Photorecap of the 2009 USA Powerlifting California State Championships

Blast from the Past:

Per some request and for your entertainment, here's some photos from the USAPL meet not too long ago.. (that i've been meaning to post..)

It's just a few (of the thousands; my bro was snapping away all day).. but as they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Enjoy!

2009 USA Powerlifting California State Championships
February 21, 2009
7:30 am - 10:00 pm
Santa Clarita, CA

*photo credits:
special thanks to Harrison, for taking these and spending the whole day supporting the ucla powerlifting team; he turned down his work/$$$/a wedding contract that fell on the same weekend in a beautiful beachside resort, instead, only to be trapped in a gym full of sweaty men. grunting men

*also:
on the same note, should any of you know anyone getting married or need special event shooting, if you could pass along Harrison's information, that would be great!
Find his info at: http://www.harrisonlongphotography.com/blog/

High Week #3

Gear:
Belt (squat only)

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
395 x 3
375 x 3
365 x 3

Standing Overhead Push-Press:
255 x 1
225 x 4/4

Stiff-Leg Deadlifts w/ 45 lbs Plates:
385 x 5/5

Dips:
BW + 75 x 8/6/6

High Week #2

Gear:
NOne / no belt

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
295 x 5/5/5

Power CLeans:
216 x 3/3/3

Medium-Grip Bench Press w/ Pause:
285 x 5/5/4

Chin-ups:
BW x 6/6/5

High Week #1

Gear:
Belt (squat + pull)
APT KNee Sleeves

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
405 x 1
435 x 1
465 x 1 (slow, but deep and stable)
405 x 2

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
315 x 1
335 x 1
355 x 1 (felt good)
315 x 4 (with pause)

Conventional Deadlift:
496 x 1 (felt easy)
529 x 1 (slow lockout but fast off the ground)

Dumbbell Standing Overhead Press:
80s x 5/5/5

Very pleased with all this, this means I'm perfectly in line for the number I want to hit on July 18.

Week C #2

Gear:
None / no belt

SHoulder-Stance Back Squat:
285 x 5/5/5

Stiff-Leg Deadlifts w/ 45 lbs plates:
326 x 3
376 x 5

Medium-Grip Bench Press w/ Pause
275 x 5
265 x 5
245 x 5

Chin-ups:
BW x 5/5/5

Good stiff-leg session, felt pretty easy.

Week C #1

Gear:
Belt (squat + pull)

SHoulder-Stance Back Squat:
385 x 4
375 x 4
365 x 3 (man, ran out quick)

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
315 x 4
295 x 5
275 x 5

Conventional Deadlift:
466 x 2

Standing OVerhead Press:
185 x 5/5/5

This was actually pretty good considering how hectic my weekend was.

Week B #2

Gear:
NOne / no belt

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
275 x 5/5/5

Conventional Deadlift:
365 x 5/5/5

Dumbbell Bench Press:
135s x 5/5/5

Chin-ups:
BW x 6/5/5

Nice and easy session. Had to deadlift since my mid-back is sore as hell right now, and that's where all the power clean pull comes from. In general, need to stop beating myself up so much.

Week B #1

Gear:
Belt (squat)

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
365 x 1
385 x 3
365 x 4/4/4

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
325 x 1
335 x 1/1/1
305 x 4

Stiff-Leg Deadlifts w/ Quarter Plates:
355 x 3/3

Standing Overhead Press:
195 x 5/5/5

This sucked complete ass. Sleep has been screwed up and I drove 12 hours over the weekend. Started bad and got worse. Oh wells.

Week C #2

Gear:
None / no belt

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
325 x 5/5/5

Standing Overhead Press:
221 x 4/4/3

Power Cleans:
221 x 3/3/3 (easy-peasy)

Dips:
BW+70 x 8/7 (left hand started cramping)

SO HUNGRY during this. Went to In-N-Out immediately after and got a 4x4.

Week C #1

Gear:
None / no belt

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
355 x 4
335 x 5
315 x 5

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
305 x 5 (ludicrously easy)
295 x 5
275 x 5

Stiff-Leg DLs w/ Quarter Plates:
355 x 5

Standing Overhead Press:
199 x 5/5

So lower back was still tired, but everything else felt great. Should be back in the saddle on Monday.

Week B #3: The Walking Dead

Gear:
Belt (squat + pull)
APT Knee Sleeves

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
405 x 1
435 x 1/1
415 x 1
405 x 1
365 x 3

Standing Overhead Press:
215 x 4/4/3
235 x 1
185 x 5

Conventional Rack Pull @ Below Knee:
455 x 3
485 x 2
505 x 2
525 x 1

Dips:
BW+45 x 8/8/8

Sleep has been really shitty this week (a sign of over-training). Thankfully, the Rack Pulls went well. Backing the hell off next week and hit it hard in two weeks.

