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tbenchIcon...11-09-2007 @ 15:46 
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addicted to bench press, needs help
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Originally posted by Martin1956...
Thanks for all the good wishes - on here, texts and emails! Flying out early tomorrow morning so will not be posting again until Monday night - assuming the dogs don't eat my computer while I'm away! The doubts are kicking in already. At least that gets rid of the complacency. Gold it is, btw!


good luck mate,sure you will be fine when you get to the benchGrin
Martin1956Icon...17-09-2007 @ 22:46 
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I'm back and I've had the most fabulous few days... but let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. The journey there was terrible. Got to Berlin ok and was to be met there by someone holding a "bench press" placard - but I wasn't. Waited three hours until I could contact the team manager (who happened to be at a funeral with his phone off) before going to the station and getting a train. It was one of these "if I go now it'll come along in five minutes..." scenarios.

Hotel we were at was a 10 euro taxi ride away and the bus to the venue was very unreliable.

And that's the bad stuff. I've just been privileged to spend the last few days in the company of some of the strongest men and women on the planet. These guys are not just awesomely strong. They're approachable, often very humble, and have no problem with guys like me lifting 40 kilos or more below the winning standard. And the banquet on the last evening is a chance to rub shoulders with them informally, and to strike friendships with like minded people from all over the world that often last a lifetime. If you saw the way so many of the lifters greeted each other as long lost friends and the genuine warmth of the greeetings, you would understand. Many of them are fierce competitors and rivals, but our main battle is against ourselves and the true measure of one's performance is either pbing as a Master or defying the aging process and going on year after year.

Without being negative, I don't honestly think I'll ever medal in the IPFs - the standard is just too far above what I'm doing now and is rising every year. And what the over 60s are doing now is just plain scary. And my friend Bill McFadden did 172.5 aged 73 in the 90s. But I'll keep going every year for as long as I possibly can, just because it's such a wonderful thing to be part of.

Germany was great. I'd never been there before. Schedwt/Oder is in NE Germany, only about a mile from the Polish border. More about Poland later. Everything is clean, everyone is polite and courteous. I'd like to tell you about three random acts of kindness - two now, one later.

At the airport, a guy there to collect a friend heard my phone call to the team manager. He told me where to get a train to Schwedt/Odrer (I'll call it SO from now on), and gave me a lift to the station to save me a taxi fare.

I met Derek Pender from Geordieland and his family on the platform when we changed trains at Angermunde. When we got into SO there were no taxis and we had no idea how to get one or to find our hotels, so Derek went into the police station to see if they could help call a cab. When they found out we were competing in the "Bankdrucken", they called us in, rustled up a police van, and took us to our hotels.

I don't care what they say about the Germans getting their towels on the sun loungers, I found virtually everyone I met absolutely delightful.

The Brits...

We had a good championships on the whole. Only one bomb and that was Chris Edwards (Rhino) who was absolutely distraught to bomb at his first worlds, so let's deal with that first. His bomb was partly my fault. I was in charge of getting his shirt on, but none of us had any experience with Metals and we clearly didn't do as good a job as the lads in his own gym. he warmed up to 185 raw, ffs. That's how strong he was, and he does 225+ in the gym, so tjhought 217.5 was a safe opener. Only on the day, sadly it wasn't. We can't explain why these things happen, but we've all had days like that. Big respect to Chris for showing up at the banquet although he was clearly devastated. With this experience behind him, he'll come back better and stronger next April.

I didn't have my best day at the office either. I opened with 180 and got absolutely nowhere with the first attempt. My shirt wasn't on right either. I got it adjusted a bit for my second attempt but it still wasn't right, but luckily I managed to force it up somehow. I wasn't in 192 form, but there was nothing to be gained place-wise from a more conservative third (seven guys went over 200 and I "won" the Sub-200s battle!)so I try a British record and failed to get it even half way. Pity, because I could have locked it if I had. I've learned a lot from listening to the Americans and the Germans, especially my namesake Joachim Flett whose 247.5 gave him 2nd place in the M1 100s - and he's M2 next year, ffs - and I'll do a separate write up on that when I plough my way through this.

