GPC PUSH/PULL
132.5kg Bench Press
140kg Bench Press attempt
235kg Deadlift
255kg Deadlift
275kg Deadlift attempt
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On the 3rd of December 2017, I competed at the GPC Push/Pull competition, at PTC Headquarters, in my home town of Carrum Downs.
This would be my first Powerlifting meet in close to two years, having competed at another Push/Pull at Iron Revolution in 2015. The reason for wanting to do this competition, was to test my Sumo Deadlift, a lift that is not allowed in Strongman competitions. My Sumo Deadlift was always higher than my Conventional Deadlift before I moved over to Strongman. When I first Deadlifted 210kg conventional, I was pulling 240kg Sumo for a max. I trained the Bench Press weekly, but only practiced sumo a few times, normally on my Dynamic Effort day. I had no real expectations on the day, but wanted an equal PB of 140kg on the Bench Press, and anything over 260kg on the Sumo Deadlift. I weighed in easily for the U82.5kg class. I opened my Bench Press with 125kg. It felt light in my hands, but the nerves got the best of me and I used barely any leg drive. I made the list with 3 white lights still, and took 132.5kg as my second. As you can see in the video, the bar wobbles a little once its off my chest. Scary shit. Not sure how or why that happened. It had never happened before. I was confident I made the lift look harder than it felt, and I took 140 as a 3rd. The most I had benched recently in training was 130kg. The most I had benched in a competition was 135kg. And the most I have benched in my life is 140kg. 140 felt great in my hands, but I could not get comfortable in my lower back and hips while setting up on the bench. I can't recall exactly what happened, but a cramp like feeling in my lower back prevented from pressing the bar very far off my chest before it started coming back down again, and the spotters jumped in. Disappointed, but not too phased. Onto the Sumo Deadlift. I opened on 235kg. I lifted 250kg 4 days prior, when I went to PTC to practice on the Texas Bar, and to decide if I was going to use a mix grip or hook grip. In Strongman we use Straps when deadlifting, and it had been a while since I had lifted very heavy without them. 235kg went up OK. From memory I forgot to really aim to keep the bar close and drag it into my body. I took 255kg for my second, and it flew up, after fixing the mistake I just mentioned. Many people commented it should have been my opener. It felt heavy to me. I took 275kg for my 3rd and final attempt. Many people commented I had 280kg in me. I agreed, but thought I would take a confident 275kg. The weight came up off the ground, but was slightly crooked. My body attempted to fix the lift mid way up the shin, which caused the heavy weight to push me off balance. I locked the weight out, but it was still moving. The bar started falling just as I received the down call, and I went down with it rather than letting go. Two red lights and one white. A no-lift. Slightly deflated that I couldn't technically say I made the lift, but happy to have lifted the weight. This left me with a 387.5kg total, which was enough for first place in my division. My 3rd attempts would have made it 415kg. A much sexier number. I'm super glad I did this competition. It was a step outside of my Strongman Comfort Zone, and gives me new goals to work on next year outside of Strongman! I received some praise for my Sumo Deadlift technique, and left the meet feeling pretty good about myself :D |