ronnybench

2011-09-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

USAPL Push Pull Nationals

Sid
Push Pull Raw Open National Champion 275,s
benched 418
pulled 601 - nervous system shook like the Va earth quake but Sid was strong and held it for 2 white lights. Now that he knows he can do it the weight will start up again.

Sid's hardwork and aquired experience are really paying off. His gains and his meet plans have shown a great deal of growth. He now has two national championship titles to his credit. Raw Bench @242 open in the Charlottesville 2010 USAPL Bench Nationals and Raw Push Pull @275 open in the Zion Crossroads 2011 USAPL Push Pull Nationals. Good work Sid.

Ron
Deadlift Raw Open National Champion UNL
Deadlift Raw 60 to 64 National Champion UNL
Push Pull Raw Open National Champion UNL
Push Pull Raw 60 to 64 National Champion UNL

benched 402
pulled 551

The 402 bench press upped my previous Powerlifting Watch all fed Masters 60 to 69 raw World Record by 6 lbs. I finished both a 407 lb bench and a 564 lb dead, but they were so bad the refs ran out of cards to throw.

2011-08-24T04:53:00.000-07:00

Raw Nationals 2011 Scranton Pennsylvania

396.8 lbs bench press

New USAPL American Record @ SHW 60 to 64 year division

551 lb deadlift New USAPL American Record @SHW 60 to 64 division. The dead lift pushed the total over my ol record so the Total 1372.3 is also a new USAPL American Record @ SHW 60 to 64 division.

2011-02-28T05:04:00.000-08:00

Virginia Open 2-26-2011

BOMB SQUAD

attempts
496
501
501

Touched with all three. Rookie mistake on first, had the straps on my singlet down and had to re-adjust my shirt and belt under the gun. My focus was blown but I still took it to the transition.
Second one flew off my chest but stalled at lock out

Third one went a little low but I still got if off my chest, however Jim Pope told me my feet were dancing like mad. I couldn't lock out. The only problem I could see was that the competition bench is a little taller than the one at the gym. When I clenched my butt cheeks my feet came off the floor to where they barely touched and I lost any arch I had and my ability to drive with my legs. I am pretty sure this made the difference in not being able to lock out. I still have until December to make this lift and be the first American over 60 to bench press over 500. Greg Chrun will turn 60 then and probably go over 550. I will have to try the short blocks if my weight stays where it is.

2010-09-13T05:58:00.000-07:00

The 25th Virginia State Powerlifting Championships @ Zions Cross Roads Va.

September 11, 2010

This meet was dedicated to the memory of Will Morris. We started out with the Pledge of allegiance, in rememberence of 9/11/2001.

Had about 65 lifters. John Shifflett ran two platforms and had plenty of help. The meet started a little late but ended way earlier than any state meet I have particioated in before. Even after the extra hour for drug testing my wife was really pleased that it was only 3:00pm.

Because there were no previous records at RAW 60 to 64 ( M3b) SHW, all of my lifts would be American record attempts. This would require national refs in the chairs when I lifted. John has always seen to it that he had the correct referees for setting national records. My goal was to go 9 for 9 and set the records high.

I opened in the squat with 408. This is what I finished with is St. Louis 2 years ago. I went to 424 for my second attempt. This is what I finished with in Charlottesville last year. I finished up with 451 a 27 pound PR. All three lifts were good

I opened in the bench with 362. This is an easy weight for me, but because I had been training with a shirt the last 8 months for bench nationals my raw bench has slipped a little. After making the lift I went up to 369 and then 380. The 385 is 5 pounds off my previous PR but I missed 385 in the gym the past two weeks. All three lifts were good.

6 for 6 all white lights goin into the deadlift.

I opened with 501. I then went to 518 where I finshed in Charlottesville last year. I finished with an easy 530.

9 for 9, 27 white lights with a 1360 total. A great day, next time I shoot to break 1400.

2010-08-31T12:09:00.000-07:00

2010 Bench Press Nationals - Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Charlottesville Double Tree hotel is only a 90 minute easy and scenic drive from my home in Manassas. Pat and I and my neighbor Sid Zullinger who is one of my lifting partners left Manassas about 6:30pm Friday nigtht. We stopped at Popeyes with the two for one coupon and picked up 22 pieces of chicken. YUM! We arrived at the Hotel and where greeted by John Shifflett right at the front door. There were old friends scattered about like decorations on Christmas. It was just like we left home but came home at the same time just in time for a Holiday.

