DW Gets Raw Elite

[DieselWeasel]

03.24.12
APF NYS Championships
Lindenhurst, NY

This was the first meet that I did an early weigh-in, approximately 24 hours prior to the lifting. I used the sauna in a local gym near my house, along with reducing sodium, liquids, and carbs. I successfully made weight, and was in the 165 class again. Probably competed around 170lbs from eating/drinking after the weigh-in.


Squat:

1st Attempt: 415 (Good Lift)
2nd Attempt: 455 (Good Lift) - 5lb meet PR
3rd Attempt: Pass

^ The 455 was buried deeper than I intended which made the lift tougher than it should've been. I struggled with it, got it, then passed on my 3rd. It was also much deeper than the 455 squat that I did about a month ago, in the gym. I think it was smart to pass on my third because it felt like that was my limit. It also saved my strength/energy for the bench and dead.

- Like the IPA, the APF (or at least the APF meets run by Shawna Mendelson) doesn't allow anything on the knees in their raw division, including neoprene knee sleeves. I wasn't aware of that rule until the morning of the meet. I've been training with my knee sleeves since the December meet, but I don't think removing them on this day affected my squat negatively, or maybe only slightly.


^ 455


Bench Press:

1st Attempt: 250 (Good Lift) - 5lb meet PR
2nd Attempt: 260 (Good Lift) - 15lb meet PR
3rd Attempt: 270 (No Lift)

^ I failed the 270 toward the end of the lift, but the 260 was already a big PR, and the most that I ever did with a pause in the gym was 265, so I wasn't really disappointed.


^ 260


Deadlift:

1st Attempt: 555 (Good Lift) - 5lb meet PR
2nd Attempt: 570 (No Lift)
3rd Attempt: Pass

^ The 555 was enough to clinch elite raw. After that, I attempted 570 which was my PR in the gym. The bar was moving slowly and the lift became a grinder. I still managed to pull the bar to the end, but instead of leaning back and hyper-extending my torso, I just barely pushed my hips through, which caused my shoulders to be in line with my hips, but not beyond that. The head judge, Shawna Mendelson, refused to give me the down signal, so the lift wasn't approved. I was very upset because I watched the video shortly afterward and it was clearly finished. After that, I passed on the 3rd because I was exhausted and disappointed. My friend, Tony Gilgamesh, appeared to have the same judging problem at this meet when he attempted 615.


^ 555


Total: 1270 (30lb PR) @ 165 Raw

^ This was enough to secure an elite raw total as shown here:
http://www.rawpowerlifting.com/classifications.htm

- I think that I was also first out of the three (myself included) raw 165 lifters who competed in this meet.

[LtL]

Congrats.

LtL

[5kgLifter]

Congrats DW!

[ricka182]

Kickass Max!

I'm not a judge, but that dealift pic is a green light in my eyes. How much more are you supposed to lift the damn thing.

Meh, you still got the Raw Elite, and that's something keep your head up for. Top of the class bruddah... Good job DW!

[bruteforce]

Great work DW!

[DieselWeasel]

Thanks, guys.

Originally Posted by ricka182

Kickass Max!

I'm not a judge, but that dealift pic is a green light in my eyes. How much more are you supposed to lift the damn thing.

Meh, you still got the Raw Elite, and that's something keep your head up for. Top of the class bruddah... Good job DW!

Thanks, but the pic in the write-up is the 555 deadlift, not the 570. The latter lift is the one which wasn't given the down command.

Yeah, I was pissed, but it was still cool that I finally got an elite raw total, along with a meet PR for all three lifts.

[BendtheBar]

Way to get it done Max. Really nice to see that bench creeping up closer to 300. That rep looked easy. Squat was buried.

[DieselWeasel]

Thanks, Steve. Yeah, it's all coming together.

[J_Byrd]

I am impressed! Great job and congratulations!

[jwood]

Great work DW!! Solid work, congrats on the elite total!