The British boys gelled really well as a group and it was good to both renew old friendships and make new ones. Steve Demeis's 187.5 doesn't look too great on the results sheet, but he was one of only two guys (our Gavin Waker was the other one) who did all three lifts raw and he was the only person the loaders applauded off the platform after EVERY lift throughout the competition. That tells you all you need to know. First timer Cliff Haynes got a silver with 150 in the 67s and Alex Lee added a bronze in the 82s (he had to move up)to the silver he got in the 175s next year.

Bill McFadden and Norman Anderson came first and third in the M4 overall prize (judged on Wilks)and Bill got 2 world records in MY katana (reflected glory) at 165 and 172.5.

Ian Kinghorn did a great job sorting everyone out, Julian was... well, Julian and the whole thing just wouldn't be the same without him, Handsome Fred lifted well after injury and all the new boys did well.

I made lots of new friends at the banquet. Wearing the kilt was the calatyst, I guess. The following days I went to Poland with Deb and Michelle from the American team, driven there by the owner of one of the local restaurants. Lovely scenery, but the poverty is frightening.

When we got back, there were some other Americans waiting and we all sat down to eat. The owner, Hagen, was a genial giant, weighing in at 145 kilos. "You are my honoured guests, tonight EVERYTHING is on the house"! After an hour of eating so much that none of us could move, the drinks came out. We started about 9 and finished at 3 in the morning. I reckon I had AT LEAST 40 shots, but I managed to walk away. We agreed that what happens in Germany stays in Germany, but I will say that not everyone walked away. Some were carried. How I survived, I don't know. It was my first spirits since New Year. But I didn't challenge Hagen to an under the table drinking contest, so I had a few less than the two fools who did. they were the ones carried out. More I will not say!!!

I'm delighted and honoured to have struck up a friendship with Deb Ferrell, easily the best tested women bench presser of all time. Deb did 190 in Miami last year, and this year she did 175 after major operation on her rotator cuff to win the Best Lifter award in Women's M1. We've got a friendly rivalry about who will do 200 first, but when you read this Deb I sort of hope it's you, because you're in a different league to me, girl! Stay strong, see you next April.

Well that's a long post. I'll post some more tomorrow if I've left everthing out, once the shots have left my system.

A fabulous few days - I'm still buzzing. Experiences like that make the week in week out gym grind SOOOO worth it.
RobIcon...17-09-2007 @ 23:02 
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Great write-up Martin, well done on your performance mate - sounds like a great competition and experience to be part of!
CarlIcon...17-09-2007 @ 23:02 
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excellent to hear martin

whats the plan with training now?

what do you normally do after a competition?
Martin1956Icon...18-09-2007 @ 00:26 
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Originally posted by sivvy1...
excellent to hear martin

whats the plan with training now?

what do you normally do after a competition?


Normally, I'd ease back a bit, Sivvy, but I've got the WDFPF Worlds in four weeks and the NW Bench the week after and the 200 challenge!!! Wait until Thursday to let the travel and the shots out of my system before I bench again, but I'll go in Wednesday to do some cardio and light back and shoulders and sweat out the toxins.

I'm going to adjust my training based on the advice I got from people who know far better than me. I'll post a routine when I've sorted out how to adapt properly. The things to consider include:

Shirts - Joachim reckons the katana HAS to hit bang on the nipple line or it doesn't work, whereas the fury/f6 are more forgiving with a wider sweet spot. But Joachim gets 10K more from the katana and at top level that's a huge advantage to give away. Ian and Julian reckon I should try an arched shirt because I get a reasonable arch when I lock my back in. I need to train in a shirt at least once a week to practice the line, get used to lifting in it and get used to shedloads of weight at the end of the arms. Mike Frankeneli uses three shirts in a competition, each one progressively tighter. Others wear loose shirts they can put on unassisted and lock them in when they adopt the lifting position. I train raw and stick a shirt on in comps, but I've got to learn the shirt far more. Problem is keeping in the heavy raw work and the speed work when I know from experience I can't recover in time from three full on sessions a week. Does something have to give, or can I say combine shirted work with speed work? I'm going to try out an F6 before Rome. Anyone got a 46 or even a 48 I can have a play with?

