21 Jul Dan Dalenberg- WPC Global Bench Wars Results
Had a very good meet this weekend. Happy with how everything turned out, hitting a small PR and benching over 500 for the first time in the 242 class.
The Weigh-In
I’ve been weighing about 250 in the mornings so I knew I had a small but relatively easy cut to 242. To be honest I kind of half assed the first part of the cut. I ate too many carbs and didn’t water load to the extent that I should have early in the week. Still came down to 246 Thursday night. Lots of 5-8 minute rounds in a makeshift bathroom sauna and I went to bed weighing 242 on the dot.
Made the short trip over to Detroit Friday morning and made weight no problem, coming in at 241. Pretty dehydrated and deflated feeling a little out of it. Bob Evans quickly fixed that.
Brian came up from Florida to help out and meet with some people here in Michigan. We headed over to Detroit Barbell that evening for him to squat and help Beth Thomas get her squat dialed in. I got a quick pump and stretch session in. The quick workout and sweat basically reinflated my body and I felt great. Checked my weight on their scale and was already back to 251 with a big dinner yet to come.
The Meet
Joe Smolinski is all business when he runs meets. Solid platform, 3 high quality benches in the warm-up room, calibrated Ivankos on the platform. One thing I really like is how Ben Sanda (head table runner expert) does his work. Flights and everyone’s attempts are displayed on a screen in the back room. No confusion on where you stand. The Michigan APF runs excellent meets with a very high level of professionalism.
Warmups
Everything went well. Lots of reps with just the bar, 135 x 5, 225 x 3 and singles of 315, 365 and 405.
Attempts
Opener- 451. Really easy
2nd- 479. Brought it down slow and awkward. The press was still strong and smooth though.
3rd- 507 (video). Much better this time. Brought the bar down smooth and stayed very tight. The press was easy and fast. 2lb all time PR and a big 242 PR. 1st place 242 and best open lifter.
Thoughts
I am very happy with the results. Coming off of a small pec strain I was a little nervous about how this would go and whether or not I was capable of a PR. The injury was healed and I felt good but it definitely affected a couple important weeks of training.
A big part of the reason I wanted to do this meet was to build confidence with the 500 bench. I know to total 2K+ this fall I need at least a 500 pound bench. This was the third time I have pressed it in a meet and only my 4th rep with it ever. This was by far the fastest I have ever pressed a third attempt. I believe that most people have that number in their head for each lift where it gets real, maybe a little scary. 500 is no longer that number for me.
Some Thank yous
Huge thank you to Brian Carroll. Brian has been a great coach and mentor over the past 4 years. He has become a close friend and I am extremely grateful for his help and guidance.
My training partners and gym owner Kelly Parker, Will Cowen, Cory Schutter and Aaron Diprima. This group keeps me safe and without them there is no way I could be doing this.
Joe Smolinski and Ezra Salmon- Michigan APF co-chairs. High quality meets with excellent equipment, warm up rooms and venues. Very impressed with their work.
Ken Richardson for taking pictures all weekend, getting video and helping out.
Most importantly my fiancée Chelsea for putting up with me and understanding how important all this is to me. She is nothing but supportive and I couldn’t ask for more.
I’m sure I missed some people, met a lot of awesome people this weekend. [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”]
Daniel Dalenberg
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