Pushin the bands fast !

Today just another of those 12 set by 4 reps light bench days, I workout heavy with lockouts 'pin presses' etc. on Sunday, so this DE stuff gets me ready for the big RAW loads this weekend...I pretty much just tried to work on strong lockouts..more speed to the bar and resisting the heavy blue bands in this gym ...they always seem so much stronger than in my previous gym, that is probably due to a different height bench and longer legs to attach them to...I always seem to get stronger after the 5th set..this leads me to wonder IF I warm up enough at meets, I have no answer for me, but I will tell me what I think, when I think it...but I may not just blindly,blandly, take 3 or 4 singles and hit the platform after this....

Today's weights were nuttin, but I put gusto into them and actually was a bit sore from the different type workout I reported on Saturday ...That 'heavy break in the shirt, quasi board press day'..made me feel like I gained 5 pounds of muscle in my shoulders, lats, tri's....so I will be using that modality more in the future...of course that 'pump' was only that, and NOT -- the 'new accidental way' to bulk and bumpier beef !
(as told by Joseph E. Weiner,trainer of chimpanzees??)

Gad--- it's only 18 more shopping days til 'Bench Mas' in Aberdeen...Then it's WABDL World's prep time for November !

Breaking in the Shirt

Saturday Aug 25--

It was a Heavy workout day,I had 2 choices,use a loose Katana and just workout...or try to 'break in' my impossibly tight Katana. (used once Nov 06--couldn't get anything down)

With a meet 22 days away,I chose trying the TIGHT'N...we put the hand off racks higher so I could spread my arms apart far enough...we put the safety bars across to what would be a 3 Board press..and we carefully started trying to loosen the shirt with me in it..I did sets of 3 reps with 440 490 507 527 and 550...we later moved the safety racks to a 2 and 1 board level as those weights went up in poundage...the hard part of this was getting the bar out of the rack and out over my chest..Bruce had to shrug while I lifted but the metal lips were hard to get over at the "new" height. (my arms were about 1/2 inch too short, altho I WAS lifting my fair share )

With every set we had to do this....lift the weight out one side at a time...steady the bar...do the exercise....and put each side back in one side at a time --this had me pushing and stretching --Bruce pulling and Nancy running from one side of the bar to the other...to help lift up, on each end to rack...whew, scary at first, rough on my friends, but by the time we were out of the shirt...it had given in a bit...and I felt very 'worked out' however we proceeded with heavy weights and the reverse bands...and worked out even more...I got some effortless feeling raw reps in...by lunchtime my friends and I deserved a good big feast, altho this ritual of workout-lunch at Joe's Original (yes, we divorced Martini's restaurant months ago due to one snarky waiter) is our regular format, we really needed fuel after the "new" version of shirt work for me..It was kind of 'death defying fun' AND as tight as the shirt was, no horrendous, digs ,scars or shirt hickeys from this outing...might be looking at a big lift in Aberdeen if this shirt works out as well as indicated yesterday !

A true WABDLARIAN

Yesterday was my first workout since ALKI-I went up to Target Fitness and got in a speed day without the bands...fast, light weights--in sets of 4 reps...225 275 285 to 8 sets--then I blasted 315 335 and 355 as fast as I could...(12 sets in total -in 20 minutes) to me these heavier weights didn't 'pop' like they should --but the effort to 'speed them' was there--A Fitness Trainer read my WABDL shirt and asked if I knew Carol Ann Meyers..I said she is a record holder in the meets I go to ...and altho I've lifted in some of the same meets (WORLD'S) I'd never spoken to her...the trainer said she was a friend, and wondered if Carol was really the strong lifter she heard she was...I verified that she is one of the very best, small world,everywhere I go, I get people knowing some lifter I've competed with, or know one of my WABDL Idols..recently on Powerlifting Watch.com I was congratulated by Steve Wong (900 single ply, drug free bencher) and by the TOP masters 50+ competitor, and one of the world's best female lifters for my recent 535 what a blast !! I blushed when I read the nice words--

So, what now??

MORE WABDL (the camaraderie is so fantastic there) Top bencher and deadlifter Jody Cranston and I are tripping down to Aberdeen Washington, for the September 15th meet at the Sam Benn school gym...that's less than a month...Jody will Bench and dead...and I'll see if I can add something to the recent numbers in Seattle--this weekend, I do a heavy shirt day with Nancy and Bruce...I'll see what I can get then --that will be a good indication of how my training is set for Aberdeen...nice to have a meet before the worlds in Anaheim,I'm looking "floor board" to it !

VRROOOOM !
(I can relax when I say that....Jody is driving)

Alki meet,story and such !

