The day arrived and the casual powerlifting comp at my work gym has come and gone. My coworker-friends came to spot me, and my husband drove down from work for moral support, which was really nice of all of them!
I have to admit that the event overall has made me a little bit grumpy, though I’m over it now more or less. The organizers wanted to “make it accessible to people who don’t lift” so: no belts, no chalk, no arched back on bench. Like, srsly? (Maybe I should just sign up for a proper comp where they follow normal standards eesh)
Buuuut anyway, onto the lifts. First was squat, where they broke to me the news that I would be lifting beltless. Cue panic! But I got under the bar anyway, for 185lb, then 205lb, and finally 210lb. Last one was an ugly grinder but I was pleased that I hit depth and made it back up.
Bench next. I started with 145lb and set up in my usual Jen Thompson-inspired fashion: feet planted and pushing my body towards my head, lats grounded, back arched, glutes just barely brushing the bench. Nope. “Hips down, natural arch in the back.” Huh? Anyway I put my hips down as commanded, hit 145lb, then 150lb (my recent max) and tried for 155lb which I just missed. I would’ve had it if I could’ve arched.
Finally deadlift, which I was terrified of doing beltless. Started at a conservative 235lb, which went up fine but Angry QL said, “hey”. Then 245lb, and Angry QL said “Hey”. 255lb went up and Angry QL said “HEY WAT R U DOIN”. But whatever, it went up and no serious injury, I can deal with a cranky QL. Belt would’ve been nice though.
The total was 615lb overall– for reference, I weighed in at 169lb this morning (my month of peanut butter bulking has had an effect lol); May 2017 when I weighed 225lb I totaled 630lb. I’m really very pleased with this result; I was able to regain most of the strength that I lost in the cut so I’m happy about that.
Now that the comp’s over, it’s time to lace up my running shoes and start training for my Thanksgiving 5k. Maybe I’ll take one day off :)
Running While Fat 