This meet had a whole different feel and flavor for me than past nationals. As I said it was like being home with family. I had friends every where and workout partners lifting in every session.

Leigh haines and Paulett Calhoun lifted in the first session. Leigh had successful lifts on her first and third attemps taking a silver in the open and a gold in the masters. Paulette was successful on her first and second attemps and took the gold in the masters.

Demetrius Maoury, a long time friend and bench press lifting partner was in the second session. He brought a brand new shirt, right out of the plastic bag, to the meet. I think that this is always a mistake and have expressed this opinion in the past. D has a better wilks score than I do, so tends to do what he thinks is best for him. On his first lift he touched right about at his belly button but pushed it back up to lockout and three red lights. I recommended that he raise the weigth and pull the shirt up into his arm pits. We both know that to do the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is not sane. He went out for his second lift and touched legal but couldn't lock it out. We tightened it up a little for his third but he was out of gas. I know Demetrius was disappointed but with the Super Katana their is a very narrow range between touching and locking out. I also suffered later from this parameter.

Sunday morning was Sid"s turn on the platform. Once we established that he was 27 not 57 and that he was lifting raw we were ready to go. I updated Miguel Ruien with the changes because his lifter was the competition. It was a battle from the beginning but Sid took the lead and kept it. By the end of the flight we were all out of attempt cards from the changes but Sid proudly walked away as the 242 Raw Open National Champion.

Ron Beuch, Sid Zullinger, John Shifflett

It was my turn. After a strong warm up I went out with my World Record opener. I brought the bar down and just as I touched my wrists rolled forward. I let the spotters take it without trying to press it up. My second attemp was my best shot. It touched good, went up strong but my right arm would not lock out. Friends watching on streaming thought the lift was good because it was that close. But I knew it was not locked out. My third attempt was pretty much like the second only slower and the right arm not locking out was more obvious. Bomb Squad!

It was interesting the things people said to me before my third lift trying to get me motivated. This kind of stuff does not work with me. I am 100% all the time during a competition. If I miss a lift it is because I was not prepared or have not trained hard enough for the meet, not because I gave less than 100%. However, I did really appreciate all the help and encouragement. My friend Kevin Hutchison asked Pat if it would help if he slapped my face hard, Pat correctly informed him that this would not be a good idea.

Kevin Hutchison holding a sign that says "I have always beat Ron at a bench contest" this has been true for seven years. My only redemption is that he has never beat me in a full power meet.

Even though I did not accomplish my goal, this meet was one of the most enjoyable I have been to. It is to the credit of the Va powerlifting community and John Shifflett that this is so. I don't think I will have another shot at that record though, because Super Heavy Weight is just so physically uncomfortable that I have already lost 7 pounds. I may just get down to 275's by the State meet.

Demetrius Maoury, Leigh Haines, Sid Zullinger, Ron Beuch

2010-04-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

2010 IPF Bench Press Worlds - Orlando Florida April 3, 2010

205 Kilos / 451 pounds @ M3 125 Kilos / 275pounds

Gold Medal!!

The Dane and the Frenchman both moved up to my weight class after seeing the weights posted for nominations. Hmm.. they got a little surprise. My nomination weight was my raw opener at nationals.

Here is a little movie I made.

2010-01-29T18:05:00.000-08:00

Will Morris - Rest In Peace
January 29, 1944 - January 28, 2010

Bill Helmich, Rob Grisham, Mike Bridges, Will Morris, Harry Heyman

Will asked me to take this picture in Milwaukee at the 2007 Masters Nationals

Four IPF Master World Champions welcoming the Kid (Mike) to his first Masters Meet.

2009-11-11T06:18:00.000-08:00

Lt. Col. William R. Beuch United States Army Reserve

In rememberance of my father on Veterans Day

My dad was born in 1925 in Spokane Washington. He married my mom in 1944 which effectively ended his short football career at the University Washington. He was in night classes and was enrolled in ROTC when his country called him to duty. He shipped of to Korea as a Second Lieutenant in the infantry. Dad was in Korea a short time when a closed trench he was in took a direct hit from an enemy mortar. Dad had shrapnel all up his legs and into his back. Because it was a back injury they hung the stretcher upside down on the medivac chopper and took off. It was at this time that dad watched an enemy rifleman shoot the chopper down. It was not dad’s time to go. He received two purple hearts and went on to serve another 22 years on active duty.