The scene at Alki during my record attempt
DISCOVERED !! Mysterious 2 headed woman in Alki audience--when at Power page--note the 13th picture down...she is there watching the show ! WOW !! Call Art Bell !



Alki was almost magical..there were fine lifting performances..nice people, and a perfect day for the contest.
Pictures and more, ARE NOW at my Power update site (link is in my previous report below)
The drive down from Vancouver Friday at noon was marred by a 100 minute border wait in the hot sun...good companions like Nancy Carpenter and Jane Smith certainly helped me not be boiling mad at the "Why oh Why" of it all...we cranked Art of Noise and Peter Gunn with Duane Eddy when we finally got moving again...the road down was OK...slow in Everett and then killer awful down 405 thru Bellevue,Renton ...but we finally made it to the weigh in hotel,the Marriott Courtyard....pretty darn good hotel, I was surprised,great air conditioning,but a boiled cabbage smell in the air...well,can't blame that on the hotel..I think the town of Tukwila took off it's shoes,and we were smelling the towns smelly socks...

I weighed in at 300. (I'd been 316 or so when I was hitting those easy 551's in training)
Nancy weighed in 10 under her class limit.

We had a nice casual dinner in their "Charley's" Restaurant...I mighta been back up to 305 by the end of it...
burp !....toot...

During dinner Juana and Francesca came by our table and said the exit to the west Seattle bridge was closed and we'd have to go a makeshift route to the beach...man, what panic--turned out that the exit WAS open for us to get in..but the various websites made it so confusing the true details of the awful roadwork..that half the lifters did wonky re-routes to be on the safe side...

When we met up the next morning,the gals asked how I slept--and I said, "at the least 3 hours --the most maybe 4 and a half hours sleep"...but I coffee'd up..we all three had oatmeal for breakfast and headed to the meet...Jane drove to help me,altho I lived in west Seattle for many years when I was a radio DJ in Seattle,I now find myself just a bit uncomfortable being behind the wheel when driving across bridges..the West Seattle bridge is a piece O' cake but I didn't want to chance yelling, mommy mommy mommy mommy !!! in front of the girls. (of course I did do the drive over it easily on the way home)

The beach weather was glorious...Jane lives in Chilliwack BC and likes it,but the serenity of the beach made her feel like she'd found a bit of heaven...she was scheduled to compete..but a recent tiny operation hadn't healed and she didn't want to chance tearing the stitches and bleeding or having to start the healing process over again..so she decided to help Nancy and me with taking photos, gearing us up and coaching...she was a helpful and fun friend to have along --she wants to do ALKI,both bench n' dead next year ! meanwhile, she is carefully training for the IPF Worlds in a few months (3 lift,masters)

Nancy's flight was first up,about 18 women,starring Ita Pantilat a fantastic lifter for WABDL !--anyway, Nancy had one of the most consistant days ever,beating the WABDL Canadian bench record by 1.1 pounds all her 4 attempts were picture perfect..and she forged new ground..getting nearly 190 pounds on the bar (85kg plus chips)

The other women ranged in age from teens to 68 years old..some fine lifting in the first flight.

2nd flight was where the top men were..many of the WABDL stalwart and faithful were there..Joe Mickelson,James Crawford ( 710 pounds,soon to join the 800 club) and even 15 year olds and special O's--finally it's time for the masters...that would be me and 17 others...I was a cross between a clown and a mad maniac (Blue Meanies from Beatles Yellow Submarine?) --believe me, I am a nice guy and only want to make people laugh, but I get cranky before I get my opener in.

I swear and make faces of disdain,and one second later I'm mister nice guy..damn,It's a wonder Nancy,Bruce, Jane, Jody...all the people who help me at the various meets just don't leave me stuck half way into one of those shirts flailing for help...when the announcer mentioned (just before our flight)that there'd be some special martial arts and kettlebell demonstrations --I took it to mean, right then BEFORE our flight (I was mistaken) I made a total ass of myself by inventing, very loudly,some new OBSCENE words--and making the entire warmup area dip into their pockets for a 'cure tourette's syndrome' donation...luckily those demo's were AFTER our lifting--and they were VERY good too !

Time for me to lift...I get a very few warmups 225X5 315X3 335 X1--shirt, platform 490 UP and good (I see stars) I ask for 523 ...perfect hand off from Joe Gast and lift is good --then I do 534 +1.1 for the chipped record and get a nice 535.1 lift didn't seem too hard...why no 540,551?? well,maybe I'm doing Aberdeen in September,If Jody Cranston is .. I can stretch out the record breaking over time--

plus, if yer' Nancy goes 4 for 4 --ya don't wanna chance missing an attempt in front of the crowd when they've seen your nice 3 for 3--end with a perfect day !

