May Challenge Results



Results are in. The top 5s are:

Women [135# squat/95# bench/135# deadlift]
Kate W. (126 total reps)
Jenny L. (124)
Mary P. (98)
Robbie (96)
Amanda C. (90)

Tanks [315# squat, bench, deadlift]
Shon P. (76)
vandy676 (54)
powerlifter54 (50)
Gant (44)
Captain Ronn (36)

Open [225# squat, bench, deadlift]
Levi (98)
Quadzilla (93)
Buddy Holly (75)
elijah (70)
Drew0786 (69)

I took results from everywhere I could find them. Most were in the Challenge thread, but there were a few strays, including a couple friends that posted on my Facebook page.

I have attached a spreadsheet with the results of the May Challenge. The first page is the absolute rankings in each division. The next two pages are ranked by weight class (I used PL classes just because).

The results are interesting. The women up at CrossFit Works killed this thing, which is to be expected given their high rep, high volume training with the weights used here. I don’t know Levi’s or Quadzilla’s training background, but they outpaced the open division by 20 reps. Hopefully they’ll chime in here. As for the tanks, powerlifter54 is a very accomplished powerlifter (and a great source of lifting knowledge) who did this during a light week in preparation for a Navy fitness test. I don’t know anything about vandy676 other than he is a large man. Shon P. (I estimated his weight) is a friend of mine who I asked to do this. He ran away with the tank division. I’ll profile him next week, but I’ll leave it to you to guess his training background in the comments.

Thanks again to everyone who participated. Enjoy your June and look for more silliness in July.

PS If anyone can tell me how to attach an spreadsheet to WordPress, I’d be glad to do it.

Kendrick Brings Back Gold

PR Friday
Post your PR’s to comments.

Kendrick Farris, an 85 kg American lifter, won a gold medal at the Pan-American Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala. He hit a 159kg snatch and a 203kg clean and jerk that broke his own American record. Kendrick aims to win a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic games, and the hype is big since it’s been a while since American lifters did much in international competition. Farris’ Pan-Am total (362kg) was an improvement over the 358kg total he posted at this year’s Arnold Classic.
(not really impressed with the announcer in this video)



Kendrick went for 211 kilos on his third attempt, but apparently barely missed the jerk. It’s a bummer because he has made this lift in training as well as cleaning 218 (which would be a world record in the 85kg weight class) and barely missing the jerk. See the videos below.





You’ll notice that he squats his jerks, which is pretty damn impressive. Familiarize yourself with him now so that we can all root for him to make history in London in 2012.
Congratulations to two other American lifters who medaled at the Pan-Ams; Sarah Robles won silver in the 75+ class, and Donny Shankle won bronze in the 105 class.
Edit: Pat Judge won a bronze medal in the 105+ class. Sorry to leave you out, Pat. He missed a 218kg clean and jerk to win gold.

See the USA Weightlifting website for the results of other American lifters at the Pan-Ams.

Congrats — With Another Update

You may remember my post on The Killustrator. Well, he’s got some pretty sweet posters, shirts, and pictures. If you buy anything on Killustrated.com and enter the code “70BG”, you can get a 10% discount on orders over $25. That should help you save some doll hairs while getting the newly available shirt, “My bar is my therapist” (pictured below).

The fan favorite shirt is now available

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Congratulations to Colin from Denton, TX for winning the Mustache’s of May contest. You all may know him as…# 11.



June’s picture contest will be “Best Before And After”. If you found the site when you were skinny, well, you shouldn’t be skinny anymore. We’d like to hear about (and see) your improvements. You can submit pictures to 70sBig@gmail.com for this contest. Thanks for all the mustache dudes for participating, and I want to sincerely apologize to Frankie for him not getting voted into the finals. That was a solid handlebar.

I’ll put a new sticky up for June, and Gant will probably have a new challenge ready.

There won’t be a June Challenge because I don’t want to interrupt training two months in a row. We’ll reconvene in July. In the meantime, keep the grill hot and the beer cold. If you’re not the designated kid-thrower at pool parties, you’ve done something wrong. -Gant

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I love this video of Ricky Bruch. I just thought you all would need to see it again.

A Tale Worth Telling

This e-mail from Jacob was so good, I wanted to post it before congratulating the Mustache May winner. Jacob is one of 70’s Big most regular, amusing, and snarky commentors. No further introduction is necessary (I smell a Pulitzer coming).

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Justin,

For the month of May, I have rocked a rockin’ mustache. I thank the 70sbig contest for this. So naturally, I felt it would be only appropriate to go out on the last day of the month and snag some pictures to try and capture the awesomeness that is my ‘stache, and to share them with you. I did not expect to have a story…it just sorta happened. Hope you’re bored.

After a full day of lifting at the gym, setting PRs, and tossing around a few tons of sand and bricks while helping a friend build a patio, I drove over to a buddy’s place. After another quick workout in his garage gym, we grabbed the camera gear out of the truck and I went inside to change. This is when things began to go “wtf.” My phone fell out of my bag of crap, directly into a drainage ditch. This is not cool, because without my phone, I can’t play solitaire between sets at the gym. Naturally, I ripped off the manhole cover, dove in after it, and recovered the stupid thing.


I had to make sure the damn phone worked before I felt it deserved to stay out of the sewers, so I made a few calls to some hot 70sbig-friendly ladies. The phone worked, though I was a little upset none of them answered.


The phone survived the fall, and subsequent recovery, but unfortunately, my evening light was fading quickly. Angry as hell, I decided to toss my truck in the air as a back-off set for my awesome day. Donning my lifting belt and grunting loudly enough to scare the neighbors, I proceeded. Naturally, my roommate grabbed her camera and captured this amazing feat of strength.


My buddy captured this shot as well on another camera.


Satisfied with my conquests, I was much happier. I shared the moment with Floyd, my truck, and it was such a beautiful moment that the skies opened up and photoshopped a photo worthy of a magazine cover as we pondered our next conquests.


I became immensely hungry, and thirsty for beer, so I decided that Floyd and I would go hunt down some grub.


Given our good looks, charm, and my mustache, it should be no surprise that we picked up a little filly to join us. The fact that it was my roommate is immaterial. I insisted on telling her about the time I threw a football “over those mountains.” She was, of course, impressed.


The end. I hope you enjoyed my story, and pictures. I know it’s probably too late for the contest, but I was entertained enough that I thought I’d send these your way. Don’t care if they make it to the site, just have a good laugh, and keep lifting heavy shit. I’m gonna keep rocking this fucking stache, that’s all I know.

Mustache Finals

First, let me give my highlights (refer back to yesterday’s post for image numbers).

2 – Burly, with a hint of suave. Solid background.
4 – Killer ‘stache, killer stare. The thing preventing victory here is a proper outfit.
6 – Quality. Thoughtful. Not so sure the hair had to go.
9 – Work or play, you gotta pick one.
11. Marvelous.
13. This one made me laugh.
14. Not as hard as this one though. I consider 14 to be the dark horse.

Now, it pains me to say, we must have a final vote. I’m taking the top three from yesterday’s votes and having a vote off. Whoever gets the most votes wins.

[poll id=”9″]

6 - After



11



14