Road to Nationals - Week 13: Maxing out

Hey all,

Below you can find some videos from this week's max-out attempts:

Squat:

I was very disappointed with my squat performance. I "opened" with a 395 squat that felt pretty light, but for some reason, things fell off the rails shortly after. Below you can find the 405 attempt. Though I make the lift, it felt way heavier than I would have liked it to be...

My chest falls forward and then I have to correct myself. What a mess...

The next two videos are at 415. I don't want to consider these "made" lifts (especially not the second one, yuck), because of my brother's help about mid-way out of the hole. Maybe (especially for the first video below), I could have gutted it out without him there, but who knows...

Ultimately, I've got work to do. I think my stance was a bit too narrow (causing the falling chest), and I really do need to do something about how high that barbell is on my back. I'm not an Olympic lifter... so it really is unnecessary. All things consistent, if I just switch over to a more low-bar style and I can put some pounds on my total, so be it.

Squat = 405.

Deadlift:

I don't have any video of it because I had to lift at my high school's weight room (scheduling to lift was crazy this week). However, the good news is that I was able to PR. I am now proudly a part of the 500lb club. It's a far cry from what a lot of the top-tier lifters are pulling (close to 600) in my weight class, but I'm getting there.

Deadlift = 500.

Bench:

I'm really proud of these bench attempts. When I first started on this journey, I knew that my bench was my limiting factor. In a little over a year of serious training, I've been able to put almost 75lbs onto my bench. With that being said, I understand that the road ahead is going to be brutal. I don't think I'll be making jumps like that anymore (I've settled into thinking that putting on 30lbs a year would be great). I'd only hoped to bench 275, but it felt really light, so below you can see videos for 285 and 290.

Bench = 290.

Total:

Squat: 405
Bench: 290
Deadlift: 500
New Unofficial Total: 1195

A few words:

Things like this are bitter-sweet. I didn't make my squat attempts at 415, so that's a bummer, and though I now have those numbers under my belt, they weren't all done on the same day and the lifts sure as hell weren't all done during a meet. I don't care about what anyone says, on the platform under the lights is WAY different from lifting with your buddies at the gym up the road.

The new goal, now, is to make these numbers at the meet on June 5th. However, it's going to be a grind. In a perfect world, with the right programming, I'm hoping to put another 10lbs on each lift by June, so we'll see how it goes. Had I totaled this in the fall at Nationals, I would have placed 15th, so I'm excited to see what's to come of me by October. Though I'm fairly certain a 1300lbs total is a bit of a longshot, if I want to place top ten, that's where I will need to be. Moreover, if I want to podium for 2017, it's looking like I'll have to be damn close to a 1400lb total.

Next week is looking like a rest week, so I'll be taking a week off from blogging as well (unless the spirit catches me).

Be well,
C