We stayed for the womens deadlift we wanted to see 68 year old Winifred Pristell break the world masters deadlift record, and of course our favorite, Francesca Mangaoang pull some huge record breaking weights...we were NOT disappointed !

Trip back--

bad traffic.. some one else's accident tie up..

AND another nightmarish border line up...we cross the border,after 8:30 and it's RAIN on the Canadian side (how does it know which side to land?) The gals and I,are home safely (Mercedes,fixed and perfect-thanks J.R.) with great memories (except for the road) and 2 more trophies over flowing our premises...check site for pics.
up now...link below--unless of course,you already came from there..

535 WABDL world record@ ALKI

The BIG lift of the day was James Crawford with 710--here he is with 777

I was conservative and popped an easy 535 Pound Bench Press for A WABDL WORLD MASTERS RECORD in the Bench press,My pal Nancy Carpenter got a Canadian National Record of 190 pounds..we both decided to 'chip' our own records....one of the best ever Bull Stewart classics...I had the honor of meeting James Crawford who did a 710 bench--nearly had 777 so close,also I had Joe Gast hand off the bar to me,his help was the reason I wasn't flustered about the lifting ! in our last blog there was a link to the 2005 ALKI report...Joe and his wife are pictured there...in 3 or so days I'll have a more complete report--with pics of James,myself,Joe,Francesca,Nancy,Jane, and lots of fine ALKI atmosphere...that report will be shared between my POWER SITE (link)
and here !

DE on Tuesday before the meet !

Yesterday, I achieved good speed on the light bar for my final workout before ALKI...better speed on the bar and bands than last week...225X4 reps X 4 sets then 245X4 255X4 295X4 and one set of 315X3 WITH purples--good fast sets only 1 min rests and a triple with 345 as the last set..now to rest and focus on good success,altho I'm still a little apprehensive about traffic due to massive construction on I-5 and whether or not the weather will be OK for the beach...so far, forecast for Seattle is cloudy morning sun in the afternoon ---oddly,I'd like to lift in the cool and my pal Nancy would prefer the heat...our lifting times are reverse to that...oh well, Seattle's alki meet is alway a fun one, cuz of the crowd and Bull's team of lifters and helpers...here is a link to one of the previous Beach meets...
CLICK THIS and SCROLL for ALKI 2005
this coming one Saturday is the 11th annual!

A 529 and 540 on Heavy day !

robo benches big at ALKI 2004

The meet is next Saturday ...I needed to see if my new Katana shirt would give me a BIGGER explosive start,so one of the things we needed to do is see how it fit...I had visions of 550-560 going up today...But first, to play it safe I had to see how my year old shirt was 'popping'...after the raw warm ups, I put on the Ol' comfy one ...this is to see what to use for an opening attempt...so I loosened the shirt with 440 --then made an effort to really get
496 --it touched, I got it ....there's an opener !
--then I tried 529 in the same shirt--it touched paused,and went up like it wasn't there...
then 540 --it touched and went up HARD !, but smooth (6 pounds OVER my WABDL World record) so, the old shirt still has some GOOD life in it....

BUT,the greedy one wants BIG numbers, so lets try the shirt that I bought from Ken Anderson at the WABDL Worlds last year.....it fits well --relatively easy to get on, but it does bind me in the spacing of the arms so that I can barely get my arms apart and would be giving NO help to the lift off man....I'd be in the position for a 'nose breaker'...that is too much to risk with just one spotter...so, after setting up and deeming it too dangerous,we abort our attempt at putting on this nuclear slingshot...the only way we could do this is with a team of spotters and higher racks...so, my plan for Seattle??

Open conservatively in the year old Katana (bought from Priscilla's PLgearonline)
get a lift in (496) go for a moderate 2nd attempt (523 529)
go big, 540 for the 3rd attempt (not as big as my previous 551's in training just before Olympia) THEN should that go ( it IS a World record after all)
change into the 'dangerous' shirt and try a 4th attempt of 550 or 562 WITH aforementioned team of helpers ! available at the meet.

In today's workout I later, did some good raw bench presses and some reverse band work--felt strong and focused, need to keep it that way all this week !

I'm still bugged about traffic in the Seattle area,read the WDOT bulletins, due to construction on I-5 it'll be a sea of cars, so safe driving is almost as much in my mind as good lifting !

If you live near Seattle, or better yet, in West Seattle, maybe we'll see you on the beach !

(lifting across from Tully's 9am Saturday 11th Aug.)

BTW --Today, Nancy and Bruce both made big progress in their training with Personal Records in most of their exercises !