New Years 2011 Alaska Powerlifting Meet

All lifts from the unsanctioned New Year's Meet put on by Hal Lloyd at Southside Strength and Fitness.

462 pound squat (tied my first meet squat in 2007 with full gear), 352 pound bench press (+20 pounds over my first meet in a Titan Fury), and 556 pound deadlift (+55 pounds over my first meet in a Titan Centurion). 242 pound body weight class.

Had this been a sanctioned meet, the bench press and deadlift would have been new USA Powerlifting Alaska state records. However, the deadlift record would have only stood for about 90 seconds, as right after me a newbie 242 pulled up a super clean 585. Video of that lift is posted on my YouTube channel.

For those who have followed my Smolov squat routine, this squat was a +40 pound PR, for a 10% increase in four weeks. I unwisely went up to 227.5 kilos/500 pounds for my third attempt and missed. I suspect I would have been successful at 215/474.

Many, many thanks to Hal Lloyd at Southside Strength and Fitness. It is wonderful to have a conscientious gym owner in Anchorage who is passionate about and experienced in powerlifting. Hal hosted this event as a skills evaluation for the more experienced lifter, but with a special emphasis on introducing new lifters to the platform. The atmosphere was friendly, there were no awards (other than pizza), and everyone had a good time.

There are only two sanctioned meets in Alaska a year, so every opportunity to select attempts, be on a platform, and in front of judges is valuable. If you are an Alaskan interested in powerlifting or serious strength training, you owe it to yourself to check out Southside Strength and Fitness. This is, without doubt, the premier facility in Anchorage for serious strength training.

Finally, thanks to my wife for supporting me in powerlifting, to my boys, who are my biggest fans, and my daughter, who is my littlest fan!

Next meet is the Alaska State Championship on March 26, 2011.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• powerlifting
• raw
• 350
• bench
• press
• 465
• squat
• 555
• deadlift
• USAPL
• alaska
• weightlifting
• physical exercise
• exercise
• fitness
• workout
• anchorage
• southside strength and fitness
• hal lloyd
• smolov squat routine

[bust3rblader]

i beat ur dead lift, i dead lift 585, front squat 315

[rhsalaska]

@bust3rblader Ya know, I was gonna say something smart or maybe delete it, but your comment is just so stupid I'll leave it up there for everyone to shake their head at.

[BodyBldgPowerLifter]

Nice job on all the lifts Rob! I agree that a 474 squat was definitely in the cards had you selected it. Gutsy fight on the misses and way to smoke the others! I have to bear witness that having a supportive wife and family makes a big difference. Congrats on the PRs, the unofficial record, and I look forward to your training for Alaska States. Happy New Year!

[rhsalaska]

@BodyBldgPowerLifter Ha! I just posted on your video! Thank you so much Kaisheem! It's good to know that not all powerlifters are unmarried, no kid twenty-somethings! Let's hope 2011 is the year we meet in person!

[rhsalaska]

@PropitiousSoul Another thought - bench press shirts can be great for tweaked shoulders. I would normally recommend a Titan Fury to most people ($99), but there are even less expensive models (maybe under $50?) from Inzer. I have been unable to bench 135 raw b/c of an injured shoulder, but could still do 315 pain free with the Fury.

[rhsalaska]

@PropitiousSoul Most powerlifters would object to calling the training "body part" training, because with compound movements, you are training many different body parts. It's generally accurate to say that squat and dead day are more lower body and bench is upper body, but that is very different than the isolation exercises body builders do. Also, I did full body workouts 3x a week for several years before powerlifting, and I eventually plateaued.

[rhsalaska]

@PropitiousSoul I would not "stop" movements. It is my opinion that completely stopping the movement for any real length of time will cause the joint to freeze up and prevent eventual healing. I would encourage you to do what exercises you can, even if it is just moving your arm, a light dumbell (even 1 or 2 pounds) or an empty barbell. (My first bench warmup is with an empty barbell.) Then gradually increase weight.

[rhsalaska]

Respond to this video... FINALLY, yes, family support is critical when you are training that much! We do well to remember that family is more important than lifting, but lifting can make us better to be around for our family! 

[rhsalaska]

@PropitiousSoul (cont...) On all my assistance work, it is compound motion barbell or dumbell work. My only single-joint work is on arms, when I will do curls. Assistance work should be about 8 reps. For example, squat day might be three sets of five on the main squat, then sets of 8 each on front squats, deadlifts, bottom half squats.

I also TRY to do cardio at least twice a week, but I would do it 4-6 times a week if I could. I also try to put ab work in on every weight workout.

[rhsalaska]

@PropitiousSoul Monday - Squat, Tuesday - Bench, Wednesday - Shoulders & Arms, Friday - Deadlift, Saturday, light upper body, less than 45 minutes. On each day, I do three to six sets of the main lifts, with reps ranging from single to eight reps. Eight reps is my standard off season training, but I have used Prilepin's Table a lot in the last 8 months and love it. Look it up on YouTube. I then do 8 to 18 sets of assistance exercises.