https://usapl.liftingdatabase.com/lifters-view?id=55690 is my lifters database, as always.
Honestly? I don't even know where to begin with this. The tl;dr version is that the meet went bad, in pretty much any way one can imagine it going bad. I got violently ill, for a good ten days straight, about 6 weeks out from the meet, lost another three weeks recovering, and spent two weeks trying to salvage anything I could before the meet only to break myself in the process.
The lifts. Mind you, the 195kg deadlift may be nsfl, and is definitely nsfw. Unless your co workers are crazy like me.
I chunked the videos in a playlist, here.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB7n-Xr0Uar4
Squats: i skipped these because even something as light as 300lbs in training felt like a house, so i figured i would save the energy for a push/pull.
Bench: 92.5 (good), 105 (miss), 105 (miss)
Bench press started at 92.5kg to get points on the board, and then it just derailed from there. The first miss my ass came up off the bench, so, definitely valid that it was a no go there. The second miss i honestly think was due to bad judging. There were a lot of lifts throughout where the judges were being a lot harsher than i think they needed to be, and not just with me, but in general, it was a very strict meet.
Deadlift: 160kg good, 195kg injury and no lift.
I had already thrown out squats completely, and bench press was a complete mess. My deadlift at 160 felt extremely taxing and heavy, and i figured i had enough energy left for maybe one more attempt. I really wanted to PR this meet so that left me with only one option, to deadlift 195kg, and failed.
The injury
The weight went up easily enough until my bicep tendon snapped completely and i dropped the weight.
Honestly im still rather mad and frustrated with not getting this lift. I think the tear distracted me, and had i been able to mentally push through the idea that the damage was already done, i think i could have gotten the lift.
On the other hand, i also felt the bar slipping well before this happened and probably should have shut it down before tearing anything, but i was pretty much in full competition mode and desperately needing a PR, so digging deep and sending it was the only option.
Training
I have been doing Dan John's easy strength for awhile now. I still think this methodology works pretty well, at least for me. And breaking myself aside, the 195kg attempt was going up smoothly enough that i honestly believe that I have another 15kg in the tank, just waiting to be released.
Essentially, the training is solid, overall. Getting sick set me back quite a bit and i should have throttled back as a result, not forward.
Anyway, Dan John's easy strength is more or less, 3-5 exercises, 3-5 days a week, and no more than ten reps on each exercise each session. The magic is that its the same workout, 3x a week, and the sets can be manipulated to have an easy day (1 set of 10), a medium day, (2 sets of 5), and a hard day (3 sets of 3, with maybe an extra rep in the last set). Very adaptable, and highly mallable to any sport someone might wish tocplay.
Key takeaways
Mixed grip is bad. Or, well, in my case, i used it as a crutch for poor grip strength and paid a hefty price for it. I also check my bicep like 20 times a day to make sure its still intact. That sounds utterly ridiculous but consider that there was remarkably little pain after it happened, even after the shocknand adrenaline wore off. Also make sure you find a competent surgeon and not someone who is just looking to make as much cash as possible.
Time to recover and rebuild and come back stronger than ever in 2028.