In 1954 dad completed his courses in Romanian at the Army foreign language school and we moved to Frankfurt, Germany. Dad was stationed at Camp King but spent most his time elsewhere. We had a lot of stuff from Turkey so you can make some basic assumptions.

In 1958 we moved to Ft. Sill Oklahoma, where dad went to artillery school and then served as a battery commander. It was known as Air defense by then and included nuke capabilities.

In 1962 dad went to S. Vietnam with the first 200 American army advisors in country.
He earned a Bronze Star and the Air medal while there.

Dad came home in 1963 and the family was posted to Ft Riley, Kansas while dad went to Commanding General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas and finished earning his college degree at the University of Omaha. In 1964, after graduating second in his class at the Commanding General Staff College, we moved to Virginia and dad started to work at the Defense Intelligence Agency. For the rest of the war dad weekly and often daily met with the Joint Chiefs to brief them. When dad retired from the Army he went right back to work at the DIA. After eight or ten years there he retired again and went directly to work for SAIC.

When dad finally retired for good, he and my mom moved back to Oklahoma. They liked the people in Oklahoma and the cost of living made it a great place to retire. Two of my brothers lived in OK City at the time and that made it even better.

In 1994 my dad went into the hospital to have a kidney removed that he had injured playing football so long ago. While in the hospital he contracted a MRSA infection that succeeded in doing what the communist could not do for so many years. He rests in peace in the Old Post Cemetary at FT. Sill where some legendary native Americans, such as Quannah Parker and Geronimo had been interred. Geronimo’s grave was moved from Old Post out to the Wichita National Wildlife Range to prevent desecration by tourists.

My dad started his military career fighting the communists and lived to see the Berlin Wall come down. That’s a hell of a ride. I will always be proud of him and hope he would have been proud of me today.

God Bless you dad, and God bless all the Americans that have served our country, and God Bless The United States of America.

2009-11-11T04:49:00.000-08:00

2009 100% Raw Federation Single Lift* World Championships!! November 7th and 8th

*This means that each type of lift is a championship contest. You still get three attempts at the lift.

Three of us from Fitness 19 in Manassas traveled to Norfolk Virginia for the event.
Mike Richards bench press and dead lift: open and 25-29 @ 198
Sid Zullinger bench press and dead lift: open @ 242
Ron Beuch (that’s me!) bench press and dead lift: 55-59 @275

All three of us lifted on Sunday the 8th. It was a little unusual. Usually the lighter weight classes say 198’s and 242’s will lift in the first session and the 275’s and the SHW will lift in the afternoon session. Because Mike was lifting 198 Sid and I went down for the technical meeting and the morning session. Much to our surprise there was only one session starting with four flights of bench press. The flights were not divided by age groups but by some formula known only by Paul Bossi. Mike was in the second flight opening fifth and Sid and I were in the third flight opening second.

I lifted off for Mike and he later lifted off for Sid and me. We all went 2 for 3 missing on our last lifts .I believe Mike scored gold for both the open and the 25-29 with a 347lb bench press, Sid scored 3rd in the open with a 363lb bench press. I scored gold with a 386lb world record bench press. I brought the 402 down a little low on my chest and could not get under it stalling at the transition.

386lb world record bench press

There were three flights of dead lifts after a flight of strict curlers. Paul Bossi wanted to finish with the big dead lifts and a cheering crowd. Sid and Mike were in the second flight and I was in the third flight with the big boys. Mike pulled 507 on his second lift for the gold in both the open and the 25-28. Sid opened with an easy 507, went to another easy lift of 546, then put it all on the line with a 567. He walked away with the Open Gold. The third flight was the last flight of the day. Ed, the guy lifting first was 60+ and opening with a world record. I of course am 59 with a birthday in two months. I was second and opening with a world record. The rest of the flight were 600lb and 700 lb dead lifters. Ed and I went 4 for 4, all world records, so he and I finished off the meet with my last world record dead lift of 540lbs as the last lift of the day. The crowd loved us and we loved them.

