I recently lifted at the Arnold XPC Finals. This was my first meet at 220 since 2010 where I managed a 955 squat, 675 bench and 675 deadlift for a 2305 total and lightweight best lifter win. Taking some time to get leaner, look better and accomplish a few other physical goals. 

This week was capped off with a trip to Canton, Ohio to help out one of my training partners, Cody, at an RPS meet.

The meet was ran by the Iron Mafia crew. If you haven’t done one of their meets, you should! All the equipment matches, they pick good venues, judging is consistent and by the book. They start on time too. Overall, a very positive meet experience for any lifter. Mark Miller is also a reasonable dude it seems, willing to make accommodations and use some logic when it makes sense. The meet was on the smaller side and he was very flexible with taking breaks and making sure everyone had enough time. Not so flexible that it became a mess, but flexible enough that lifters were able to do what they needed to do.

Cody ended up with a decent meet, a really good one considering the conditions over the past couple months. The biggest thing was a change in work schedule and going back to school. He works nights and just started back at school too, so his sleep and recovery is seriously compromised. I think once he gets used to that lifestyle it won’t be too bad, but this is new for him so it made for a tough prep to get through. He did end up with a nice deadlift PR and a small total PR- a huge win if you ask me!

A fun weekend overall, saw some huge lifting, hung out with Paul and his client (I look better than Paul, it’s confirmed.). And again, impressed with how the Miller’s run meets, I will likely do one of their meets in the future.

My Lifting

It was a deload week. Nothing special to report. Everything was backed off, all the bodybuilding stuff was reduced in volume to match the deload. I’ve been asking a lot of my body between lifting, running and dieting so this deload was very much needed.

My Running

A really good week! Week 3 was intervals of walk 90 sec, run 90 sec, walk 3 minutes, run 3 minutes. I’m starting to build decent endurance in my ankles and shins as the running lengths get longer. I think that is going to be the hardest thing. From a cardiovascular perspective, my slow jog is very easy and the gym cardio I do has me in good enough shape to complete it. The bigger thing to deal with is my shins and ankles.

My Dieting

Everything stayed on course this week, even with the travel. Brought most of my own meals and then managed to pick foods when we ate out to fit the macros for the day. Really not hard to do, just takes some prep work and some thoughtfulness. Bodyweight hit a low of 203 this morning. Appearance wise I am getting close, I have some fat hanging around my lower abs and obliques that I want to get rid of, but otherwise I am extremely happy with how I look. Huge props to Tucker, he has made this easy! Hire this man.