Backyard Meet of the Century Write-Up
I got into Sacramento around 11:00pm Friday night. I drove there with my girlfriend and two of my friends from Bakersfield which is about a 4.5 hour drive. We checked in to our rooms and I ate some more food and then went to sleep. I got to the meet around 9:00 am and weighed in. I was 322 with my clothes and shoes on. Lifting started at 10:30 with 4 flights of squats. I can't remember what time benching started, but it was a long wait.
Bench:
My first attempt was 473 which was a meet and gym PR for me. It felt pretty solid so I went for 501 on my second, which also went up pretty fast. I thought I only had another 5-10 lbs in me for my third attempt, but I was talked into going for 523 which ended up being a good choice. I think I brought the weight out a little too far because it was pretty shaky going down, but it went up without a problem. This was a HUGE PR for me, and it really upped my confidence in my benching abilities.
I'm not sure why, but my body cramped up really bad after benching, especially my back. Between Friday and Saturday I consumed close to 1.5 gallons of Gatorade and 6 bananas, so the cramping was kind of confusing to me.
Deadlifts:
Warm-ups for deadlifts went pretty well. My speed felt like it was there and my lockouts felt strong. My abs were cramping up any time I adjusted my belt, though. Warming up with all of those amazing lifters was definitely one of the coolest lifting moments I've ever had.
I opened with 804, which felt pretty good. I wanted to end up with a PR so I went for 859 on my second and missed it at lockout. I tried it again on my third, and this time Vince Urbank slapped the **** out of my back right before I lifted so I was sure the weight would go up, but it didn't lol.
Even though my deadlifts didn't go as planned, this was still the best lifting experience I've ever had. I really can't say enough nice things about all of the lifters I met on Saturday. Dan Green sat down and talked about his training with me and answered a bunch of my questions. Vince Urbank and Lindsey were extremely helpful and gave me a lot of advice on how to help the lockout on my pull. The entire Lilliebridge family was unbelievably nice. Ernie Sr helped me a ton in warmups and with choosing my attempts, all while handling his sons and lifting himself. It was unreal how cool that guy was. I've known Eric a while through messaging, but this was my first time meeting him in person. He was by far one of the friendliest guys I've ever met, even outside of powerlifting. Super helpful and supportive. Ernie Jr was just as cool, too. I hung out with Pete and Chris for a while, both really cool and really down-to-earth guys. I got some bench advice from Eric Spoto. That was pretty sweet lol. I spent a lot of the day hanging out with George. He's one of the most awesome guys I've ever met. Brandon Lilly was unreal cool. I've followed him for a while through his articles and blogs and am a big fan of his approach to training and life so it was definitely an honor meeting him and lifting on the same platform as him.
I probably sound like a 14 year old girl who just got back stage passes to Justin Bieber, but this whole thing was really cool. I've looked up to a lot of these guys so being able to actually lift with them was a surreal experience. After the meet Stan took us all to dinner, which was pretty damn cool lol.
A big thanks to Mark, Creed, Stan, and everyone else involved for putting this together. I hope I get a change to be part of the next one.
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I didn't get videos of my lifts.
Oh, and on a side-note I got an email today confirming my sponsorship from Universal Nutrition. It feels like Christmas lol.