AAPF/APF GA State PL Meet
Not the day I wanted but at least I didn't bomb out like last April.

First of all, there were about 100 lifters at the APF GA State and one plat - 4 flights of squats, 6 flights of bench and 4 flights of deads. Lifting started at 10:30am and I left after my dead flight (the first of 4) at 8pm. Meet was over by 10:30pm from what I hear. A LONG day. I was first flight in squat, 3rd in bench and 1st in deads. Here's how it went down.

Squat - warming up and Marc Bartley's running my monolift, very cool and slightly intimidating. Super nice guy. He was there handling his lifters and selling his Spud Inc. straps and KB's. Out for the flight and the great Steve Goggins is my back spotter, no pressure what-so-ever..

Open - 402 blasted it up, 2 reds on depth (APF is VERY strict on depth)
2nd - 402 smoked it and got a lot of props on my depth
3rd - 429 (4lb PR attempt), took it down nice ended up bottoming out and had no drive out of the hole. Not a good start, but I'm in the meet.

Bench - Joe Ladnier is the head judge, a very intimidating looking man. I was not about to step onto the plat until he called lifter up. LOL!

open - 270 easy
2nd - 292 (6lb PR attempt) missed the last 4 or 5 inches as I pushed toward my belly, srong off the chest.
3rd - 292 a repeat of the last lift, strong off the chest, pushed to far forward and not back over my chest. Not where I wanted to be, but at least I get to deadlift at this meet.

Deadlifts -
open - 402 easy
2nd - 440 easy (10lb PR)
3rd - 463 didn't get tought til' the lockout, might have had 10-15lbs more in me (33lb PR)

Day went 5 for 9, total-1135 (15lb meet PR) and had a freakin' blast. The judging was strict, fair and consistent, nothing like the anti-APF rumors you read on the web. Despite the insane turnout I think Jon Grove ran a hell of a meet and he is a great guy. Alwasy made it a point to walk around, talk to lifters, etc. Judges were always coming backstage to tell people what they were getting called on, great communication.

Thanks to my friend Z for coming to handle me and drive me to the meet, Z also had a heck of a deadlift workout as he did the handoffs for my training partner Malcom, Chris and Joey.

Malcom finally got the 500lb monkey off his back! He missed 502 on his 2nd attempt after opening with an easy 440 and came back and smoked it on his 3rd! He's a 198 too and in a way loose shirt, congrats Malcom!

Joey Troup had a GREAT meet and he better give his report cause' he was making it all look too easy, here' his spoiler 8 for 9 and PR's across the board!

Highlight of the meet - seeing the amazing Sam Byrd break his WR squat in the 198's twice! He opened at 930 something and it was easy, then he made a solid 1003! The first 198 ever to do it, it was legit, below parallel and a solid lift. He came back and took 1030 about half way up before the spotters took it. The guy is a freak! Kara got tons of videos of it so I am sure you will see them on the net soon.

What I learned:
I need more specific lift work. I need more raw bench work and more raw strength across the board. Deadlifting is not much a problem for me compared to the other two lifts. I got tons of compliments on my squat and dead form so at least some things are going well. I may try to add more lift frequency in my training to get more practice on the lifts.

Squats - more paused work, more raw doubles and triples, more low box work, more speed work

Bench - more raw triples and board work, more shirted triples in a loose shirt, adding reverse grip presses on light days

Deadlift - more low back work

I feel like a freight train hit me today. This week is off, then I see my Doc next week for a hernia check, then it is either a minor op or back to work!

-Scott

Rollins Band in Atlanta Last Night!!!
The only thing that could possibly top a PL meet this weekend was seeing Henry Rollins and the original line-up of the Rollins Band rip Atlanta a new one last night at the Tabernacle downtown! They opened with "On My Way to the Cage" (gotta' love a guy who can make a song about going to the gym to pay his dues in the squat cage!) and basically destroyed Atlanta with everything of the Weight and Come in and Burn albumns. AMAZING show!!!

