Pretty horrible log name, I know. I debated on going with something flashy, but realized I could not pull them off. My best ideas were Ben Stiller lines of “I am better than you, and I know it!”; however, I am not quite strong enough to pull that one off. My other option was trying to include being “really, really, ridiculously good looking”, but that was just too long. So what you are left with is my boring (but fairly uncommon) first name…
History:
I am a 26 year old powerlifter in South Dakota. I am primarily a usapl raw lifter. I first began training as a 5’10", 190lb slob when I was a junior in high school. I had gotten out of sports after being generally too lazy and out of shape. I starved myself, ran a lot, and lifted hard and got down to 155. As I was always a chubby kid, I have the tendency to want to diet as I don’t want to be fat.
I did a lot of bodybuilding training as well as generally strength training throughout college. Did not know anything about powerlifting until reading sites like these in college. As I always lifted by myself my technique was always a work in progress and had difficulty trying to teach myself. Decided to do my first competition in 2011. Totalled 1540 something in the 220 class.
After this, I was lucky enough to train with Shawn Frankl from August through November in 2011. He forced me to train hard and heavy and eat a lot. I ended up having my best meet to date going 1640 something weighing in at 229 at a UPA meet but didn’t use any knee wraps. After this meet my body was really hurting and I was feeling fat, so I cut down to 198 for a meet in March of 2012. That was a disaster as I cut 9lbs in the last 24 hours before the meet. This was usapl so I had a 2 hour weigh in. Barely made it through the meet with a 1507 total.
Programmed hopped a lot after this, did a bench only meet that was close to my home and only got my opener at 391, and then recently had a great training cycle but disappointing meet going 4/8 this past march at 220 again for a 1580 total.
Current:
Had dieted down after my meet as I was pissed and got down to about 206. However, just went on vacation with my wife and am back to the 220s thanks to an all inclusive resort. I naturally program hop like a young newb, but I am wanting to get back on track with some simplified goals. As a previous member of that original BIO group (not one of the popular guys, but I was there some), I have access to the ever-popular Carlos Moran who is kind enough to listen to my ramblings and over-analytical nature. He set me straight and got me on some simple carb cycling instead of my uber modern IF/CBL approach I had been using and I will be doing some basic 5/3/1 training.
My next meet is the first weekend of November, so I will run the basic off season 5/3/1 stuff and then work more into a meet prep in a couple of months. Carlos says I need to go 242 to be optimal but I always bail before that when I start to feel “sluggish/fat”. Hopefully this time will be different as my diet will be more controlled and I have lots of time to slowly get my weight up.
