Powerlifting Meet Recap: RPS Long Island InsurreXtion

Lift, eat, party, repeat. Man, I wish every weekend could be like this last one at the RPS Long Island InsurreXtion.

I came in 1st place in the 198 pound class and open raw classic division (no knee wraps) with a 510 squat, 360 bench and 550 deadlift. All 5-pound PRs for a 1420 total. That’s a 50-pound total PR in just over a year and a 115-pound increase from the April meet. I went 9-for-9 for the second time in three meets and got 27 white lights.

I was in search of some serious redemption after falling well short of my goals at my last powerlifting meet in April. But now I’m half a year smarter and half a year stronger, and with one of the best training cycles of my life under my belt, it was time to cash in.

Aside from reaching all my goals at the meet, I got to see some great friends, some great lifters and spend some time in Queens which reminded me how lucky I was to get to live in New York for two years.

I weighed in at 191.4 pounds on Friday night and got to eating. Sushi, ice cream and salt and vinegar chips got me a good bloat that carried over nicely to the morning. The warmup room had two monolifts but was still crowded. I didn’t get to repeat any warmup sets but felt pretty good after working up to 465 about eight minutes before my opener.

I hit my first squat at 475 with ease, but was glad I decided to knock it down 10 pounds from 485 just to be safe. I took 495 for my second attempt and narrowly avoided complete disaster. I unracked it fine and took it down under control, but as soon as I broke parallel, my knees buckled, my lower back rounded and I almost lost it out of the hole. I muscled through and recovered, but you can see in the video that it was shaky.

I called for 510 and I knew I needed to get tighter than a gnat’s ass to get the lift. I took some extra time in the setup and knew immediately when I unracked it that I had it. I sat back into it smoothly and crushed it with twice the speed of 495. Going 3-for-3 on squats boosted my confidence and put me in a great mindset headed into the bench press.

My bench has skyrocketed in the past year and I knew I could hit a 1400 total with my new bench gains. I opened at 325 – 5 pounds under my previous meet PR and 10 pounds heavier than my best bench in April – and hit it easily despite the bar drifting backwards a bit on the unrack. I’ve been benching without a handoff for months now and feel so much better that way.

I took 345 next to set me up for a 15-pound jump to 360, which is much more manageable than a 20-pound leap. 345 went up easy for a 15 pound meet PR. I took 360 on my third and got a great setup. I slowed a little bit at my old sticking point but grinded through it without flaring my elbows too much or letting my wrists fall back. That’s a huge feat for me because six months ago, there’s no way I would have muscled through that.

On a side note, let me just say that if you get stuck off the chest on the bench and want to shatter that sticking point, pause every rep. Every single one, for months and months. Stupidly simple but stupidly effective.

Being 6-for-6 meant I only need a 530 deadlift to total 1400. Any pressure I felt earlier disappeared and allowed me to have more fun than I’ve ever had at a meet.

I hit my 495 opener with speed, then took 530 to hit 1400 overall. It wasn’t a walk in the park but the bar never slowed and I locked it out no problem. I didn’t sink my hips quite low enough, so I knew that if I was gonna get 550, I’d need to sit my ass down and get my hips and chest rising at the same rate.

If you watch the video, I break the floor with 550 much better than normal and get the bar off the floor before my upper back has a chance to round over. This made all the difference and I knew I had it from the initial pull. Three whites, 1420 in the books.

Some fun facts about training for this meet:

• I did almost zero assistance work. I trained almost nothing but the main lifts with the exception of deficit deadlifts, block deadlifts, rows and glute ham raises.
• While I didn’t have the time for long training sessions, I think the slight reduction in volume did wonders for my recovery. I never had bad sessions.
• I didn’t miss a single rep in training over 16 weeks. I missed a 550 deadlift attempt during my mock meet, but that’s it.
• I trained the main lifts almost exclusively in the 70-80% range for sets of 3-5. I went as high as 85-88% for singles or doubles maybe half a dozen times.

What’s next:

• Fix my deadlift and giving sumo deadlifts a fair shot
• Work the hell out my upper back and traps
• Spend some quality time with the safety squat bar

Thanks to Dan for giving me a place to stay the night before the meet, Vic for centering me on squats, my wonderful girlfriend Emily for driving 6 hours round trip to watch, Elyse for the always-reliable words of encouragement, Eddie for baby powdering my quads without so much as a giggle, and Matt for showing me around Queens.