I will be gone later this year for 2 weeks for work, and won’t be able to powerlift so this is going to throw a wrench in my plans for the meet on Dec 7 but I will still have plenty of training in. But, it’s an opportunity I cannot pass up. I will stay on a good diet, and have plenty of time to get the raw work done that I need to do. More on this soon.

I just returned from Chicago for the WPO. This tossed a wrench in last week’s training (and Monday’s) but I know not every session will be perfect. I was asked to do a gear demo on Sunday, while I was in town for ESPN. So before leaving town, I Squatted and pulled.

Week 5, Day 1 Wed Squat & DL Session 

Normal 10/20/Life Warm-up

• Suitcase carry
• McGill big 3
• Cervical/Thoracic Mobility 
• Lock pull-down 
• Shoulder big 3
• DB press

Training:

• Bulldog bar squat with 100lbs in chain: 450×2, 650×1, added full gear: 850×1, 1000×1, 1050×1
• Rack pull from below the knee: 625×2, 715×1, 805×1-miss
• Grip work: Plate pinches
• Belt squat: 3×5

This was not my best-feeling training session, but looking back, since it was my first time with a straight bar in a years time, it wasn’t too bad. It’s going to take even more time getting used to the bar not sitting on my traps as perfectly as the duffalo bar. It was wanting to roll.

My gear is still fitting me awkwardly because I’m very inbetween the little big guy size and the big-big guy size–but the good news is I’m learning more and more about how to tune the gear even though it’s frustrating at times.

1050 didn’t feel bad on my back. It’s going to take me a few more session to get used to full gear again, but I’m excited. The next few weeks will be telling on where I’m at and what is realistic for December.

I don’t have videos put promise I will have some from this coming weekend. I’m also going to bench Wednesday in the shirt to handle some weight.

Lastly, I enjoyed the demo I did for ESPN, and this also allowed me to get some lifting in while I was in Chicago. I want to write more on this later, but I had a great time seeing so many people I only see once per year or even less. I greatly enjoyed the entire weekend, to be honest much more than I expected. Not that I expected to hate it but I didn’t know how to feel about going to a meet that you aren’t lifting at but should be in my head (But I was not ready nor was I qualified.) I really had a good time not having massive amounts of pressure on my shoulders and just watching everyone else do their thing. You know what I mean – the stress at these things is thick. I also learned a few things that I’m going to do at these meets that I sometimes overlook. One big thing is to stay calm and not freak out when things are going sideways. I hope I can apply it when it counts.

Huge thanks to my wife for pushing that we go on this trip to Chicago and being so awesome to put up with it all.