10 Oct Back from ‘Strength for a Lifetime’ and here we go! Day 1 – Team Training session!

What can I say? Simply thank you for all of your help and support this weekend! I don’t think it could have went much better, honestly.

From my Teammates, to my wife, to everyone who’s been behind this idea and new direction that I’ve taken things since Bob’s death – Thank you.

Lets get right into the weekend!

Friday: I met with Paltos and DD and we went to eat at a diner and then headed to target for some supplies then after some rest, we headed to outback for some dinner. Balls were busted, but not too much.

By the time dinner was over, it was about 9pm and most of the team was tricking in from the airport etc, so we all planned on eating in the AM and going from there. Bob Evans, bro.

I’ll roll right into Saturday – Team Training session: Photo and Video credit – Ken Richardson

Great weekend, but these things are my favorite. I’m actually on a bit of a downer as I write this. It’s hard to follow up such a fun and productive weekend, while hanging some some of my favorite and closest people in my life. We were missing a couple people due to obligations, but other than that this weekend was ideal in many ways.

I don’t do this hobby, or whatever you want to call it for the glory, attention and DEF not for the money. There really isn’t any of the above in it BUT through powerlifting – this goofy sport, i’ve made some of my closest and most solid friendships that have stood the test of time. Friendships and relationships that I’ve built for life!

I’ll hit on the seminar in another post, this post will only cover the Saturday training session that we participated in at Michigan barbell – if you’re in the area, you need to check this place out.

BTW – Huge thanks to Heather and Todd Spitler for trusting me/us to bring my crew in and treating us like family, and letting us do our thing!

Breakfast was the first real meeting point for the weekend, as pretty much the whole team was there. It was funny to see the interaction and the conversations, especially with pegg involved. Heather met the team for the first time and they all hit it off with inappropriate shit.

It set the tone just right…

Going into this weekend, I was sitting at 3 weeks out from my comp. I haven’t had the most ideal training cycle, but I always try to make the most of things and take advantage when I can, so I knew this weekend would be big.

I always try to be optimistic and find the silver lining. It was time to turn it on mentally and step it all up to get a good session in.

My goals for this weekend as far as my numbers being 3 weeks out:
1100 squat
800 bench
pull a few deads, but I knew it would be sketchy with time.

We cranked up squats at about 10am and got rolling good. Walker, DD, Byrd, and Pegg on mono 1, and Tejero, Ken, Paltos and Wong on the other one. Such impressive lifts going on all weekend and it started here.

my squats:
710
800
905
1000
1110 all x 1

Other squats
Chad took and man handled 1060
JB took a nap or 2 with over 1k on his back
DD took near 800 in wraps
Pegg took 620 in a belt
Tejero took over 700
Ken took over 700
Paltos took 625 in wraps
Wong took 700×2 in a belt
Beth benched and went over 300 to a 1bd

I ended up with an 1110 squat — this will put me in a decent position for the meet in 3 weeks. I’m going 242, so strength is pretty good and really, lifts are actually on point. The squat was the one lagging a little bit this cycle. I think it’s going pretty good now, with just a few things to dial in. I’m going to take 900 for a few singles this weekend to dial in depth and form.

By the time we wrapped up the squat, it was like 3pm and time to bench. Needless to say, it was a long day. I was sipping on HelixBCAA’s the whole time and snacking, but no real meals to speak of.

Thank you to John Kazmar of Nubreed nutrition for sponsoring the meet and hooking us up with supplies!

I started benching then got some food in me. I knew the longer this thing went, the better the chance for injury with fatigue being a factor… So I only worked up to a 765×1 1bd. Felt good, but did good to shut it down. This will be a little more than an opener at the meet.

Byrd took 770×1 1bd for a nice PR
Walker pulled 775 raw
Dresden pulled a mid 6 for reps
Tejero put on a sumo clinic
Pegg did a whole bunch of random stuff

After I took my last bench, I took off my bench shirt I went over and pulled a dead or 2, and shut it down. I’m trying to stay smart which in turn keeps me healthy. Weird, right? By this time it was 5pm and time to wrap it up!

Looking back, I really wouldn’t change anything about this day other than moving faster BUT with these things, it’s about enjoying the experience of getting together with people you don’t get to see too often and making the most of it.

If that means training suffering a little bit, I’m personally OK with that.

Over the years, I’ve lost sight of what’s important when getting together with the people you enjoy the most. Weekends like this slowly became all about getting the most out of them content wise and making the juice worth the squeeze (aka money). This starting to be not so fun, and a real drag.

It was nice to get back to the way things should be and not so forced and scripted. It was all about bonding and exchanging ideas/ thoughts, people meeting in person for the first after building an online relationship — and just simply spending time together.

Back to Saturday:

After we wrapped up the training session, we went to rest then out to dinner together for Pizza at a local joint called Aubrey’s in Howell.

GREAT place and great time. I cannot share some of the conversations we had, but they were interesting for sure. Jordan Wong had me laughing like crazy.

I’ll post about Sunday – seminar day next.

[share title=”Share this Article” facebook=”true” twitter=”true” google_plus=”true” linkedin=”true” pinterest=”true” reddit=”true” email=”true”][author title=”About the Author”]

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Brian Carroll

Owner and Founder at PowerRackStrength.com

Brian is a retired world-class powerlifter with over two decades of world-class powerlifting. From 1999 to 2020, Brian Carroll was a competitive powerlifter, one of the most accomplished lifters in the sport's history. Brian started off competing in bench press competitions 'raw,' then, shortly into the journey, he gravitated toward equipped lifting as there were no "raw" categories then. You only had to choose from single-ply (USPF) and Multi-ply (APF/WPC). Brian went on to total 2730 at 275 and 2651 at 242 with more than ten times his body weight in three different classes (220, 242, 275), and both bench pressed and deadlifted over 800 pounds in two other weight classes. He's totaled 2600 over 20 times in 2 different weight classes in his career. With 60 squats of 1000lbs or more officially, this is the most in powerlifting history, regardless of weight class or federation, by anyone not named David Hoff. Brian realized many ups and downs during his 20+ years competing. After ten years of high-level powerlifting competition and an all-time World Record squat at 220 with 1030, in 2009, Brian was competing for a Police academy scholarship. On a hot and humid July morning, Brian, hurdling over a barricade at 275lbs, landed on, fell, and hurt his back. After years of back pain and failed therapy, Brian met with world-renowned back specialist Prof McGill in 2013, which changed his trajectory more than he could have imagined. In 2017, Brian Carroll and Prof McGill authored the best-selling book about Brian's triumphant comeback to powerlifting in Gift of Injury. Most recently (10.3.20) -Brian set the highest squat of all time (regardless of weight class) with 1306 lbs – being the first man to break the 1300lb squat barrier at a bodyweight of 303 lbs.

Latest posts by Brian Carroll (see all)

• Brian Carroll Coaches the Birddog - April 24, 2024
• Protected: -Header Image Post Template 2024 - April 18, 2024
• Brian Carroll X Professor Stu McGill full interview 2024 - April 16, 2024