The Road to the Student Championships

Wednesday 12/11/08 at The Sugden Sports Centre, Manchester

Deadlift:
60kg x 2
70kg x 5
90kg x 5
110kg x 5
140kg x 5
155kg x 3

Military Press:
20kg x 5
25kg x 5
30kg x 5
40kg x 3

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A good session overall. My deadlift was equal to my 3 rep PB so it was good that it wasn't too tough. I also did some overhead stuff for the first time in ages. I figured that it wasn't going to do any harm and it might just boost my shoulder strength for bench a little bit.

My BWLA application and my NW comp application are both in the post now, bring on the 7th of December!

Friday 14/11/08 at the Sugden Sports Centre, Manchester

Squat:
60kg x 5
90kg x 5
110kg x 5
130kg x 5
155kg x 0 - was attempting 3
150kg x 0 - was attempting 3

Bench (flat footed):
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
60kg x 2 - 2nd rep BAWLA pause
60kg x 2 - 2nd rep BAWLA pause
65kg x 2 - 2nd rep BAWLA pause

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So after a few sessions of solid squatting followed by terrible benching I make a good bench after failing horribly at squat. My ego completly took over, I shouldnt have jumped to 155 and I shouldnt have done 150. Plus I hadn't eaten well and my warm-up numbers were all wrong. Mistakes made, mistakes learned from.

Monday 17/11/08 at The Sugden Sports Centre, Manchester

Squat:
70kg x 5
90kg x 5
110kg x 5
130kg x 3
152.5kg x 3

Bench (flat footed):
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
65kg x 2 - 2nd rep BAWLA pause
65kg x 2 - 2nd rep BAWLA pause
65kg x 2 - 2nd rep BAWLA pause
60kg x 1 - Full competition commands

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Finally a great all round squat and bench session! My squat felt good and the depth seemed right which is obviously crucial. I think benching to BAWLA standards takes about 5kg off my bench so it is good to get some pratice in. The final set was meant to be nice and easy, and it was, but was purely to mentally prepare myself for the comp.

Friday 21/11/08 at The Sugden Sports Centre, Manchester

Squat:
70kg x 5
95kg x 5
115kg x 5
135kg x 5
155kg x 2

Bench (flat footed):
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
60kg x 3
65kg x 2 - 2nd rep BAWLA pause
65kg x 2 - 2nd rep BAWLA pause
67.5kg x 2 - 2nd rep BAWLA pause
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This was a decent session, I was hoping for 3 on the top squat session but the second was pretty tough so I thought it was better to hit 2 than go for 3 and miss it, especially this close to the comp.

So im far too lazy to update my journal. Basically my comp is on Sunday and Im feeling good.

My openers are likely to be:
150kg squat
65kg bench
~160kg deadlift

Boom time!
Im so excited, I will see a lot of you there hopefully, if not I will put a full write-up of my performance asap.

Sunday 7/12/08 at Intershape Gym, Colne

BWLA NWC Powerlifting Championships 2008

I met Joni just after 8 in the morning feeling psyched about the comp to come. En route to Colne we picked up Rick so in Joni's Toyota Yaris we had Joni, Adam, Rick, my brother John and me meaning the Yaris had to move well over 400kg worth of passengers up into the hills of Lancashire. It did so but at a price, it ended up with a flat tyre.

After weighing in just after 9am at 74.2kg it was time to get some calories in. John was dispatched to make me a whey and oat shake. Feeling the need to eat something solid I bought an oaty protein bar. With lifting due to start at 11am I started warming up at about 10.30am.

Squat warmup:
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 3
120kg x 2
135kg x 1
After finding out lifting would be starting late I then did another set:
135kg x 1

My warm-ups felt good and I was ready to go.

Squat opener: 150kg
My first lift at a full comp and I sunk it deep, perhaps too deep, and got up without too much hassle.

Second Squat: 162.5kg
Id love to see video of this to find out where I went wrong. I think I lost balance slightly after going too deep. 3 reds

Third Squat: 162.5kg
No mistakes this time. A nice 2.5kg pb as well. Apparently this squat was deep and earned me a few compliments back stage from other lifters/spectators which was nice.

I was feeling good at this stage although a little dissapointed I missed my second since I would have liked to hit that then go for 170kg but I was pleased with myself for managing to come back after failing a lift and nailing it. I was squatting deep throughout, maybe too deep which is bizarre for me. Up until about 6 months ago depth was my main problem because I kept going too high now its the opposite! A quick waxy maize starch shake then onto my weakest lift, the bench press.