540lb world record dead lift

2009-09-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

Bench Press Nationals 2009 Cleveland Ohio

Friday, 9/11 (God Bless the United States of America)

Pat and I left Manassas Va. at about 9:30 am. Garmen routed us west through Winchester and into West Virginia. We traveled past Eddie’s Tires “they’s good for the money” into Berkeley Springs then up to Breezewood PA. passing Phantom Fireworks on the way.

Now let me tell you, for white knuckle driving of the worst sort, poor cracked concrete paving, constant construction, narrow lanes and basic non-driving truckers, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is the place to be. Yes sir, this piece of America’s interstate road system has not changed since the last time I drove it from Philly to Pittsburgh in the early 70’s. They just move the Jersey wall barricades from one side of the road to the other, repaint the center line on a new track and lay down a new uneven lane of asphalt, collect tolls for six months and repeat.

Once past Pittsburgh it is a very short distance to the flatlands and Ohio. We rolled into Cleveland just after 4:00pm. The Cleveland Renaissance Hotel is pretty spectacular, and nearly impossible to get into or out of with luggage. After negotiating a series of elevators, stairways and escalators we were finally checked in and were ready to explore the venue.

Now the ritual begins:
“Hey big man, what’s happening?”
“Same ole stuff, you’re looking strong”
“How’s the training going”
“Hurt my wrist two weeks ago”
“Want to get something to eat”
“Oh I can’t man, I’m 4 lbs over”
“You seen Klinger?, I hear he’s going 750.”
“No man, but I saw Horace Lane, Wow”
Etc. etc. etc………

The hotel restaurant, the Sans Souci, is rated in the top 100 in the country, so Pat and I went there with Fran Houston, Deb Dufy-smet, and Ivan and Wanda Zwick. The seafood was delicious. The girls were lifting in the morning and I was going to be helping a number of them so it was early to bed.

Sat, Sept. 12,

Hit the warm up room at 8:00am. My Sunday lifting partner, Leigh Haines, was fourth in the first flight. Leigh dropped 10 pounds in the two weeks before the meet. At 123, that’s almost 10% of her total weight. Consequently the shirt she had been training in was way to loose. I explained that because of the loss of muscle mass combined with the altered fit, I could not see her making a lift in that shirt. Therefore, after warming up we squeezed her into a much tighter shirt she had in stock. She was very anxious; this was the tightest shirt she had ever lifted in. I refreshed what we had been practicing, which was, pull the bar down and inhale deeply bringing the chest up to meet it. This would prevent the bar from following its own course out of the groove to the belly. This would load the bar even more and hopefully provide the momentum to get to lockout without the strength lost from dieting down.

I handed her off to her husband Allen and took her two boys out front to watch her opening attempt. Three whites! She just didn’t have the triceps left for the next two attempts. I keep telling her that she either has to stay at 123 or lift at what she normally weighs, because the extreme weight loss is decimating her awesome power. She still took silver and achieved her main goal of qualifying for the Master Worlds in Orlando.

In the next flight I was handling my very good friends Paulette Calhoun and Holly Oxford. You could not ask for two more compliant world champions. By this I mean to say that they will take your instruction and run with it. Paulette was on fire. She cranked the first two attempts out like a machine. Her third was a PR attempt but she just couldn’t lock out the weak side. She took first in three divisions and secured her spot on the world team.

Holly and Fran joined the bomb squad. I am a charter member with multiple service pins. There is no bright side to being in this predicament. If you look at it with an open mind and the intent to learn from it you can glean some very valuable information. Here are my thoughts on why these two world champions did not get a lift in. Holly suffered a wrist injury recently that held her training back just enough physically and also mentally to keep her from maxing out her lock outs. Fran, though she will disagree, uses a shirt that has no pop left in the material. You can tighten it up until it squeaks but it won’t give her the explosion off the chest necessary to take it through to lock out. If she continues to use it she will need to work her triceps considerably harder than she presently works them.

