Dwayne's Journey to his First Powerlifting Meet - Team Franco Bodybuilding Forum: Competition and Fitness Board

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

RE: Dwayne's Journey to his First Powerlifting Meet

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

Meet Report:

Woke up around 7a.m. Got out the house around 7:45 a.m. Then got to the venue quarter after 8 a.m. I weighed in 260 on the dot and was in the open raw 275 lb class 2nd flight. They asked my opener and I told them 345 lbs as my coach had advised me to do.

My wife had brought me some breakfast but I was too nervous to eat. I had about two bites a cup of coffee and that was it. The rules meeting started at 9 and then they told the squatters to start warming up. My nerves began to flair as the movement in the warm up room gradually increased. I called up my friends and family that were going to attend with an estimated time that I was going on. I also called my coach and left a message since he didn't pick up.

The squats were coming to a close on the third round and the first flight of benchers were going up. I called my coach again and then remembered that he responded to texts faster. Well he got the text and he was caught off-guard because he though for a "national" show there'd be a lot more lifters...but there weren't. We came to a resolution that no matter what he did at that point, he wouldn't be able to make it on time. So he advised me to make conservative jumps on my attempts. I was kind of bummed that he didn't make it. The good news was that this conversation proved to be enough of a distraction that my nerves had calmed.

In the warm up room, I talked with the guy who was going to end up winning best lifter for bench. His name was Pedro. We were warming up "together" (not really since he ended up benching 560). It was good to have someone to help me out backstage. At around the same time, I introduced myself to WNBF Pro Bodybuilder, Vince Wood, who was deadlifting and benching in this meet. I was quickly getting very comfortable. Unfortunately, my warm up took longer than it should have and when I finished it (doing 315X1) I had to go on in about 5 seconds. So the nerves came back fast!

The good news is that I smoked the crap out of 345. It felt like it was going to fly out of my hands. If I had more experience I would have jumped to 365 right away or at least 360..but I went conservative and only went for 355 on my next attempt. I figured +10lbs would be a safe bet...and it was. That one flew up just as fast as the first. So, finally I attempted 365 (another 10lb jump). This one was a challenge a little at the lockout but I definitely left a lot on the bar at this meet. It was a good 1st meet for me though as I won 1st place in the 275 open raw class.

Some of the best lifts in the meet were a 625 raw squat in the 242 class, 560 raw bench in the super heavy class, 725 raw deadlift in the 242 class. Very inspiring stuff!

Here is a video from Beyond Nutrition's youtube page:

winflex · Beyond Nutrition Sponsored Athlete

So I decided to take tonight off from training. Normally it would be a benching/accessories night but there were a few things that were of higher importance tonight that needed taken care of. I had to go grocery shopping for the fam since I slacked on that this weekend AND I went to go get my second opinion about my knee (which is actually feeling a whole lot better). The good thing was that this specialist took his time and did multiple examinations on my knee. He listened to my story and took everything into consideration. It feels good when you pay someone to do their job and they do a good job. We went over the x-ray, and he went over the report with me and assured me that I do not have bad arthritis. He also pointed out my fabella and that the Osgood Schlatter lesion that I had when I was a kid never fused completely. He also pointed out that all of these things have nothing to do with the pain that I had been experiencing. In fact, he said that I just have a healthy knee with a few imperfections but that no one is perfect. The summary of my Xray report actually said that there were no significant findings.

Based on the physical exam he did on my knee, he concluded that I naturally have laxity in my ligaments. He even showed me that I display double jointedness in my thumb and fingers. Its genetic. Once he said that, I felt he landed on something I never thought about. My younger brother is extremely double jointed and has rheumatoid arthritis. I don't have the latter thank goodness but the laxity could have led to the discomfort I felt a few weeks ago. Something could have just "slipped" out of place temporarily.

He also pointed out that the "outer" thigh muscles are overpowering my VMO. He suggested some exercises and gave me a script for PT...which I'll try this time because he seemed like he actually cared.

There were some obvious things he pointed out (like my flat-footed-ness and low flexibility which I feel I was born with) but at least he was telling me what he saw.

All in all a much better opinion this time and I feel I can start to move forward.

Time to start a new log....

jenscats5 · The Truth!

Congrats on the meet Dwayne! Nice video - you really did those lifts perfectly. And that's also good news on the knee.....