One week till the contest and I think I'm ready.

[mmb617]

Some of you may remember that I posted a couple months ago that I was planning on entering a power meet on 12-16-17. I've been training hard and today was the last heavy lifting day before the meet. The only lifting I'll do between now and the meet is warmup and hit openers on Wednesday, as this is the time to rest.

The last meet I entered was a year ago and at that meet my best lifts were 176 squat, 137 bench and 281 deadlift. We actually lift in kilos but I listed my lifts in pounds since most Americans understand that better.

The goal going in was to better the lifts I had last year but that's not going to happen on the bench as my old beat up shoulders just won't cooperate. I'll be happy if I get 126 on the bench this time.

The other two lifts are going well though. Here's a 285 deadlift I did last month. I think I can get around 300 at the meet, so that would be a good improvement over last year.


https://youtu.be/25wTn843lbU



Squats are also going well. Today was squat day and here's my 195 lift which felt pretty good. I figure to hit right around 200 at the meet.



https://youtu.be/-C5W8YoQtCk


We'll see how accurate my estimates are next Saturday. I've been doing this for close to 40 years so I think I have a good feel for it. I started out in the 123 lb weight class all those years ago then made the move up to 132 lbs in the early '80's. I can still make weight in that class and consider myself lucky to still be able to do this at all now that I'm 66 years old.

[qikgts]

Looking good!

Good luck to you!!! At 66, to be doing any competitive weightlifting, you're really setting the bar! lol

[gmatt]

Way to go Mike! Good luck at the meet.

[chads84svo]

Aww........My back hurts watching that video. Good luck bro....

[84StangSVT]

I haven’t been around for a while due to work, but I saw this and had to comment. You are gonna kick some butt! Good luck friend....you got this!

[xctasy]

You are so fortunate to have the experience, technique and top 2 inches of smarts. Kick some a$$ drag racer!

[plumkrazy]

Impressive. Sure you will surprise some young guys at the Meet. Hope you can share video from the meet also.

You GOT THIS !!

[mmb617]

Today was my last in the gym till after the contest. All I did was warmup and hit openers, making sure to do them strictly by all rules (squat depth, bench pause, etc). It's more of a mental preparation thing than physical at this point. I'm not building any more strength this late in the game but I want to have complete confidence in my opening attempts. I'm glad to say they all felt really, really good.

I have a set of goals for myself and think I'm on track to achieve them. Guess we'll see in a couple days.

[mmb617]

Sure you will surprise some young guys at the Meet. Hope you can share video from the meet also.

Well I don't know about surprising any young guys. There's a guy entered in my weight class who's 32 years old and a phenomenal lifter. He's a really nice guy I've run into several times over the years. He will take my numbers and double them. There's only the two of us entered in the 132# men's class so I already know where I'll place.

I was joking with my lifting partner and said I hope I can at least out-bench the girls. With my bench where it is these days that's not a given. Some of those girls are strong!

Seriously though, at this point it's all about whether I can reach the goals I set for myself, and even more importantly seeing some of the guys who've been at the same meets as me for the last 40 years. A surprising number of those guys are still at it and some of them are even older than me.

[84StangSVT]

Well I don't know about surprising any young guys. There's a guy entered in my weight class who's 32 years old and a phenomenal lifter. He's a really nice guy I've run into several times over the years. He will take my numbers and double them. There's only the two of us entered in the 132# men's class so I already know where I'll place.

I was joking with my lifting partner and said I hope I can at least out-bench the girls. With my bench where it is these days that's not a given. Some of those girls are strong!

Seriously though, at this point it's all about whether I can reach the goals I set for myself, and even more importantly seeing some of the guys who've been at the same meets as me for the last 40 years. A surprising number of those guys are still at it and some of them are even older than me.

You are on the right path and mentally seem to be prepared. While you may place second in your class, to a 32 year old person, you are still doing phenomenal things at an age where a ton of people are throwing their hands up and making excuses why they can no longer do something like this. I commend you for seeing the realization of it and the fact that you are sticking with your personal goals and not letting the class get to you. Go kick some @ss friend....You will do fine.

[mmb617]

Just got back from weigh-ins. I knew I was well under the limit for the 132# class. I came in at 128.6#. I was at 135 1/4 when I stated training for this meet 10 weeks ago. I feel ready to go!

[plumkrazy]

Best of Luck!

[mmb617]

The meet couldn't have went any better. You get 3 attempts at each lift and are judged by 3 judges with at least 2 white lights needed for a good lift. The judging was in my opinion very strict but I went 9 for 9 and didn't draw a single red light all day. I hit all the goals I'd set for myself.

Here's my third attempt squat. This is 198 lbs, 22 lbs more than I did at this meet last year.


https://youtu.be/RH-X37EgL8Q


As I've already mentioned my bench sucks. There was a time when I could bench double my bodyweight but now it's all I can do to lift one times my bodyweight. Getting old seems to adversely affect the bench the most. A few of us old farts were talking and we agreed that benching is a young man's game. I went into the meet thinking 126 lbs would be the most I'd get, but when my second attempt at 121 felt good I called for 132 on my last attempt and made it. Certainly not a big bench by any stretch of the imagination but good for me these days. Here it is.


https://youtu.be/DTEf6dh6Qqk


The deadlifts have always been my best lift and although I don't enjoy training them like I used to they are still the lift I do best. Last year I did 281 lbs and wanted to beat that, which I did on my second attempt with 287. With that out of the way I went for what I really wanted this meet 303 lbs on my last attempt. And got it.

https://youtu.be/SsT59M-aMYI


I'm pretty wiped out and ready for bed, but I'm a happy camper.

[STANGMAN116]

Congrats thats great!!!!

[qikgts]

Awesome job!

Congrats on 9 for 9!!!

[gmatt]

Good job Mike! Great accomplishment. I admire your drive and determination.

[mmb617]

Good job Mike! Great accomplishment. I admire your drive and determination.

Talking with some of the other old guys at the meet we didn't characterize it quite that way. We're just your stereotypical old men, too stubborn to quit. Or maybe too dumb, depending on your viewpoint.

I'm 66 and there were 3 guys there who were older than me. There were 8 men who were over the age of 60 in the meet. But there were also 10 lifters under the age of 25, 6 of them teenagers. I was glad to see that as it bodes well for the future. I was concerned that powerlifting might be getting like drag racing, primarily old farts with little new blood coming in. You can't sustain a sport when that happens.

[84StangSVT]

Congrats on the meet Mike! 9 of 9 and meeting all your goals is awesome!