My old work out partner Dr Demetrius Maoury was in the last flight of the first session. I wanted to be there to help him out as well. Pat and I went to lunch with about an hour and a half to go before Demetrius would lift. We waited and waited for our lunch. By the time I finished it was very late and I left Pat at the restaurant and returned to the back room. I found Demetrius at the water fountain putting water on the sleeves of his bench shirt. Apparently he had made an error when he had the shirt custom made. He had them shorten the sleeves two inches but did not request to have them tapered. When he brought the weight down the sleeves would slide up and release the shirt front panel. He thought he could make the sleeves stick by wetting them. I explained that people loosened the chest panel by spraying water on it, so he was probably aggravating the situation. The mechanics of the shirt just were not working. I had him take the shirt off. I then rubbed his arms and shoulders with chalk and then replaced the shirt. This helped a lot but by then he was fairly fried and unable to get a lift in. Demetrius has developed a very unusual set up in the time that he has trained alone. I need to get back with him and straighten this out. I think he may be ready to listen. If he is, I think I can help him reach his potential which is incredible if he can bring it all together.

Because I was lifting the next day I had to take the rest of the day off and return to the room where I could kick back and watch TV. I went back down at 5:30pm for early equipment check. There was a big party for those who had lifted and those young enough to handle it at the Cadillac Ranch. Pat and I returned to the Sana Souci for dinner and then called it a day.

Sun, Sept. 13,

The Browns were playing Minnesota at Cleveland Stadium so the hotel was full of people in purple jerseys with blond braids wearing Viking helmets. They had partied their way through the night in the halls and rooms on either side of us. About 3am it sounded like someone knocked over the TV console/armoire in the room above us. I stayed in bed until around 8:00am which is like sleeping in for me since I usually arise at 4:30am on work days.

I weighed in at noon and hung out in the back room. I needed to clarify some information that would affect my lifting plan. My original plan was to open at 468, go up to 485, and then try 496 for a new national record. However, I found out from Dan Gaudreau, who coaches the US masters national bench team, that my lifts at Raw Nationals were not qualifiers for the team but that my lifts this day would be qualifiers for the M3 (60-69) spot. So I changed up my plan and decided to open raw with enough weight to secure the automatic position on the national team going to Worlds in Orlando next spring. You see I was lifting in the 55-59 division but I will be 60 in January. Anyway, I put up 165 kilos (364 lbs) raw, which was what I needed to secure the spot.

I went with the 212.5/468 for my second attempt. It pulled it down but it still slipped to my belly at the bottom. I pressed it up but the head judge had the spotters take it because it was already three reds for the touch.

I knew I needed more weight to touch so there was no question about repeating the weight. I then had a choice. Go to 220/485 which I had made in the gym or give the record a shot. You know me. I gave the record a shot, 225/496. I pulled it right to the spot and it blew off my chest. I took it almost to lock out when it stopped. I gave it a big push but it double pumped on me and the spotters took it.

I have a theory about this situation. I did not train much shirt this cycle and I think that when you really explode and are not used to it you are so surprised by how fast it is moving that you miss the follow through. By the time you regroup you have bumped the bar. This is where the intermediate lift with the shirt may have helped to get the last lift. So, I ended with a spot on the national team going to Worlds in Orlando and second in the 55-59 275 class.

If you read this far you may have noticed a similarity in all the missed and/or unfinished lifts. There were problems with the gear. The gear was too tight, the gear was too loose, the gear had no pop, etc. etc…. A weight difference of a few pouinds will affect the mechanics of the shirt. How many lifts you have made in the shirt will affect the mechanics of the shirt. Washing the shirt will affect the mechanics of the shirt. How the shirt is seated will affect the mechanics of the shirt. I have not made a successful lift in a bench shirt since Nov. 17, 2007. Watching the videos of my meet lifts I can see that I am not really in control of the weight. I do not train regularly with the shirt any more. This is due to the number of training partners who lift in a shirt and/or can help with the weights I use when benching with a shirt. I will be looking to rectify this in the near future or I will be benching Raw from here on out.

2009-08-31T04:03:00.000-07:00

Last heavy workout before Bench Nationals:

Hit the raw work out pretty heavy before going to the shirt. Went
5x315
3x365
2x385 thats a PR
407 (collars weigh 1 lb each)

Put the shirt on and hit 455 easy then went to 485. Hit the rack on the first try. I tightened the shirt up a little then put this one up.

Felt very good about the results. I will do heavy decline on Tuesday and my opener next Sunday and that will be it for training.