Week B #2

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
315 x 3/3/3

Power Clean:
235 x 1/1/1/1
225 x 2/1
215 x 2/3

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press:
120s x 4/3/4/3

Dips:
BW x 8/8/8

Well, that's two shitty sessions in a row. I'm officially over-trained. Need to get some sleep and back the hell off next week.

Week B #1

Gear:
None / no belt

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
380 x 1
350 x 3/3
335 x 4/4
315 x 3 (bleh)

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
340 x 1
330 x 2/1
310 x 3/4
295 x 4

Stiff-Leg Deadlifts w/ Quarter Plates:
375 x 4/5/3

Strict Curl:
120 x 1
160 x 1 (Judge Brent approved this)

Man, just tough today. Still hit the weights I wanted, but not quite the reps. Kicked my ass pretty good on Friday. Need to actually back off next week instead of just treating it as an excuse to max out.

Week A #3

Gear:
Belt (squat + pull)
APT Knee Sleeves

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
425 x 2
415 x 2/2
405 x 2
385 x 3
365 x 5

Standing Overhead Press:
215 x 4/4
205 x 5/4
185 x 5

Conventional Rack Pulls @ Below Knee:
495 x 1/2
505 x 1/1

Rack Pulls went okay, wanted doubles on all of them but just couldn't lock some of them out. This is exactly the right position to train in for me, easily my weakest point in the deadlift.

Week A #2

Gear:
None / no belt

Olympic-Style Front Squats:
225 x 3
245 x 3
265 x 3
290 x 3 (hard, but got it)

Power Cleans:
235 x 1
225 x 3/3/2
215 x 3/3/3

Dumbbell Bench Press:
135s x 5/5/5/5.5

5.5 means that I locked out the sixth rep with my left arm, but not my right.

Week A #1

Gear:
None / no belt
Chucks (Dave is borrowing my squat shoes for today)

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
375 x 1
345 x 2/3
335 x 4/4
315 x 2 (back felt blah)

Man, squats sucked. This is basically because:
1. I was sick last week
2. I maxed out last Friday
3. I did Highland Games training on Saturday
4. I ran up the San Hill o' Death on Sunday

Basically, this means that I need to start sprinting Tuesday/Saturday for 2 miles to get some basic conditioning back in.

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
335 x 1
295 x 5/4/5
275 x 7

Stiff-Leg Deadlift w/ Quarter Plates:
345 x 7/8/5

Man, that second set felt crazy easy, then I got tired on the third. Still, good progress.

Strict-Curl:
170 x FAIL (this would have gone if I had swung it a bit)
155 x 1 (Judge Brent approved this lift)

Also, Judge Brent got on video. So remember, to get a big curl and deh biceps, never curl.

Week C #3

Gear:
Belt (squat + pull)

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
405 x 1
425 x 1
455 x 1

455 was tough. Felt like taking a nap after it.

Medium-grip Bench Press:
315 x 1
335 x 1 (easy)
355 x FAIL (meh?)

Conventional Deadlift:
495 x 1 (easy)
525 x FAIL (mer)

Well, it sucked failing on the bench and DL, but I think its mainly due to fatigue and what not (like only eating an In N Out burger this afternoon).

One of the Wooden munchkins made me strip the bar of bumper plates (apparently they're only allowed on the platform for some magic reason). So I made him take off the 50 kg plates for me.

There was also a pack of fools quarter-squatting 405 (maybe 5 inches ROM). I wanted to smack them.

Week C #2

Gear:
None / no belt

Olympic-Style Front Squats:
315 x 1

Power Cleans:
250 x FAIL (bleh)

Dumbbell Bench Press:
140s x 5
145s x 2

Been sick for a week, still don't feel that great.

Week B #3

Gear:
Belt (squat and pull)

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
405 x 1
435 x 1
415 x 2
405 x 2/2
385 x 3

Standing Overhead Press:
235 x 1
215 x 4/4/3/3
205 x 5

Conventional Rack Pulls @ 4 Quarter Mountain:
I stacked 4 quarter plates on top of each other at Wooden and dubbed it 4 Quarter Mountain. Since this setup is so janky, I only did singles.

495 x 1
515 x 1 (easy)
545 x FAIL (no so easy)

Week B #2

Gear:
None / no belt

Olympic-Style Front Squats:
245 x 3
265 x 3
285 x 3 (felt good)

Power Cleans:
235 x 2/1/1
225 x 2/2/2
215 x 3/3

Dumbbell Bench Press:
135s x 5/5/5/4

Strict-Curl w/ EZ-Bar:
115 x 1 (easy)
145 x 1

Judge Brent gave me three white lights on the 145, haha. For those keeping score, I haven't done any bicep isolation exercises since around July 2008. QED