-Scott

AAPF/APF GA State Meet Tomorrow
Alright, just got back from weigh-ins. Screwed my weight up and didn't make the 198's this time, 204.9, crap. Oh well, no biggie since I am not in danger of breaking any national or world records. This will be my first AAPF/APF meet and from what I hear Jon Grove of North Georgia Barbell usually puts on a top-quality meet. My training partner Malcom and I went up to Stacks Gym to weigh in this morning and ran into the great Sam Byrd - if you've never seen Sam you need to pay attention to this guy. He is that rare lifter who is at the top of the PL game and could easily walk onto a bodybuilding competition stage, the guy is jacked. He holds the all-time 198 squat record, with a 918 lift I think and had a pretty exceptional performance at the NERB raw meet squatting over 700. I am pretty psyched to see this guy lift and there will be a boatload of other high-caliber talent there as well. Intimidating to say the least. I heard a while back that Donnie Thompson may be guest lifting, but I am not 100% sure on that. Will be hard to block all this out and focus on my lifts, but I'll do my best. My training cycle for this meet has been crappy at best and I think I had one point where I actually had a full 4-week mini-cycle so I am not expecting much and staying way conservative. Squats and deads have been progressing pretty well this training cycle, but the bench has been in the crapper big time.

Openers will be VERY light, seconds will be for small PR's and thirds will be played by ear depending on how seconds go.

To add to my lack of focus I noticed a small, puffy bulge in my left groin this past week, could possibly be an inguinal hernia, no pain so far so that is good. Have my regular physical with my Doc on Sept 6th so will get it diagnosed then.

Here's the plan:

Squat (meet PR - 425): open=402, 2nd=429, 3rd=440-451

Bench (meet PR - 285): open=270, 2nd=292, 3rd=303-308

Deadlift (meet PR - 430): open=402, 2nd=440, 3rd=462-501

Main thing is I would like to break a 1200 total, meet PR is 1120 right now.

I know the deadlift 3rd is a wide range, but because I bombed on my bench at the first meet this year I don't know what I could have pulled. I was gunning for a 475 at that meet and never got the chance. My training lift (indicators) are on track for a high 400 pull if things go well, so we'll play it by ear and have some fun sharing a plat with some of the best lifters in the game.

It's all just liftin' weights, right? Good times!

-Scott

Max Effort Bench
Aug 18, 2006

ME Bench

Last one before the meet. Sent the application in today.

1. Reverse Band Bench Press (greens): 135x5, (44 F6 on)225x2, 275x2, 315x2, 365x1, 405xmiss

2. Lat Pulldown: 110x8x4

3. BB Extension: 90x5x4

That's it. 8/26/06...

Dynamic Effort Squat
Aug 17, 2006

Thursday
DE Squat

1. Box Squat w/chains: 225x2x5

2. 45 Degree Back Raise: bwx10x3

3. Hanging Leg Raise: bwx10x3

8/26/06... We'll see what happens! Last big bench workout tomorrow.

Dynamic Effort Bench
Aug 15, 2006

Tuesday
DE Bench

1. Speed Bench w/chains (2-grips): 135x3x3, 155x3x3

2. Dips: bwx5x3

3. Seated Row: 110x8x3

4. Band Pushdown: purple band x 50

That's it for today.

Max Effort Squat/Deadlift
Aug 14, 2006

Monday
ME Squat/Deadlift

Working up to the openers today...

1. Squat: 135x5, 225x3, (ACE on straps down) 275x1, 315x1, (straps up) 365x1, (add wraps - loose) 405x1 (easy - will open with 402)

2. Deadlift: 225x2, 315x1, (straps up) 405x1 (easy - will open with 402)

3. GHR: bwx12, 10, 8

4. Sit Up: 45x10x4

That's it. Will probably go squat - 402/429-435/440-451; deadlift - 402/440/463-485 depending on how things go. Bench will be - 270-275/292/303-308 depending how things go. Good times! 8/26/06, the only thing cooler will be seeing the Rollins Band the 24th baby!!