2009-08-24T05:09:00.000-07:00

Two more work outs until Bench nationals!

Today was the second bench work out since dropping the weight on my chest. I was OK with it but not too impressed with the shirted lifts.

Had to pull some spotters in from the Sunday morning "crowd". This is a pet peeve of mine since I started lifting with gear 5 years ago. I am a regular lifting buddy. This means I show up regularly week in and week out. I help out my lifting partners with advice, spots, and usually some free equipment. So three weeks before a national championship I would think they could return the favor and show up for the work outs. But then I am probably too hard on people and expect too much from them. That is what my boss tells me at work when I complain about the help, of course he says this as he piles more and more work on me from his plate.

Anyway, Sid and Leigh (who are reliable lifting partners)) and I worked shirts on Sunday. Unfortunately the vids of my lifts had problems and were unusable for review. Sid did however get some good vids of Leigh.

Here is a good one of her getting a double at 190

and here is her last lift at 190

Leigh did a total of 6 lifts counting the double @190, this is really good work.

2009-08-17T04:32:00.000-07:00

First workout after dropping 225 on my chest!

Very anxious about today's workout after the mishap last Sunday and then how things felt on Tuesday.

I warmed up in the usual manner going to 365 before putting on the shirt. I had Leigh take video of my head to see if and when my head came up.

I started with 435. This went fast and smooth, however just before touching my head came off the bench.

I took about a minute to rest and then tried it again. This time I tilted my head back and looked up and back just like when I am squatting. My head stayed firmly on bench but the bar touched a little low.

Loaded 465 and used the same technique. My head and shoulders raised up a little at the bottom but my head never left the bench. The bar touched well and the weight fired of my chest and locked out easy.

All In all I am very happy with the work out. I am confident that I can lift in Cleveland next month and keep my head on the bench. I am confident that I am capable of lifting enough to take the 55-59 275 class.

My chest was tight and sore this morning but that was to be expected. I am sure that it will recover more every day and my potential will not be diminished.

Notice that I talk about capabilities and potentials. Nothing is ever assured in a contest.

2009-08-12T05:52:00.000-07:00

Four more weeks to Bench Press Nationals in Cleveland!!

Training has been going extremely well in the bench press. I have always said that when things look good for a long stretch that you should be careful and keep an eye behind you for a smack in the back of the head. Sunday I smacked my self in the back of the head (figuratively). I was into my second set of warm ups which were close grips at 225. On the third rep I hit the hook on the rack. The bar rolled out of my hand and fell from arms length onto my chest. It hit squarley just above the zyphoid process. It actually hit my chest before I even new I had lost it. I was surprised to say the least and had the wind knocked out of me. I rolled the bar down to my stomach and a couple of gym rats picked it up and put it in the rack. I was quite embarrassed and felt foolish to say the least. I continued on with my work out doing wide grips at 275, 315, and 365.

I put my shirt on at that time and did one at 425. Then I went for two at 425. These went well so I did another double at 425. I bumped the weight up to 455 and tried one. I could not arch and breath at the same time so my head came off the bench and I called it a day.

By Sunday night my chest was very tight and taking deep breaths was difficult. I do not think any ribs were broken or cracked because I could sleep on my sides and back without pain. I figured Monday and Tuesday would be worse. However the soreness has receded each day and my breathing is almost back to normal. I hope I will be able to bench in the shirt again this Sunday.

I have been taking ATP since Sunday. That is adenosine triphosphate which is the substance your body creates when you take creatine and is considered the building block of cell structure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine_triphosphate
Of course my weight jumped up about three pounds to 275 but this will drop when I stop taking the ATP (Same as Creatine)

I also upped the amount of resveratol I normally take.
resveratrol 60 minutes with mike wallace 1 of 2, health benefits
I noted on the supplement store sites that this is a big ingredient in the supplements they market to juicers to repair the damage they have done to themselves while taking anabolic steroids. I figure if it can repair that kind of damage that it ought to be good to go for simple trauma.

Keeping my fingers crossed and hope to still compete in Cleveland, but if I cant I will still go to see and help out my bench pressing family.

