Dsher10’s BodyBlog

Had fun at the lift meet and met some great folks. Nearly all lifters were in shirts; I was RAW. My starting weight was 236 lbs, a warm-up weight for me, and I nailed it easily. Second lift was 260 lbs, a weight I do often in the gym. I got the lift, but I threw the weight back toward my head and out of my groove, turning the lift into a triceps contest. So my right arm, with the detached triceps medial lobe, lagged a bit at lockout and the lift wasn’t a smooth as I would have liked, though the lift was good.  My third attempt was 270 lbs, again a weight I do for 2-3 reps in the gym and less than the 275 I lifted at the May meet. I got the weight off my chest with no problem, but with a repeat of the same groove issue as with my second lift, my right triceps lagged at the transition, the lift went squirrelly, and it did not satisfy the judges.

Of course, I really wanted 285, so I didn’t hit my meet goal, but I can see where I need to work: keeping the lift in my power groove. Once I conquer that issue, I should make a competition 270 lift, and more, OK. I did, however, out-lift my shirted competition to earn a 1st-place trophy for my age/weight class. I also earned an invitation to the WABDL® GOODSON/HONDA WORLD BENCH PRESS AND DEAD LIFT CHAMPIONSHIPS to be held in Reno, NV, October 27 – November 1, 2009.

Nine weeks to go until my next meet am I’m still focusing on board and floor-chain presses, altenating between them each week. This week was floor preses, and I worked up to two reps with 305. Not the most perfect of lifts , but the weight went up!

I’m eight weeks out now from my lift meet in Winston-Salem, NC and working hard toward my 300lb RAW bench goal. My trainers suggested I enter the WABDL Monster Energy Southeastern Record Breakers meet to be held in Kennesaw, GA on July 25th. This would give me more experience on the platform, as well as some indications of what I need to do to improve my lifts for Winston-Salem. The meet is not a RAW meet, and there is no RAW classification, so I will be competing against a bunch of shirted lifters. I don’t expect to break any records. But the practice will be good, and I’ll feel fine if I can get in a good RAW competition lift of 285 or so, maybe more.