ME Bench
Aug 11, 2006

Friday
ME Bench

1. Bench (Rage X double): 135x3x3 (touch), 185x2 (touch), 225x1 (touch), 275x1 (touch), 315xmiss, (1-bd)315x1 miss (was spent)

2. Tricep Extension: 90x5x5

3. Lat Pulldown: 4x6-10

4. Fat Boy Pullup: 2x8xbw+purple band

5. Band Extension: purplex15x3

6. Shrug: 3x15

That's it! Drinkin' at the Leprechan!

Dynamic Effort Bench
Aug 08, 2006

Tuesday
DE Bench

1. Speed Bench w/ chains: 135x3x8

2. 4-Board Press w/ chains: 185x5, 205x3, 225x3x2

3. Seated Row: 90x15, 110x10x2, 140x8x2

4. Double KB Military Press: 35'sx8x3

5. Band Pushdown: purple bandx15x3

That's it. Felt tired, but speed was really good and strong lockout on bench today.

Max Effort Squat
Aug 07, 2006

Monday
ME Squat/Deadlift

1. Box Squat (1"switch to free squat straps up 365x1 (a ways above parallel), 405x1 (parallel)

2. Goodmorning: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5

3. GHR: bwx10, bwx8x2

4. Sit Up: 45x8x4

That's it. Wasn't feeling that good today, probably should have done a bigger warm up. Next week will work up to find my opener, I'm guessing around 407-418 will be a safe opener. Hoping to go opener: 407-418, 2nd: 429-435, 3rd: 451 in the squat.

Extra Workout
Aug 06, 2006

Sunday
Extra Workout

1a. Double KB Swings Sumo Stance: 35'sx10x4
1b. Stationary Bike: 5 min. at a moderate pace x4

Extra Workout
Aug 05, 2006

Saturday
Part 2 from yesterday

1. Close Grip Bench: 95x10, 135x5, 155x5, 185x3x2

2. Lat Pulldown: 90x15, 110x10x4

3. Double KB Military Press: 35x8x4

That's it, didn't have time to finish last night as we spent the whole hour benching.

ME Bench
Aug 04, 2006

Friday
ME Bench

1. 2-Board: 135x5, 185x2, 225x2, (F6 on) 275x1, 315x1, (Rage X on) 350-no touch, 365-no touch, 4-BD 350x1 (first thing I got to touch in this shirt), 3-BD 350-no touch.

That's it for tonight. Will do some tris, lats and delts tomorrow. It's looking like I won't have this Rage X broken in by the August meet. We'll keep working it and hopefully I'll be ready in it for the WNPF Battle of the Countries in November. I probably should have went with the 50 Rage X instead of the 48 since it's a double, but once this shirt gets broken in a little it will be a serious shirt!

Dynamic Effort Squat/Deadlift
Aug 03, 2006 EditDelete

Thursday
DE Squat/Deadlift

1. Box Squat w/chains: 225x2x8

2. Speed Deadlift: 245x1x8

3. 45 Degree Back Raise: 35x10x3

4. Hanging Leg Raise: bwx10x3

5. Side Bend: 53x10+10x3

That's it. Suit is actually starting to break in well, took a while. Speed was good off the box, technique felt pretty good too. Getting a better arch and flex off the box, it's allowing me to stay more upright. Groove on deads was nice, but 245 ain't that heavy! LOL! We'll see what happens when the bar is loaded.

Max Effort Squat/Deadlift

Jul 31, 2006

Monday
ME Squat/Deadlift

1. Reverse Band Deadlift (green bands): 135x5, 225x3, 315x1, 405x1, 455x1 (20lb PR), 475x1 (40lb PR), 500x1 (65lb PR!!)

2. GHR: bwx12, 10, 8

3. Sit Up: 45x10x3

4. Sled Dragging: 1 lap up the hill in my yard and back down of each weight - 45, 90, 135, 180 --->this had me gassed and I will feel my legs tomorrow!

That's it. Helluva good workout tonight. In the numerous past crappy workouts it's nice to get a big workout like this occasionally!