04 Oct Paul Oneid – RPS Canadian Conflict Write-Up
Pre-face
I competed in the RPS Canadian Conflict Oct 2 in Kingston, ON. I competed as a light 242 with no weight cut. Byrd coached me perfectly and Danny helped me put on some weight. I’ll go over the results below, but it feels damn good to have some positive momentum going for the first time in 20 months.
The Lead-Up
The training cycle leading into this meet was arguably my best ever. I was hitting all the numbers that I was required to, with the exception of one bench session (shocker!). I was relatively healthy, just some biceps tendonitis, which is normal because of how close I grip the bar on my squat. I also had that fire to compete back. Everything was lining up perfectly for me to do what I needed to do. I set a goal of a 2000lbs total, which was lofty, but I felt like I had it in me. All I needed was a 9/9 day and I set my attempts accordingly.
During the deload for the meet work stress picked up and I had to do quite a bit of driving. Life stress was a bit higher than normal, as well. As is normally the case, my weight dropped a bit from not training and not getting enough sleep. Sometimes you cannot control everything, but that’s life and it is in no way an excuse. I took Friday off work to get some things done, pack and refocus myself for the weekend so that I could come into the meet weekend rested and fired up to get back on the platform.
We drove up to Kingston Friday night after Pam (or HotPam, as my friends call her) finished coaching at her crossfit gym. We checked in, grabbed some supplies and then got to bed. I made weight in the morning at 237.2lbs in my shorts. Needless to say, after spending most of the training cycle north of 240 this was a shock. I immediately started to hydrate and we went to grab some food.
I spent most of Saturday helping Shannon Larsen crush her first pro total. She did it in style with a huge 300lbs Squat. I also helped a couple clients and new friends with knee wrapping or spotting when needed, but made sure I stayed drinking my fluids and eating my meals, which I prepped in advance. By the time Shannon finished up, I was wiped and HotPam and I left back to the hotel. I slept for about 2 hours, got more food and gatorade in me and went back to bed at about 9pm. Bodyweight was back up to 244lbs, which is where it should have been.
Meet Day
Woke up at 6am ready to rock. Started hydrating immediately, got some food in me and headed over to the meet venue. Got there as the first flight was warming up. I was the last lifter in the 3rd flight. I had another snack, got my clothes on and started moving around as the first flight was lifting. I like doing this because I can take my time and go through my typical pre training warm up, get mentally focused and be ready to get under the bar as soon as the second flight starts. I do this to make sure I get all my warmups in and timed properly.
Squat
Warm-ups all felt light and snappy. I also had no bicep pain which was a lovely surprise. HotPam was a huge help here and ran the mono for us. Shane Church was my handler for squats and as always gave me awesome wrap jobs and cued me during my lifts and provided feedback after. Warmups went
bar x20, 155×10, 245×5, 335×3, 425×2, 515×1, add wraps 605×1, 685×1
Opener – 750 GOOD. Smoked it.
2nd – 805 (5lbs PR) moved really well, probably my best over 800 squat and my positioning was great, but my knees were a tad wobbly.
3rd – 830 miss. I needed this lift for my 2k total. My knees caved as I came out of the hole, and the weight hit me too fast for me to get them back out. Missed it about mid-way up.
At this point, I knew my 2k total would likely be out of reach, but I PR’d and I still had a lot of lifting to do. I got more food in me and rested a bit before warming up to bench.
Bench
Bench warmups felt great. Set up was tight and again, no biceps pain so I knew I was in a good spot.
Warm-ups were: barx20, 140×10, 190×5, 230×3, 280×2, 330×1, 370×1
Opener – 400 GOOD. This felt really smooth and easy
2nd – 430 GOOD (ties a PR). Moved really well and I felt like I had a nice PR in the tank, so I took a jump to 445, which was just below my planned 3rd of 450.
3rd – 445 MISS. Honestly, this set-up felt the most solid, it came off my chest with speed, but I hit a brick wall at about a 2-3 board level. Pretty disappointing, but again I had a PR subtotal and I knew for a fact I would PR my total today.
