26 Aug Jett Jackson Part 5: Meet Day, Massive PRs, and a Podium Finish
Article Rundown
- Jett took second place at USA Nationals in his first major powerlifting meet.
- He hit huge PRs, including a 573 lb squat and 551 lb deadlift.
- Nearly 300 pounds were added across his major lifts through targeted programming, core work, and technical refinement.
- The biggest takeaway was simple: assess the athlete, train their weaknesses, and build technique around their individual body.
Meet Day, Massive PRs, and a Podium Finish
Meet week was finally here. I landed in Chicago Friday evening, June 13th, with Jett scheduled to lift about 24 hours later at USA Powerlifting Nationals. This was going to be his first real national-level powerlifting meet, and USA Powerlifting has a reputation for being strict. Drug testing, long pauses, deep squats, tight judging, the whole deal. Ironically, one of the first things that happened was probably the greatest vindication of my powerlifting career.
Apparently, We Squat Too Deep
For years, I heard that I was a high squatter. Apparently I didn’t know what depth was. Apparently my lifters didn’t know what depth was. Then Jett goes out, smashes a 573-pound squat, and the commentators basically say his coach needs to tell him to stop squatting so damn deep. Finally. After more than 20 years, I’ve been vindicated.
All joking aside, Jett’s first two squats were excellent. We opened at 534, which moved exactly how an opener should. Then we went to 573 for his second attempt, which was an all-time PR. He had never even had more than 550 pounds on his back before. We took 595 on the third, but he got a little loose, lost some air through his core, and missed it. He was pissed, but there wasn’t much time to think about it because this meet moved unbelievably fast.
Controlling the Day Before the Platform
One of the biggest challenges had nothing to do with strength. Jett normally trains in the morning or early afternoon, and at Nationals his session wasn’t starting until 7:00 PM. That’s basically 8:00 PM on his normal Eastern time schedule, which is a strange time for almost anybody to start cranking up for a powerlifting meet.
So my job was to keep him from sitting around all day thinking about lifting. I had him sleep late, eat, walk, do a very light training session, eat again, check his weight, and then nap. Equipment check was at 4:00, weigh-ins were at 5:00, and then we had two hours to get ready. Throughout the day I kept telling him the same things: eat, drink, keep your earbuds in, and stop worrying about what time it is. The goal was to keep him in his own world and keep the day as normal as possible.
The Fastest Meet I’ve Ever Seen
Once the meet started, everything moved at about 100 miles per hour. There were four platforms running simultaneously with huge screens, announcers, and an incredibly organized production. I have to give them credit. It was probably the best-run meet production I’ve ever seen, but it was also way too damn fast for me.
After squats, we moved almost immediately into bench. Jett finished a warm-up around 320, racked it, and suddenly an expediter came running into the back telling us Jett was up. He basically had to run to the platform. With about 10 seconds left, he got set and smoked 340 even easier than his warm-up. That might have been one of the most impressive things he did all day because he didn’t panic, complain, or lose focus. He just got under the bar and executed.
I got aggressive after that because we were trying to win. His previous best bench was 375, and I knew we needed more bench to stay ahead of the strongest competition in his class. We went to roughly 378, and he missed it twice. That’s on me. I knew I was taking a risk, but we weren’t there just to collect lifts. We were trying to put ourselves in position to win.
One Last Chance on the Deadlift
Before I knew it, squat and bench were finished, and it was already time to pull. Jett’s best deadlift coming into this had been around 518 pounds, so I didn’t want to waste energy with a million warm-ups. I told him to lock his back in, pull as hard as he possibly could, and either black out or finish the lift.
He opened at 501, then pulled 529 for another all-time PR. Looking at the standings, I knew we technically needed 573 to jump into first, but I also knew 573 wasn’t there that day. What I did believe he had was 551 if he executed perfectly, so that’s what we put on the bar. I told him to go out there, pull it, and give himself a chance. He gutted it out, pulled 551 for another massive PR, and finished second at USA Nationals.
Nearly 300 Pounds Added Without Anything Fancy
This is the part people need to understand. Over the course of this process, Jett added roughly 300 pounds across his squat, bench, deadlift, and clean and jerk, and there wasn’t some magical exercise or secret program responsible for it. There weren’t fancy bells and whistles.
We assessed him. We identified specific weak points. We programmed around those weaknesses. We built his core into iron. We worked on technique every single week, and we built that technique around his body rather than trying to make him lift like somebody else. That last part gets missed constantly. Everybody wants to copy their favorite lifter, but very few people want to figure out exactly what works for their own build.
The Proof Is in the Pudding
I’m incredibly proud of how Jett handled this meet. The lights were bright, the meet was strict, everything moved ridiculously fast, and he had to deal with missed attempts while immediately resetting mentally for the next lift. He didn’t whine, he didn’t make excuses, and he listened to what I told him. He finished with a 573 squat, 343 bench, and 551 deadlift, taking second place at USA Nationals at 220 pounds.
And we’re nowhere near finished. Now he needs a break because, since February, it’s basically been hell on wheels. After that, we’ll go back to the drawing board, attack the next set of weaknesses, and start building again. The squat world record is absolutely on the radar, but more importantly, this entire process showed what can happen when you have an athlete willing to buy in, a parent willing to trust the process, and a coach who is given enough room to actually coach. Jett did the work, and the proof is in the pudding.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.