SPF Alabama State Meet Report

Sup bros.

So I competed in the SPF Alabama State Meet this past Saturday, and had a total blast.  1 week before the meet, I weighed in at about 205.  I'd decided to drop weight for this meet just to get more familiar with the process, and to learn something new.

I. Meet Prep

I did Texas Method for squat up to a 425x5.  This was done the Monday before the meet.   I benched 250 for 5/3/3 (I think) and hardly deadlifted at all (4x3 @ 315lbs a couple times).  On wednesday before the meet, I worked up to my openers: 465 on squat, 265 on bench, 445 on deadlift.

II. Cutting Weight

I was going to do the day-before weigh-in, so I could cut down to 198 and then get my bloat on.  To accomplish this, the general template that people follow are as follows:

6 days out: high sodium high water (2 gals)
5 days out: high sodium high water
4 days out: low sodium high water
3 days out: low sodium high water
2 days out: low sodium low water, cut out carbs
1 day out: low sodium, tiny bit of water before noon, no carbs

I didn't go nearly this hardcore because I only had 7 lbs to lose:

3 days out: high sodium high water
2 days out: low sodium high water
1 day out: low sodium, some water before noon, no carbs.

On the day of the weigh-in, I woke up @ 197lbs.  Success!  On the 2 hour ride down to the site of the meet, I was riding with my friend Brad, who was trying to total elite (1551@220).  He unfortunately weighed 225 that morning, so he had 5 lbs to go.  He was spitting into a milk jug (every ounce counts!) and had the heater on full blast on the ride down with at least 3 layers of clothing.  I was sweating like a mofo just in my t-shirt.

When we got to the site, I weighed in at 196.  Brad ran around and did a lot of light weight work and jogging, plus he locked himself in the bathroom and turned the water up as hot as it would go.  After a few hours of this and basically tiring himself out, he finally managed to get to 220.

III. Get My Bloat On

I ate like a mofo.  First we went to McDonalds for lunch where I had a double quarter pounder, large fries, 20 piece nuggets, filet-o-fish sandwich, and a large lemonade with a refill (2500 cals).

For dinner we hit up a Chinese buffet, where I consumed immeasurable calories.

We hit the sack around 11pm with a wake up time of 7am.  Unfortunately I slept very poorly and probably only managed to get 4 hours of sleep.

IV. The Meet

A. Squat

Squat came first; I was the 3rd to go in the final flight (they organize the flights based on your opener).  While waiting for my turn, I downed a "spike shooter" which had 350mg caffeine, which was a shitton of caffeine for someone who never drinks coffee or energy drinks.

My first attempt at squat was fairly smooth.  It was weird using a monolift but the weight was easy enough.  I also didn't forget the rack command :)  I was on the board with 465.

For my second attempt, I called for 485 which I felt like should be easy, but I went forward at the bottom and lost position.  3 reds.

For my third attempt, I went for 485 again (no 500 this time, oh well).  This time, I had good position at the bottom but felt like I didn't engage my hips or hamstrings, and got pinned.

I ended the squat session at 465, which is ok I suppose, but it was slightly disappointing.

B. Bench

I was 3rd in the last flight yet again.  I started with 265lbs, which went up fairly easily.  I then called for 275, which also felt solid.  I sent my final attempt at 285lbs.  For this attempt, I let the weight push me down too much at the bottom and I lost my arch.  Failed.

Ended with 275lbs on bench.

C. Deadlift

Honestly I hadn't deadlifted for months and really thought this was gonna be a shitshow.  445 went up fairly easily so I called for 465.  465 was kind of a grinder and my back was bent like a bow; it went up though.  I called for 485 which in retrospect should have been 475, seeing as how slowly 465 went.  I gave it a shot but my back was not having it.

Ended up with 465.

V. Conclusion

All in all I was relatively satisfied, the 465/275/465 (1205@198) was a dramatic improvement over 408/265/440 (1113@198) during the meet in October 2012.  I made the goal of 1200, but missed the goal of squatting 500.

Not sure when I'll do another meet but it'll probably be sometime in the summer/fall.  I have the oly meet on April 20 to prepare for, and I don't want to do a meet and not improve significantly.  My goal for the near future is to put squat on maintenance and really hit the deadlift hard.  Hopefully the next meet will be something like 500/300/500 with no back rounding :)  Longer term goal is to make nationals and total elite, which require 1422 and 1471 respectively.