Bands - I bought three sets of bands off Larry Miller. I had a long talk with him about improving carry over, and basically bands are a must for most of the top lifters. Great if I could train bench 4 times a week, but I would never recover in time to have a good next one.

Raw/Equipped - I love competing raw, but all the big comps are equipped. Do I focus on using the bench shirt well and maybe letting my raw numbers suffer? Or do I keep my raw strength up and try to combine that with better technique? Raw means diddly squat when you go and play with the big boys. Chris can probably outbench Ian by 25 kilos raw, but Ian hit the 217 and Chris didn't. I took a fiver off Julian at the Raw Bench, but he had a go at 202 on his third lift while I just scraped a 180...

Totally separately, Big Jim would have medalled if he'd been able to go. The big German opened at 317 and bombed; Dan Goudreau did 285 then jumped to 320 and missed it twice but his 285 won gold. Jim would have taken him on bodyweight, and you don't read that every day!!! Second in the supers was 255, third 235. So Chris was in good company. Pooh Bear (one of the big Americans) bombed as well and Big Bill Gillespie opened at 332 last year in Miami and bombed, so if you're reading this, Chris, you're in exalted company.

Big Steve Demeis didn't get a raw British record because it was not done in a specifically unequipped event, so I'm trying to persuade him to do the NW Bench as a guest, and Chris is planning an attempt on his own raw British record then as well. Should be a great day.

Three and a half hours sleep after 40 shots and a long day travelling and I'm still wide awake and buzzing at half past midnight. Isn't adrenaline wonderful?!
tbenchIcon...18-09-2007 @ 08:43 
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addicted to bench press, needs help
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well done Martin sounds like you learned a lot mate and had a fantastic timeCool
Martin1956Icon...18-09-2007 @ 09:02 
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Thanks Tom. Spot on. Why can't I be that concise?!
JoniIcon...18-09-2007 @ 09:09 
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left the country satisfied
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exellent write up mate, very interesting read.

Well done!
IcepickIcon...18-09-2007 @ 13:19 
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still a cock
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Nice report martin, I have always told people that they will do better eqquiped once they start forgetting about their raw peaks. an example was when I hit 140 for 3x3 raw, but only got 157.5 shirted two weeks later in comp. Last week, I failed a 140 warm-up, then put on my shirt and benched 200.
TitchIcon...18-09-2007 @ 13:28 
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One Sexy MoFo
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Nice write-up Martin and congratulations!

I'm too new to PLing to properly understand this shirt stuff; people having raw lifts that beat someone else's, but then lose when they're in a shirt doesn't make much sense to me! My bench isn't the best anyway, so I think I'll only start worrying about such things when I finally reach 140kg for reps.Wink
marcIcon...18-09-2007 @ 14:33 
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Dancing queenfeel the beat from the tambourine
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did you wear GOLDHappy WELL DONE OLD MAN
IainKendrickIcon...18-09-2007 @ 18:23 
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some nice relaxing jazz.
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Really great inspiring stuff Martin! Well done to you and the whole team!!
RickIcon...18-09-2007 @ 19:38 
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Very interesting mate, tell us more about your plans when you've had time to digest the new ideas!
nicoIcon...18-09-2007 @ 21:07 
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just smoked Ed and Neil - EAT MY GOAL
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Great write up Martin. Sounds like you had a fantastic experience. I'll be very interested in how you plan to structure your training now. I'd love to be where you're at now 10 or 15 years down the line. Realistic? who knows? but This sort of write up really inspires me.

Best, Nick
Martin1956Icon...19-09-2007 @ 20:57 
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Cheers Nick. I'll post it when I work it out! But I've virtually decided to focus all my training on equipped benching.

Today, got back into the gym to blow away a few cobwebs. Lots of young nobheads in, unfortunately. Must avoid that time in future. Did 20 minutes cardio whilst relating my experiences to Joey on the next machine, then medium heavy shoulder press and three sets of front dumbell raises and that was it. Back on the bench tomorrow...

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