19 Mar BOMBS AWAY: What I learned from Bombing Out of the 2017 XPC Finals

By: Jonathan Byrd

There is really only two ways to go after you bomb out. You can point the finger and blame others, or you can look inside and see what you could have done to fix the issues. I took time to analyze each step in the process and compared my past numbers and experiences to determine a handful of mistakes on my part. At the end of the day, you control the outcome, and it’s up to you to make things happen. Remember always “Train for Chaos!”

First thing I looked back at was my training cycle. The peak was set up well, and the weights all moved well during the prep. The only mistake on my part was going down to Orlando to help a teammate with his meet too close to my meet day. It was not helping him that was the issue, but that I spent 15 hours total including travel and had to move my training day. Due to the day being moved, we were very short on spotters and the day really just became a deload rather than taking my openers. Again, this falls on me. I should have planned better, and worked out a better plan to allow me to get my work in before rather than after the meet.

The weight cut couldn’t have been smoother. The weight came off with very little effort. I did not need to sauna or use much in the way of diuretics. This was an area I feel there was little room for improvement. I simply followed the guidelines from Brian’s weight cut manual and sucked up the lack of carbs. Ok, that part sucked, I really like carbs. I made travel simple. I had a direct flight from Orlando, and came up on a Tuesday evening. This allowed me to cut weight in Columbus and adjust to the weather change. In years past I have got sick due to the changes in weather and created all types of sinus issues. Again these two areas I feel like I dialed in as well as anyone could have.

[wa-wps]

The refeed is the fun part of the weight cut, but I think I might have went a little too far. My gear is all from when I was 270lbs. With the Inzer leviathan Ultra Pro, that part doesn’t matter too much, but with the briefs and shirt it could play a factor. I ended my cut at 272lbs and after the massive amount of fluids and destruction of food I was 297lbs the following day. To put it nicely I was too fat! My legs went numb during the squat flight, and created issues with my bench shirt. I’ll explain more about this, but in equipped lifting a few extra pounds can make a huge difference. Sometimes for the good, and others for the bad.

Meet day mistakes. The first one is easy, my legs filled out so much it took forever to get into my briefs and they later cut off a lot of blood flow. This was a rookie mistake for a guy who has been lifting for well over a decade. I did manage to get a squat in, but it was a cluster fuck. Remember I said to TRAIN FOR CHAOS! I had loosen my suit some to try and let my legs get some feeling back in them. This lead to the next big mistake. I was rushed for time as they tightly ran the clock. I didn’t adjust the suit at all, and didn’t get to the bar until I hear them yell “3 seconds!” I didn’t get any type of wedge, good stance, or anything that was remotely safe. I just popped it out the rack and tried to squat it. It ended badly, and resulted in a missed weight that is typically a warm up. The good part is that I was able to regroup and squat the 960 opener easily on the 2^nd attempt. I took what should have been a safe attempt at 1005, and of course missed it as well. A good squat just wasn’t in the cards for this meet.

Bench warm ups felt great, and was opening with 750. I had hit some very big bench PR’s this training cycle and felt like I could get back into the meet with a good 3-3 bench. My last warm up was 700 to the one board and it moved extremely well. Opening attempt at 750 is where another mistake showed. I didn’t follow a good line coming in, but my set up was shit! I didn’t set up well, didn’t squeeze the bar, and was flat. This caused me to not be able to get a clean touch and of course miss the weight. I made the decision to move up to 775 and then 800. I made the same mistake with 775, eventually touched but was out of energy. The 800 was by far the best rep, but I didn’t have the speed to lock it out at the top. By the 3^rd attempt, almost the entire flight had either bombed in the squat or was passing on their 3^rd attempts. I just didn’t have enough time to recover, remember TRAIN FOR CHAOS!

So what does all that mean? Every step of the way I could have controlled the things that factored into missing lifts. You and you only can control the outcome of your meets. Of course things go wrong, that’s part of the sport. I did not do a good enough job preventing, predicting, or solving the issues that were in front of me. I suggest that everyone takes the time to reflect on both their meets and their training cycles and see where they can improve and how they can accomplish it.

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Jonathan Byrd

Jonathan Byrd is a competitive powerlifter, with over 16 years of training experience. Byrd has been ranked nationally for the past 6 years under multiple categories. His total has ranked as high as second nationally in the 275 class. He currently has a best total of 2500lbs. Best individual lifts include a 1040lb squat, a 750lb bench press, and 735lb deadlift. His 1040lb squat ranks him 26th all-time squats at the 308 class. Jonathan currently trains out of Team Samson Gym in Jacksonville, FL. Before powerlifting Jonathan was a college athlete at Methodist University as both an all-conference football player and track athlete. Following graduation he played four years of arena football in various leagues.

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