More food, fluids and rest.
Deadlift
I honestly had no idea how things would go on the deadlift. I hadn’t pulled conventional (for real) in a meet since RUM 5 in 2014. I did it in June but had 0 expectations for it and only trained it twice. This time I felt like I had worked hard for a PR. Warm-ups moved well, and my set up felt consistent with how it felt in training.
Warm ups were: 135×5, 225×3, 315×3, 405×2, 495×1, 585×1
Opener – 650 GOOD. It snapped off the ground faster than I anticipated and felt great.
2nd – 705 GOOD (5lbs PR, 10lbs PR total). This was funny, because as I walked out to the platform I noticed I had no chalk on my hands. I decided to say f-it and pulled it smooth anyway.
3rd – 725 GOOD (25lbs all-time PR, 30lbs PR total). I wanted this lift so bad. In my mind I earned it and to finish the day on such an emphatic note was a really big confidence boost for me.
Ended the day with a PR total of 1960lbs, first place, the biggest squat and pull of the day and best lifter. I had an awesome time lifting with some great friends – Bradie Johnston, Jordan Moffitt and Matt Brass. I got to help another great friend achieve a longtime goal of a pro total. My Dynamo Barbell and Barnyard Barbell families all had PR days. My parents Joe and Sue even came to see me lift for the first time since Aug 2014. It was such a great and positive weekend.
Reflection
I didn’t hit my goal of a 2000lbs total. When I set that goal, I knew I needed a perfect day to do it, but I knew that I had it in me. Was I disappointed? Of course. I work my ass off in and out of the gym to do all the right things, but the fact of the matter is that I wasn’t strong enough, yet. I hit a PR squat, a big PR deadlift, a PR total and most importantly I have positive momentum for the first time since Feb 2015. The squat I missed was close, I have tons of room to improve my bench press and my deadlift is steadily improving. Those will improve as long as I keep working intelligently. For now, I am done with number chasing because quite frankly I do not think I am good enough to worry about them. I am going to focus on improving my weak points and getting stronger and the numbers will happen by default. This weekend I improved by 30lbs and that’s awesome. Next meet, I know I will improve again because I have a great team behind me and a level head. Now, it’s time for a week of rest and recovery and about 10 weeks to make some improvements before it is prep time for the Arnold.
Thank You’s
I would like to give a thank you to my smokin’ hot rocket babe fiancee HotPam. She supports my lifting and always knows what is best for me, even if I don’t want to see it for myself. You have to have a lot of trust in your partner when you compete at a high level. She gets it, because she pushes just as hard or harder than me. I am a very lucky man.
My parents for driving down to cheer me on. Having them there was the icing on the cake. Seeing them smiling and hanging out with everyone was just awesome. Plus, they brought cheesecake and bought us burritos (not Keto according to Danny) after the meet!
My handler and man-crush Shane for making sure I was taken care of. He is the man, plain and simple.
Jay Nera and the Dynamo Barbell homies, along with Brenda Banning and the Barnyard Barbell team for all their help. Just an awesome group of lifters that will make a lot of noise on the top-20 list in the coming years.
Byrd for the excellent coaching leading up to the meet and making himself available on meet day to run numbers and give feedback. That says a lot about a coach, right there. Thank you, man!
Danny for being super sexy and helping me put on some quality size during prep. It’s time to get sexy buddy lol!
My dawgs Bradie “2k” Johnston, Jordan “I bench less than Paul” Moffitt and Matt “I wear canvas underpants” Brass for keeping the mood light all day and being great competitors.
Brian Carroll for always kickin’ me the real deal and helping me to see the bigger picture. Your influence has been huge for me mentally in the last year.
Last, but not least the whole Power Rack Strength team for the messages of encouragement and support. You guys are the cat’s pyjamas! But, please stop sending so many nudes (jk, don’t).
Paul Oneid
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