Veni, vidi, levavi, BenM Blathers

[Shane]

Best wishes for the meet! Nice way to keep yourself honest. Eat some donuts and kill it bro!

[simonrest]

Good luck buddy.

[BenM]

Best wishes for the meet! Nice way to keep yourself honest. Eat some donuts and kill it bro!

Good luck buddy.

Thanks fellas!

Mmmm donuts. Wish I’d eaten a few more - had intended to be closer to 74kg on Sat morning but I don’t think making weight will be an issue!

[GrizzlyAdam]

Have fun, Ben! Expect the weights to feel heavy at your meet (because of less frequent exposure the last week), but move really fast thanks to the fatigue dissipating. Good luck!

[Mahendra]

Best of luck, Ben! Make sure you kill it!

[slowmotion]

Give 'em hell! ( or something similar )

[BenM]

Have fun, Ben! Expect the weights to feel heavy at your meet (because of less frequent exposure the last week), but move really fast thanks to the fatigue dissipating. Good luck!

Wise words. I didn't think of this but it makes perfect sense - thanks again. Jordan also just came out with this little gem this morning which was timely -

Best of luck, Ben! Make sure you kill it!

Thanks Mahendra!

Give 'em hell! ( or something similar )

Thanks Jan!

I'll be sure to post a full report here once the judging's been done.... not sure how long that'll take since there won't be immediate lights like a real meet.

[BenM]

Decided to put this up now as it sounds like it might take a few days to actually judge these. Roster/results are here, for ease of my finding them later! But based on my own judging, tentative results:

Sat 20/01/18: Eat, Train, Progress virtual meet!

Food yesterday: 2435 kcal (2777 kcal target)

Activity yesterday: 12.7k steps

Sleep last night: 7 hrs 57 mins - 1 hr, 4 mins awake

AM BW: 71.3kg (-0.2kg from yesterday)

Squat:
Attempt #1: 122.5kg*
Attempt #2: 127.5kg
Attempt #3: 132.5kg (PR, +2.5kg)

*Question mark here, I didn't pause for 2 seconds before re-racking the bar, so might get red lights for that. I think the other two are OK, depth is marginal but OK I think.

Went well. Grizzly was right, felt heavy, but I went for a PR on the third attempt and got it with maybe a kilo or so in the tank.

Bench:
Attempt #1: 70kg*
Attempt #2: 77.5kg
Attempt #3: 77.5kg

*Question mark here, too, my head came off the bench but I'd locked out at that point so hopefully I'll get away with it. I don't expect them to be super strict with judging, we're not playing for sheep stations.

Not so good. This is the lift I care about the most, I've been training it fucking hard, and it's gone nowhere - I hit 77.5kg TnG for a single a couple of months ago. Maybe it was partly ego, but I thought for sure with all the effort I've been putting in that it would be there with a pause now. Not today, bear, not today. Had a snack, and a big shot of cold brew concentrate before the third attempt but it wasn't happening.

Anyway, this was a bit of a noob mistake, but I'll learn from it. Hopefully the first attempt won't get red lighted for the head lift, even if it doesn't I've left 5kg on the table here.

Deadlift:
Attempt #1: 145kg
Attempt #2: 155kg
Attempt #3: 162.5kg (7.5kg PR for conventional, 2.5kg PR for any method)

Went OK too. Still wondering what I could've pulled if I'd started training sumo earlier. First attempt went up easy, second was awful, way too much pulling and not enough hamstrings. Thought about going conservative with the third but decided just to go for the little PR and be done with it. Form was a bit better, back was rounded of course, but I probably had more in the tank.

Video:

TLDR; went (tentatively) 7/9, PR'd 2 of 3 lifts, didn't injure myself. Feeling a bit disappointed about bench progress, but as a great man once said, 2 outta 3 ain't bad. It's progress, and it's been a fun experience doing it.

I mowed the lawn after this, and am seriously even thinking about training tomorrow (even if it's just brostuff). Don't feel beat up at all.

[Wilhelm]

Nice work, Ben. +++

Do you just submit the video, or does it have to be live/webcam?

This could be an attractive option for me to try.

[BenM]

Just submit the video, within a certain timeframe. Didn’t have to be live. I think they are going to do more of these this year as the interest has been pretty high, it’s well worth joining their FB group for a look.

[Wilhelm]

Link? or what is their name?
Please and thank you

[BenM]

Eat, Train, Progress - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1757960127817969/

Its a big group, not specifically powerlifters, very welcoming to all.

[simonrest]

First of all, great stuff, sounds like a fun arvo

Activity yesterday: 12.7k steps

The fuq? You had a marathon to run after training?

*Question mark here, I didn't pause for 2 seconds before re-racking the bar, so might get red lights for that. I think the other two are OK, depth is marginal but OK I think.

The pause is fine, heaps long enough. Depth too. Easily

*Question mark here, too, my head came off the bench but I'd locked out at that point so hopefully I'll get away with it. I don't expect them to be super strict with judging, we're not playing for sheep stations.

What fed? If it's PA their red light you for that, because they only exist to strenuously enforce arbitrary rules. I'm surprised you didn't get your second and third attempts, had them most of the way up.

Still wondering what I could've pulled if I'd started training sumo earlier.

Are you planning to pull sumo from now on?

