Military Nationals were hosted by Willie Mastin at Brooks-City Base in San Antonio, TX on Saturday, March 19th. The meet was run pretty well; everything was efficient and there weren’t significant time delays. 40 lifters were broken down in three flights. The first flight started at 9:15 AM and the last deadlift hit the floor in the third flight around 4:00 PM. As you can see, this medium sized meet still took all day. Last year’s Texas State meet used two competition platforms to accommodate over 100 lifters. USAPL is often criticized online for issues with the implementation of the rules, but there were no problems and only one mis-load on the bar (for an opening bench). The warm-up facilities were above average and weren’t too crowded during the competition (which can get irritating at a bigger meet). In fact, all of us who didn’t compete trained in the facility the day before; the only complain would be the stop sign plates that seem to be prevalent at most military bases.
70’s Big had two lifters competing: Mike and my girlfriend. Together they went 17 of 19 and had four PR’s. Both lifters didn’t have optimal training leading into the event. Mike recently cut weight for a PT test (that didn’t stop him from gaining almost thirty pounds to compete in the 275 class) and my lady had various speed bumps including a week long illness that made her a bit nervous for her first meet. She squatted 160 lbs. on her third attempt (to match the most she’s done in the last six months) and then deadlifted 237 lbs. on her third attempt for a twelve pound PR. Her 490 pound total was shy of the desired 500, but the first meet is about hitting solid lifts, gaining experience, and having a great time.
Mike getting under the bar
Mike had his attempts mentally planned pretty well; I only had to modify them slightly in our discussions leading into this week. His previous meet PR on squat was 529. We opened at a routine 513, hit a 534 PR on the second attempt, and then moved to 551 for a successful third attempt. That’s a 10kg jump from the opener to the second, and then a 7.5kg jump to the third attempt; the jumps weren’t crazy, and the third attempt jump was a smaller increment. Mike came out with a 22 pound (or 10kg) PR on squat.
Brent calls Mike a serial killer
The bench press is Mike’s goat. He has long gorilla arms and, according to Brent, isn’t on enough d-bol (for the record, all of us, including Mike aren’t using drugs — I say this because Mike got drug tested and Brent’s new favorite trolling method is to talk about steroids). Mike’s goal was to finally bench over 300 in competition, and we made good on a 303 lift on the second attempt. Mike was wanting to hit 314 for the third attempt, so I gave it to him. I would have preferred to only make a small jump to 308, but I don’t coach him in training so it’s a little more difficult to gauge how hard a lift is. He barely missed the 314 when the bar drifted towards his face a little. Upon video review, I’d like to see Mike improve his set-up, specifically the upper back musculature. We’ll also address some swollertrophy concerns.
Mike is a pretty good deadlifter; it’s his favorite exercise. He has done well improving his starting position. Mike has long femurs and a short back, so his set-up can get goofy. We took his last warm-up on the platform at 513. 560 was a no-big-deal second attempt; it was an intermediary jump to prep for the 600 third attempt. 272.5 kg is 600.759 pounds, and that’s what Mike wanted to pull; he merely wanted to get 600. Last year at Texas State, I gave Mike a heavier third attempt squat than what we had talked about. He hit it for a good lift, and then when I told him that it was heavier than he thought, he gorilla mauled me in excitement. At military nationals, I took a knee in front of the score table debating whether I should give him the 272.5kg or bump it to a nice, clean looking 275kg (606.2 lbs.). I had confidence that Mike could pull 600, and I thought he would be elated to hear that he pulled more than we talked about. However, if Mike were to miss that third attempt, it would make or break his meet.
I stared at the kilo conversion chart debating for a while. Ah, fuck it, it’s only five pounds. I gave him the 275kg. I was feeling reckless…or as reckless as you can feel by adding five pounds on the bar.
I figured that if he couldn’t pull 606, then he wasn’t gonna pull 600. However, if he missed that lift, he still would have been pissed with me. Mike summoned the demons — Brent’s video commentary says, “As you can see he’s a fucking serial killer,” — and cranked the bar off the floor. He usually has good speed off the floor, but because of his weird body (long femurs, short torso), the lockout is usually a grind. Well, this 606 pull was never in doubt. Mike finished his pull, was issued the down command by the head judge, and then calmly looked to his right and said, “70’s Big,” before carefully placing bar back on the platform. White lights.
