We're 2 brothers out of Omaha, Nebraska that compete in Powerlifting, Strongman, and Natural Bodybuilding. We're drug-free & equipment-free. We're on a conquest to become stronger than we’ve ever been before.
The holidays are always tough in this sport it seems. There seems to be less time for lifting – for various reasons, lots of not-so-healthy food around, and a little lack of focus. We’ve been pushing through the holidays getting most of our workouts in and just trying to maintain. Below is a video that summarizes the last 6 weeks or so of our training…
Last night, Zack and I went to go watch The Fighter… and I know it seems kind of corny – but movies like these really get me going. After watching it, I went home and started tossing the junk food into the trash can. I’m ready to get back on the wagon with both the diet and the training. We still have one more week of “holidays” but the big ones are behind us. I’m re-energized and re-focused to start the new year off right.
I don’t know where to start with my recap…it was quite a day.
I guess I’ll start with I felt very good going into this contest. I had my diet spot on, and I dropped from 283 3 weeks out to right at 275 the day before the contest. Josh and I had gone to the gym 3 times that week just to stay loose and limber. I noticed at the beginning of the week I had a slight cold, but I wasn’t worried about it, but instead of getting better it got worse! The night before the meet I slept about 3 hours and felt horrible, but I’m not the type of guy that cares much for excuses so I knew I would just have to fight through it.
Squats – I felt really shakey starting out with a 573, but I got it easy. Next was 606 and then I finished with 628! A huge 23# PR for me.
Bench – I had very low energy after a long break. I opened with 440, then got 463 for my second. Staying with our program I went for something I’d never attempted – 479. It went down good and I got it 6 inches off my chest, but I couldn’t lock it out…I should have had it! – My only miss of the meet.
Deadlift – After bench I did some eating and I had more energy for deadlift. As a matter of fact – I felt great! and Strong! I changed my opener from 595 to 606 – smoked it. Next was 633 – I struggled a bit with it. Last lift of the meet and I was going for 650! I was amped up and I wanted this lift bad! I went up to the bar, grabbed, pulled, and got to my sticking point when I could feel my arm tearing. I knew that I was hurt and that it was too late to put the bar down so I struggled through and got the lift! A big PR for me!
So in the end I had my best meet ever. I won best lifter for the 3rd year in a row, hit 2 PRs and increased my ELITE total. BUT – the tearing I felt on the deadlift was bicep tendon. It is 80% ruptured and now I’m preparing for surgery and recovery.
Josh and I just wrapped up week six of Wendler’s program. I’m still very excited about the program and very happy with the results. I think the highlights of the week were my 425×5 bench, Josh’s 385×5 deadlift and both of our squats 535×6 and 370×6 (On a side note, Josh’s set didn’t get taped so he belted up and did it AGAIN! He got 5 instead of 6 and it showed a lot of toughness!) The next 3 weeks are going to be a big test…but that’s why we do it.