Bench warmup:
All final reps paused
40kg x 5
50kg x 3
60kg x 2

Despite the warm-up bench being the flimsiest piece of junk I have ever benched on I was feeling good going into bench. I honestly thought before the comp just gettting a bench in so I could total would suffice, anything more would be a bonus. After being the 8th preson to squat I was the second to bench which hits at how bad I am on the bench. Or maybe how bad everyone else is at squatting.

Bench opener: 65kg
Having hit this, and heavier, plenty of times in the gym I was happy when I managed to hit this.

Second Bench: 70kg
Another second attempt fail. I got called on a double movement on the way up which was probably fair but probably caused by the pause being way over the 1 second pause I have been training with.

Third Bench: 70kg

Anticipating another long pause I psyched myself up to expect it and managed to push 70kg up. Bad quality video footage filmed by my Dad on my phone is in the video above.

Credit must go to my brother John, as well as helping with everything else also lifted me off perfectly on all three of my benches. A 70kg bench wasn't too bad for me. Now my form has improved, thanks to some tweaks by MrSmall, I should be able to really push this up in 2009. I may well compete BPC next year meaning I can also bench non-flat footed and have a shorter pause which would probably put 5-10kg on my bench now but I know it still needs work. After the bench came another wms shake and then the bar hits the floor and the meet really starts with the deadlift.

Deadlift warmup:
60kg x 5
100kg x 3
120kg x 2
140kg x 1

All four sets felt strong and fast and I was feeling good for a big deadlift to round off a days lifting. Wearing deadlift slippers was a small help and though I would never normally wear equipment for the first time on meet day, deadlfiting in these wasn't much different to deadlifting in socks which is what I used to do for quite a long time so it wasn't unusual or off-putting at all.

Deadlift opener: 160kg

Too...damn...easy! This flew up and meant I had a total which was a great feeling. Now to turn it into a good total and to achieve my main aim of the day: beat John's first comp total of 397.5kg.

Second deadlift: 175kg

This lift was harder but there was no way I was failing it.

Third deadlift: 190kg

After pulling 182.5kg at the Addlington Push/Pull comp I was confident of hitting this deadlift despite having squatted earlier in the day. For the final lift of the day the beast was let out of its cage, I took a huge wiff of smelling salts and set myself up in front of the bar. The lift was harder than it looks on that video but I wasn't going to stop pulling it until it nearly broke me.

Total: 442.5kg

Im really happy with my total. It smashed my goal of a 400kg minimum total and it qualifies me for a Nationals 75kg U20 place despite lifting raw.

Huge thanks to so many people, too many people to remember! Joni for the lift, John for the help all day long and Bryn and everyone else who ran the comp well despite the late change of venue.

A big hello to everyone who I met at the comp and thanks for all of your advice and encouragement.
Bring on 2009 and some evern better, bigger lifting.

Congrats mate, and don't give up the deep squatting!

Well done yesterday Luke. Excellent write-up and damn fine lifting!

Well done lad, keep going up!

god work lukeman!

Great write-up, excellent lifting

Thanks for the comments everyone! After my first comp I can say for sure it is well worth the money, time, effort and training.

I just cant wait for next year and getting some really solid numbers.

Well done mate.

Tuesday 16/12/2008 at The Sugden Sports Centre, Manchester

Squat:
60kg x 5
80kg x 5
100kg x 5
120kg x 5

Bench:
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 5
60kg x 5

Plus a few chins and some other bs.
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A nice easy return session. I probably could have gone a bit heavier but I didnt want to push it and hamper my return.

a lovely write up mate with a smattering of vids !! well done , personally i couldnt keep my eyes off the swiss balls in the background , 162.5 is a very nice squat indeed !! 400lb is in 2009 for sure !! (and a minimum 450lb deadlift)

Those sound like some good goals for staters.

Im now training back at the Fitness First in Leeds. Im working back up weight wise and upping my bench volume.

The highlight is undoubtably my latest competition. The Corcoran Christmas Classic is now three years old and is very simple:
Do your 10 rep squat max for 20 reps.

The two competitors (me and my brother) both selected a weight of 110kg. My brother (lifting in knee-wraps and belt) managed 13 reps with relative ease before a stumble cut short what was looking a good attempt. Next up was me (lifting with belt only) and I completed all 20 reps and took the title.

I cant wait for 2009, im going to set up a new log with my goals and aims for the year which I hope could be a really big one for me.

Cheers for your comments everyone!