2nd attempt, no big deal
Mike PR’d in all three lifts and increased his total from 635kg (1400 pounds) to 662.5kg (1460 pounds) since last year’s Raw Nationals. However, his defining moment was when he was awarded his first place medal while carrying around his own bottled urine for his drug test; Mike held vials of piss in his hairy hands for at least 20 minutes.
Getting a victory medal while holding vials of your own piss? oooKAY
You’ll notice in the video that Brent has some good commentary during Mike’s squats. You’ll also notice that he isn’t commentating during the deadlift. It’s because he left during the bench pressing to take a fucking nap in his car without telling anyone. Yes, the Shrug Thug apparently wasn’t impressed by the prospect of Mike deadlifting and slept through this crucial part of the meet. His traps must have consumed too many calories. Irre-fucking-gardless of Brent’s narcolepsy, I had a great weekend with him, Chris, Alex, and Mike. A 70’s Big hangout is always a telling event.
Throwing in a quick forearm pose while holding vials of urine
If you’d like to share your meet experience, whether it’s your first or you’re a veteran, then shoot me a concise recap with a video or pictures.
“Mike getting under the bar” – man, I would not want that guy on our left spotting me during a squat…
Normally I’d agree, yet those airmen were awaiting to go to INDOC for pararescue in the Air Force. A bar was never dumped on the floor during that meet, and they did a good job.
–Justin
Mike most definitely kills people in his spare time. That gaze is fucking ferocious.
Congrats on the PB’s.
I’m giving neg reps to Brent Kim for leaving his mate at a meet. He wasn’t napping, he was secretly rolling out his fucking T-spine.
Congratulations on the meet!
What were the training session weights and reps the couple weeks leading up to the meet?
What did you eat that day during the down time?
Wheres the video?
Minus 10 for not reading; I said at the very end that the video wasn’t uploading to YouTube with the hotel internet. It’s up now, though.
–Justin
minus 10 for expecting me to read the whole thing, that was like 200 words. Irregardlessy, that video ruled, it was worth my humiliation and anticipation.
“ask me if I need a spot”
Any video of your lady’s lifts? I’d be pretty interested to see how it went… Also I just want to see more spotters in those sweet sweet mil issue shorts ;)
Awesome stuff, but where is the video of your GF lifting?
She doesn’t care to have her stuff up all over the interwebz.
–Justin
The spotters look like they work at an all-male massage parlor.
Again, they are candidates for Pararescue INDOC. Hopefully once they get through INDOC they’ll get some muscle so they can carry packs on deployments. I do want to point out that they did a good job spotting; no bars ended up on the floor all day.
–Justin
+1 on the platform dash. “Get out of his way!!!”
Are there 2 Mikes in the 70s Big crew or something?
Either way, congrats to this Mike, and thanks to him and all the other guys in the military…lifters or not.
This is regular Mike from Texas who trains with Chris. The other Mike is Asian and lives in California.
–Justin
love the intensity, badass. That last deadlift was sick. nice job Mike
The DL pic is only 255kg. And going for 606 was a good choice if only for the fact that it’s a neat 5 red plates.
I didn’t think it was the final attempt, but I had already spent quite a while putting the video, pictures, and post together so I didn’t question the intel or check the plates myself.
–Justin
Johnny Pain woould be proud of all the “Ranger panties” in the building. He says all Greyskull lifters are encouraged to wear those while lifting. I’m not sure if he was joking or not but it doesn’t look like they are to restrictive and would fit the 70’s Big length requirement.
Anybody have any experience with hernias. I noticed tonight that when I arch my back as if to bench I have a ridge down the middle of my abdomen. (down the middle of my sixer if I had one.)Seeing a doc tomorrow just curious what everybody knew. no pain or discomfort of any kind. Hell I could have had it for years as I usually train alone. But today the person I train with was like “what the hell is that”
Congrats on an great meet! Awesome intensity in your lifts…BOOM!
You’re a beast, Mike. Congratulations on the PRs.
“I’d like to see Mike improve his set-up, specifically the upper back musculature. We’ll also address some swollertrophy concerns.”
Justin, can you elaborate further on this?
Thanks
Which part?
–Justin
That last pull was fun to watch; obviously feeling reckless.
Why do you want him to improve his upper back musculature?
What are his swollertrophy concerns and how do you plan on addressing them?
Thanks
Pingback: It is my own. | The Nomad