22 Jun Danny Bellmore – APF Seniors Meet Write Up

The Weight Cut

Once I got to Florida I didn’t have but 4 to 5 pounds of body weight to shed. As always, they last 2 to 3 are a real pain in the ass to lose. I made it to the venue and weighed in at 163.5 on Saturday. Now for the fun part trying to get the weight back on. I generally have a very hard time packing on the pounds after a cut. Brian pulled every trick out of the bag to bloat me back up. Before bed on Saturday night I weighed about 176. This would have been a perfect weight but my body refused to hold on to it. Upon waking up I headed right to the scale and I was down to 171.2. This was not optimal but it is what it is.

Squats

Once I had gotten to the venue and started getting some gear on I realized that my smallest set of briefs were not all that tight. Good thing for the adjustability of the Leviathan Ultra Pro.

Warm up’s all moved very easily, I felt good.

1^st 688 – I had Jon Byrd calling my depth and for some reason I did not hear him say up the first 2 times. I powered out of the hole easily just got back on my heals at the top and fell back. I wasn’t all that concerned the weight didn’t feel very heavy at all.

2^nd 705 – This time the set up felt fine. I heard Byrd call me up and got 3 white lights.

3^rd 733 – Again the set up felt fine. Byrd called me up and again 3 white lights. This attempt was very much an ass grinder.

For some reason, I really never found my groove but managed to pull off a decent day. Not bad for being told I will never get a squat passed at the Nationals. Sometimes proving people wrong is just what you need to do because I have learned there are many people who consider you a friend but want to watch you fail. I guess it makes them feel good about themselves.

Bench

Going into the bench the expectation was not very high. 4 weeks into my pre-contest block I completely tore my right lat off. I was not able to do any real benching for about 3 weeks.

Warm ups were very slow and everything felt heavy. Since I could get my SDP on by myself I knew the red shirt would not give me a whole lot.

1^st 451 – This went ok but not as fast and strong as an opener should have gone.

2^nd 485 – We switched shirts for this attempt. This shirt was much tighter than the last one. I had a real struggle to get the bar to touch. On the decent I hear a load pop and figured it was just the shirt popping some threads. I never even moved the bar much off from my chest. As I attempted to get off from the bench I had some major chest pain in the sternum area. I guess we figured out what the loud pop was.

3^rd 485 – We made a shirt adjustment and I opted to tuck my feet to see if I could get a little bit of an arch. Once I started down I could feel the collar on my sternum and I felt myself flatten out from trying to avoid the pain (I know I am a pussy). Once I finally touched I had nothing left, I was gassed.

Dead

1^st 551 – I had Brian drop my opener from 606 to 551. I knew pulling was going to be painful after popping my sternum. This moved easily as it should of.

2^nd 600 – I pulled this up easily, I just babied it at the top because the lockout was pretty painful.

3^rd 617 – We opted for the small jump so we could recover with a somewhat respectable total. This went smooth and yet again I babied it at the top.

I want to take the time to thank my handlers. Brian Carrol, Jason Kowalewski, Jonathan Byrd, Shane Ford and Filipe Gusmao. These guys made sure I had everything I need when I needed it. Being a handler is a lot of work. Sometimes it is easier to compete.

Brian and Ria took really good care of me and I appreciate what they do for me. As always the best hosts.

Derek Wilcox helped me out a ton with my squat during this whole training cycle. I still have a lot to work on but now we are headed in a good direction. I appreciate all you have done for me.

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Danny Bellmore

Danny has been involved in powerlifting since 1994. The first swing at a career was short lived due to a major back injury in 1999 that resulted in a 3-level spinal (lumbar) fusion. At that point, he took a 10-year break. Avoiding the gym all together because his body, and back, just never felt right. In 2010, Danny went to handle a good friend at a local meet. That experience re-ignited the fire within and he was back under the bar, never looking back. Danny established an elite total at my first meet back in 2010 and then accomplished a win at the 2012 APF Masters Nationals. Through his win at the APF Masters, he was training using the Conjugate Method, but he wanted a change. He needed a change. Danny reached out to a friend who stated that Brian and the Samson Barbell crew had it going on. In the process of connecting with Brian, he has endured a few setbacks. During our initial discussions, he had torn my rotator cuff and labrum, along with a separated AC joint. The surgery did not "take" and just nine months later, he was back under the knife for a "do-over." During the healing process, he had lost feeling and strength in my right arm. Being pig headed, he waited and waited. My choice to remain stubborn backfired, and I was back in the OR for another spinal (cervical) fusion. Now healed, and a few years under Brian, Danny’s total has moved to 1871 @ 165. He doesn’t like to predict or talk about goals, but he wants more, and feels like he has more. Plans now are to compete at the Senior Nationals in Jacksonville, Florida this June.

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