I am going to be 60 this January so I cannot make the masters world team with an automatic by winning the ten year class. That is not likely anyway since Brad Klinger is in the 10 year class. So are a bunch of other potentially great lifters. However I am hoping to make a good enough impression to be invited to lift in the 60 to 69 M3 division. I have been training very intensely to give my good friend "Hutch" one last run for the money in the 50 to 59. I put up a bigger weight than he did last year but was red lighted for numerous infractions. 1. Head off bench 2. Rings not covered completely 3. Too sexy and too handsome to be 59 4. Too intelligent 5. Too bald and on and on. I hope "Hutch" is recovered enough to compete after the gall bladder surgery that kept him out of the New Zealand meet.

2009-07-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

USAPL Raw Nationals Results:

Well the new kid (Brad Phillips 55 years old) out of Maryland handed me my butt in the squat and the dead lift on Sunday in Charlottesville. Despite the fact that I had PRs and new state records in all three lifts and total. The 385 bench press is a new National meet and American record as well. So I was second out of two with a banner day of lifting. Its ironic, if that is the correct use of the word, because in 2004 I won gold lifting equipped at masters nationals with a 585 kilo total. Sunday, five years later I beat that with a 600 kilo total lifting raw, but only placed second.

This is my 424 lb squat, 16 pounds over last year.

This is my 385 lb bench press also 16 lbs over last year

this is my 512 lb dead lift also 16 lbs over last year,

The meet was a great deal of fun. A very good job by John Shifflett and Willie Morris. Unfortunately it looks like Willie might have broken his hand when a lifter dumped the bar on the spotters. This is major breach of protocol/ethics/intelligence whatever you call it. Never dump the bar off on the spotters. You will not likely save yourself any more injury than you have already experienced but you will most likely seriously injure one or more of the spotters.

This brings me to a matter I need to clarify.

Willie Morris and I have had serious differences of opinion on judging over the years. This does not make him unique. I have differences of opinion about judging with many national referees. THIS DOES NOT DIMINISH THE RESPECT NOR THE FRIENDSHIP I HAVE FOR THESE INDIVIDUALS AS LIFTERS OR FRIENDS. It is merely a disagreement on judging.

Willie is still an incredible power lifter at 66 years of age. A multi-time world champion at three different weight classes and at least two age divisions in the Masters. He will give you sound advice and critique on your lifting and tell you when you have done a good job. He will also tell you if you are messing up and be correct most the time. He will jump in to help at whatever needs to be done. He will buy you a beer if you cant afford to buy him one. He has strong opinions and is man enough to tell you what they are and stand behind them. He thinks all women are princesses and should be treated as such. I like Willie and want everyone to know that I consider him a good friend.

2009-07-01T05:45:00.000-07:00

Raw Nationals!

July 24 -26

Training has been going well. I am hitting the numbers on schedule as planned. I am staying injury free to date. Hotel reservations have been made. No need to fly, just a 90 minute drive to Charlottesville from Manassas. Pat and I will go down Saturday the 25th and stay over. I lift on Sunday the 26th. My weight is very close to where it was last year and ten pounds below SHW.

I am hoping to bump my numbers from last year by about ten pounds on each lift, which will put me over 1300. In 2004 I took gold at Masters Nationals in the M3 275's equipped with a 1290. I was 54 years old. Five years later I have a very realistic chance to beat that lifting raw.
As you might well imagine, I do not subscribe to the theory that you get weaker every year as a masters lifter.

2009-05-28T04:09:00.000-07:00

Results of Freedom Open in Leesburg.

Weighed in at 266 so I was in the 275lbs weight class and the 55-59 age division. I opened with 340lbs and it went up easy. Second attempt was 365lbs. It was a little wobbly at the lift off so I held it at the top until it was steady, it went up fast. My confidence was high at this point and I raised the weight to 385. I previously missed 375 at bench nationals last summer. The lift was strong and smooth and 49 pounds over the 336 national record that we started the day with. I opted for a fourth attempt at 405lbs. to up the record again. I had a mental lapse and held the bar after lift off for almost 4 seconds waiting for a start command. Of course there is no start command in the 100% Raw Federation. I brought the bar down a little high on my chest and was not able to complete the lift. I had to settle for setting a new national record 3 times. The world record is also 336 but this was a sanction II meet so national records were as high as you could go.