[BenM]

First of all, great stuff, sounds like a fun arvo

Activity yesterday: 12.7k steps

The fuq? You had a marathon to run after training?

*Question mark here, I didn't pause for 2 seconds before re-racking the bar, so might get red lights for that. I think the other two are OK, depth is marginal but OK I think.

The pause is fine, heaps long enough. Depth too. Easily

*Question mark here, too, my head came off the bench but I'd locked out at that point so hopefully I'll get away with it. I don't expect them to be super strict with judging, we're not playing for sheep stations.

What fed? If it's PA their red light you for that, because they only exist to strenuously enforce arbitrary rules. I'm surprised you didn't get your second and third attempts, had them most of the way up.

Still wondering what I could've pulled if I'd started training sumo earlier.

Are you planning to pull sumo from now on?

I mowed the lawns and stuff after training. Coulda been a lot more, the wife and daughter went for a swim but I bailed outta that one. ETA: actually just realised that’s Friday’s number. Yesterday (the day I did this) was actually over 15k.

Thanks for the confirmation on my judging. Rules are here and probably based on IPF/USPA standards but really, it’s all a bit of fun and there are probably cheaters playing (since there’s always people who can’t help themselves) so I’m expecting them to be a bit lenient. I won’t win anything anyway so whatevs. But it would suck to bomb out altogether on bench. My left side is so much weaker than my right otherwise I probably had it.

I haven’t decided yet but I am definitely leaning towards pulling sumo as my main deadlift. I feel stronger with it and I feel a more vertical back angle is safer given my kyphosis and issues getting my mid/upper back flat. Your comments in another thread about pulling sumo helping to teach you lumbar extension and improving your form on conventional interested me too.

[simonrest]

This thing sounds fun.

Definitely give the Ed coach video a watch - he explains things that sort of clicked for me

[BenM]

This thing sounds fun.

Definitely give the Ed coach video a watch - he explains things that sort of clicked for me

Ed Coan? Yeah, noticed that. It's on my watch later list so I can watch it closer to my next sumo session. I've only had 2 sessions with it so far and have had crippling DOMs both times - it seems to hit the outside of the hams a lot harder, in a way my body isn't used to. So needs more frequency to make that go away.

In other news, I trained today. It's weigh in day, and my average weight has actually gone down a hundred grams from last week. So I got a macro bump (up to almost 3000 calories now) - I figured I may as well try and put them to use with some hypertrophy work.

Sun 21/01/18: Chest / Bis / Tris

Food yesterday: 2808 kcal (2777 kcal target)

Activity yesterday: 15.7k steps

Sleep last night: 7 hrs 39 mins - 41 mins awake

AM BW: 71.2kg (-0.1kg from yesterday)

Bench Press (TnG):
5x20kg
5x20kg
5x45kg
5x45kg
8x57.5kg @ 9.5
8x57.5kg @ 9
8x57.5kg @ 10

Incline Bench Press:
7x45kg (probably pussed out)
8x45kg @ 9.5
8x45kg @ 10

Dumbbell Flys:
15x20lbs / side
15x20lbs / side
15x20lbs / side

EZ Bar Curls & DB Overhead Tricep Extensions Supersets:
Curls 35kg x 8, TEs 20lbs x 15
Curls 35kg x 8, TEs 20lbs x 15
Curls 30kg x 12, TEs 20lbs x 15
Curls 30kg x 12, TEs 20lbs x 12

Got it all done in an hour flat. Big arm pump. Enjoy the rest of your weekend

[Mahendra]

Great results, Ben! Congrats on the Squat & Deadlift PRs.

[GrizzlyAdam]

Nice work, @BenM!

I understand the temptation to focus on the bench results (believe me, I understand), but 2 PR's is pretty great. And you definitely had more in the tank on DL. Possibly squat, too.

This could be an attractive option for me to try.

Agreed! Definitely interested in this.

[slowmotion]

Are you back on the Barbell Club program again, Ben?

[BenM]

Great results, Ben! Congrats on the Squat & Deadlift PRs.

Thanks Mahendra. For a first time attempting to do this (volume and then peak) it didn’t go too badly. I guess you get better at these things with practice.

Nice work, @BenM!

I understand the temptation to focus on the bench results (believe me, I understand), but 2 PR's is pretty great. And you definitely had more in the tank on DL. Possibly squat, too.

This could be an attractive option for me to try.

Agreed! Definitely interested in this.

Yeah. Bench does look like I bombed out (they’ve penciled in the numbers with a zero total, but they may not have finished judging yet). Its funny, I thought I’d be really disappointed about it, but I’m not. It just is what it is. Focusing on the positives!

You guys should do the next one It costs nothing and they’re a great group. I’ll likely come last in my class but they’re nothing but encouraging.

Are you back on the Barbell Club program again, Ben?

If you’d asked me 24 hours ago Jan I wouldn’t have been sure. Wasn’t even sure if I should train this week, or how much.

Anyway the answer is yes, mostly. It’s 4 weeks til the Barbell Medicine coaching seminar. So I looked at my diary last night and figure I’ve just got time to run one mesocycle of 8/5/2 programming, and finish the 2s right before the seminar. So it’ll be based on the BBC programming, I’ll just be a bit out of sync with everyone else.