attempts down on the white board and erased them as we went so I don't have the full lineup but here's what we did:

Squat: 85/90/93X

OHP: 30/31X/31X

Deadlift: 95/103/107X

 

Squat I was actually pretty pleased with! 85 felt super strong and 90 was pretty slow through my sticking point, but still felt good so we attempted 93. Which I couldn't even get out of the hole.

Barbell OHP is not something I've worked on at all over the past ~1.5 years, focusing mostly on kettlebell or dumbbell variations including a lot of unilateral variations. Prior to that I really only worked sets of 5+ with barbell variations (never attempting max effort). Therefore there is a lot of technique work to be done here. My sticking point was right about at my forehead/top of my head level. 30 was slow, but 31 I just stuck and held it for a few seconds before coming down.

Deadlifts I was very pleased with! The workout called for deadlift triples on Thursday (the day before) in which I managed 95x3 so I was pretty confident I could reach 100x1. Unfortunately this meant I was somewhat fatigued for my deadlifts, especially compounding squats and press on top of it. 103 moved well, but 107 did not budge from the floor. I think if I was fresh, there is more there (likely ~110)

We were aiming for a 500 lb total and fell short by just a few lbs.

 

With my all time best squat at 97.5 and deadlift at 112.5, I am SUPER pleased with these numbers!  With my injury in last February, I haven't done much maximal effort lifting, focusing mostly on rehab, improving in all planes of motion, and increasing core strength, flexibility, balance, and motor control. With not doing any powerlifting specific training, nor peaking for max effort, the fact that I've lost minimal strength over this time period is super encouraging.

 

I know it's past the dates, but I'd still like to test my Oly lifts (timing of this comp along with my life stuff just did not work out well). Again, if ya'll will let me... Otherwise, I'm probably still going to do it and just not be eligible for titles/prizes if anyone has an issue.

 

 

Awesome! Strengthlifting replaces the bench for OHP. 

 

I'd like a comp which gave you two attempts for each of the bug 4. But would take too long

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

16 hours ago, Chaosbane said:

 

 

Awesome! Strengthlifting replaces the bench for OHP. 

 

I'd like a comp which gave you two attempts for each of the bug 4. But would take too long

 

OHP and bench ahve too mcuh carryover, one would fatigue the other, and people who are strong in one are typically strong in the other if they train both.

 

What I'd like to see is something that adds a 4th lift to powerlifting that tests upper body pull strength. Something like a max weighted pull up. Do it between squat and bench so grip recovers for deadlift.

[Chaosbane]

10 minutes ago, Gainsdalf the Whey said:

 

OHP and bench ahve too mcuh carryover, one would fatigue the other, and people who are strong in one are typically strong in the other if they train both.

 

What I'd like to see is something that adds a 4th lift to powerlifting that tests upper body pull strength. Something like a max weighted pull up. Do it between squat and bench so grip recovers for deadlift.

 

Ah yeh, I didn't consider fatigue. But upper body pull strength would be awesome, I know a few strong people who can't even do 1 pullup. But I think that is mostly due to not ever training them.

[miss_marissa]

16 hours ago, Chaosbane said:

 

 

Awesome! Strengthlifting replaces the bench for OHP. 

 

I'd like a comp which gave you two attempts for each of the bug 4. But would take too long

I'd never heard of strengthlifting. Seems cool.

 

I know the press used to be one of the lifts in Olympic lifting, but the judging is pretty subjective and that is part of why they removed it (so I'm told)

[Juni0r83]

1 hour ago, Chaosbane said:

 

Ah yeh, I didn't consider fatigue. But upper body pull strength would be awesome, I know a few strong people who can't even do 1 pullup. But I think that is mostly due to not ever training them.

 

I can't do one, but it's not for lacking in training my back. It's generally from being a big fat guy...

[Chaosbane]

https://whatanimaldoyoulift.herokuapp.com/

 

So my total was a Jersey Cow - Thanks @Brovatar Korra

 

 

[miss_marissa]

OK I added my Olympic lifts. I did a drop in at my old gym (2 gyms ago now actually...) to complete them and they use lbs and smallest plates are 2.5 lb plates, which is kind of a big jump for me on these lifts when my new CF gym has 0.5 kg and 1 kg plates to use.

 

warmed up

Snatch: 45/55/65

Attempts: 70/75/X

Managed 75 but didn't feel confident jumping to 80, it seemed like a big jump to me. And lifting by myself in a relatively unfamiliar gym just didn't seem the best idea to attempt it.

 

Clean and Jerk: 75/85

Attempts: 95/105/110X

Missed the 110 on the jerk. Just didn't get enough height on the drive to be able to get under it.

 

After the attempts I did some additional work to get more volume in and try to answer a few things. 

Did 5 sets of front squat x3 + jerk at 85 to be more confident with it.

Then went for front squat max attempt and managed 145. The limiter was the uncomfortableness of the weight resting on my collarbone, not any sort of strength issue.

 

This tells me a few things I need to know about how to improve my Olympic lifting:

1) Since the gap between my max clean and my max front squat is so large, there is some technique work to be done to shore up my clean.

2) I need to build more upper body strength for both lifts and to get more confident in the overhead position if I'd like to improve. OHS, push presses, strict press, jerk, snatch press etc.

The lifts feel comfortable and they come natural to me, but I think I just need a bit of technique work and more practice to feel confident with them if I'd like to make any progress. I am still fairly new to them so I'm pleased with how they are going, but I think with my strength base, I could be lifting a lot more than I am with a bit of practice.

[CourtnieMarie]

2 hours ago, miss_marissa said:

I could be lifting a lot more than I am with a bit of practice.

sounds like you got a fever

 

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

22 hours ago, miss_marissa said:

The limiter was the uncomfortableness of the weight resting on my collarbone, not any sort of strength issue.

 

Do you mean literally on your collar bone? If so, then you've got some set-up/form stuff to work on because it should be on the collar bone.

 

On 8/15/2018 at 8:12 AM, Chaosbane said:

https://whatanimaldoyoulift.herokuapp.com/

 

So my total was a Jersey Cow - Thanks @Brovatar Korra

 

 

They need to add to their database a little more, 1000-1600 is all adult male moose.

[Chaosbane]

5 hours ago, Gainsdalf the Whey said:

They need to add to their database a little more, 1000-1600 is all adult male moose.

 

Thats dissapointing. But gives me a goal, I'm a few weeks away from an adult male moose total!

[Stonie]

My total is a West Indian Manatee. Awesome!