Those lifts looked EASY!
Practice getting your hips lower and under you more when you deadlift, drive with your heals. you are pulling ALL lower back, just using the hips as a hinge, instead of for power. it's obviously working for you so keep up whatever feels comfortable.
Those squats didn't look bad, some FEDS would have passed them, but USPF meets are very strict. you have a TON of lockout power on squats.
I'm very happy for you and truely impressed overall!
That squat suit will add more "fun" to your training!
Now it's time to get ripped!
Good work Champ!
Thanks OL, and thanks SO much for the help you provided me along the way!! You and some of the other guys on this board have been really great, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!
Those DLs were NOT comfortable btw. After my second lift, I was talking to someone about how I really need to try to keep my hips down and use them and my legs more when I lift, and then I got up there for my third lift and completely forgot all of that, and just bent over and picked up the weight with nothing but my back.
I am still feeling it today.
NOW I need to figure out how to structure my training for the BB contest prep and still get some powerlifting work in. I need to start doing lighter weights and higher reps for the most part - work on defining (and minimizing risk for injury) as opposed to mass/strength building right now.
I gotta cut down to one bench/squat/dl workout a week, dedinitely have to add some work on my shoulders, arms, and upper back, and generally restructure things so that I am weight training 5 times a week now with higher volume instead of 3-4 with lower volume. I would like to train back twice a week now because my upper back width is seriously lacking.
My plan is to restructure things for the next 8 weeks, but somehow still manage to train the three big lifts, just not as heavy. Not sure what rep range I am going to work in, or what kinds of exercises I am going to do. (for example, I probably won't do much shirt work for the next 8 weeks, so I am not sure if I am going to keep working board presses and other related exercises.) Then, I will have 3-4 weeks to go really heavy again after the North Americans, and then another 8 weeks of lighter, high volume work before Nationals.
So I am basically looking at 8 weeks light, 4 weeks heavy, 8 weeks light....or something like that.
I'm happy to take suggestions if anyone has any!