I have competed off an on in powerlifting for, ahem, nearly 30 years nows. As best as I can remember, my first actual meet (not one of those high school power meets) was 1993ish. But for the past decade or so, I have pretty much only done the NASA meets held at The Gym in my Flora, my old home turf. It is the gym I grew up in, sort of (new location, same people).

For years, they held two a year. One in the summer and one in the winter. Some years, I did both. Some years, one or the other, depending on schedule. For me, they are a reason for me to keep training heavy, even if/when that training is sporadic as can be. My training is consistently inconsistent.

This year was no exception to that fact.

After last year’s meet, I set some 2021 goals. I wanted to squat 575, I wanted to deadlift 575 and I wanted to total 1,400 pounds. I think I got maybe five training days in the six weeks before the meet. A lot of days, I did my main movements and skipped the accessory work. I get in what I can, when I can, between the two jobs. So, I lowered my expectations heading into the 2021 NASA Tri-State Regional. I really didn’t know how much past 500 I would get on either of the two big lifts. Bench shouldn’t exist and I refuse to set goals for it other than helping me get to a total. I’m still waiting for a fed to do a Squat/Deadlift competition.

Still, this meet is something I look forward to every year and I was not about to skip it. A week or so, I posted on of my social medias that my training had been crap, so I was going to have to rely on experience and “flipping the switch.”

Consider the switch flipped.

I had a good day by my standards. I hit all nine of my lifts, including my biggest squat in the last three years. The meet was competed in kilos, so the poundages below will seem odd by American standards, but just remember we are converting from kilo plates. I’m listing pounds here, because well, ‘Merica.

Squat

My biggest squat I hit in training in the past year was 475. So, I opened at 490.5 pounds. I don’t train in wraps, so I knew I’d get some extra juice there, and i had hit 475 twice the Tuesday before the meet. I had planned to open at 500, but I got a reminder of why there are senior divisions when I woke up with a sore groin for no damn reason at all. I hit 490.5, then jumped to 534.6 thinking I would get to 550ish on my third. So, 534 went super easy and I had that original goal in my head. 575. I called for 578.6, then told Smitty I’m pretty good at stupid, so I liked my chances. 578 was not easy, but it went up. Primordial adrenaline. I maxed out at 104 pounds heavier than any squat I did in training for the past year.

Also, thanks to Aiden Farleigh for wrapping the knees today. One of the downsides of training alone in your basement is not having training partners to help at meets. I asked Aiden just moments before go-time and he did a great job with the wraps. Was kind of cool having one of my old athletes help me out too.

Bench:

I hit all three benches, going 259, 270.1 and 275.6. That is .6 pounds heavier than last year and this is all i will write about bench, because it is bench.

Deadlifts

My biggest pull in training was 490, so I opened at 501.5. It went smoothly. I knew that last squat had taken a lot of me, so I was conservative with my jumps on deadlifts. I hit 523.6 for my second lift, then 545.6 for my third. I took 545 for a couple of reasons. I had 540 last year and wanted to beat that number. I also needed 545 to get to a 1,400-pound total, which I cleared by .8 pounds. So, two goals for the year checked off–squat and total. I have the hips and legs for a 575 deadlift in me, but I’m not going to get there with my shoulder in the shape it is in. That is my limiter there. My all-time best deadlift is 578. I would love to take that number down, but it is going to be a tall-order.

Total

1,400.8 pounds. Goal met. And 35 pounds more than last year. One of my other goals was to crack the NASA top 100 by coefficient. This should get me there too, but I’ll have to wait for an update to see that one. I did have both the highest total and the best coefficient for this meet. Might be the first time I won the coefficient since my teenage years, when I was much, much lighter. All three lifts and my total were new state records for the 242-pound, master’s division.

Meet Video

Thanks to my wife, Sarah, for being there all day and getting videos for me. I have the best teammate in life i could ask for.

Note: Ignore the 485 from the announcer on the first lift. It was 490.