2009-05-11T04:55:00.000-07:00

Next up the 100% Raw Freedom USA Open:

Next Saturday Sid, Mike (new guy from Fitness 19), and I will take Pat over to Leesburg for a raw bench meet. The 100% Raw federation allows lifting belt only.

I will be attempting to set a new national record for the 55-59 275lb weight class. The current record is 336lbs. I will be opening with 340lbs.

As we know I was drug tested at the Richmond meet. I am not worried about anything I have taken for weight lifting, however I have taken some new supplements that are about healthful aging etc. (Protandim and Resveratol) The only problem with them is that the conditions with which they are packaged are not controlled like they are for drugs so there is the possibility of cross contamination with a supplement that may have been packaged just prior to whatever you are using. This is a chance you take with any supplement. I would however like that big Pass to show up soon.

I think I figured out why I have been steady putting on pounds. Back when I pulled a groin muscle I quit doing my daily morning squats. I do these to fire up my metabolism so it burns strong all day. I started back on the morning regimen last Monday and have dropped 5 pounds already. Whew! (Slap forehead).

After this meet I am going to purchase a new Super Katana and start shirted traing from the beginning. The groove is different from the Fury and therefore the technique is different also. I have to train to keep my head on the bench. I will train for the nationals in Cleveland in September. If I cant get the shirt to work for me I think I will just lift raw.

2009-04-13T05:59:00.001-07:00

The Richmond Open

Sid Zullinger arrived at my house at 5:30am as planned. Pat and I were packed and ready and we took off for Atlee high school in Mechanicsville just out side of Richmond VA. The trip is 86 miles according to Map Quest and we made it in time to line up for equipment check at 7:15. Sid weighed in at 225 and I weighed in at 263. The lifting didn’t get started until 9:30.
I could tell that the long time to wait for his squat flight was hard for Sid. With two flights of 15 ahead of him it would be a minimum of an hour and a half before his flight came up. His opener was 385 and he did it with ease. Willy Morris gave him red on depth. Because of Sid’s body shape his maximum depth is just past parallel, which is not quiet good enough for some national judges in the USAPL. Sid’s second attempt was 418. Once again he did it with ease. Once again Willy gave him a red light for depth. Sid’s final attempt was 437. He had to put some effort into this one but he locked it out. Unfortunately he took a step forward before the rack command was given. Ironically, Willy said the depth was good.
Once again the long wait to bench played on Sid’s nerves. He opened with 325. I lifted off for him and called instructions. I told him wait for the commands as I handed off. After he pressed I told him to hold it. He got three white lights for a textbook lift. As previously posted I had decided to do a bench only meet. I wanted to be able to coach Sid the rest of the time. Unfortunately, I had to leave Sid out on the platform to finish benching while I went to warm up for my flight. I set it up so that he and Mike Hill would lift off for each other. Sid jumped the commands on his second attempt and did not receive credit for a strong 347. I think if I had been there lifting off and instructing him he would have waited. His third attempt was a repeat of 347 but he was out of gas by then.
I was back in the back room doing a very quick warm up. I did 20x the bar, 10x135, 5x225, 1x315 and 1x365. I put on my tightest 46 Fury bench shirt. The sleeves were so tight that I new my circulation would be compromised so I took it off and put on the back up 46. I have to thank Rob Gormis, a big lifter and friend of Len Walker’s. I met him a couple years ago at the George Mason APA meet. He helped me warm up and get into my shirts. I did 1x455 with the shirt on. By this time I was breathing pretty hard and sweating profusely. I grabbed my stuff and went out to the platform area. Sid and Henry Girard were there to coach me and fire me up.
I took three unsuccessful attempts at 501. I could give any number of lame excuses for the misses. The backup shirt did not have a lot of pop in it. The national judges were not in place when the bar was loaded. The hand off was bad on the first attempt. The effort expended in coaching and loading for Sid took a bite out of my total energy. But, I have lifted in too many meets around the world in too many different circumstances to know that the only reason I missed those lifts was because they were too heavy. It was a little disappointing but this meet was about Sid and having fun so I put it out of my mind.
The meet director came to me after the first flight of dead lifts and asked if I could sit one of the judge’s chairs. I was glad to help out. Nick Mannetti jumped in from spotting and loading when Sid’s attempts came up so I could coach Sid on his way to the platform. His first pull was 425 and was really easy for him. I told him to go to the table and put in 475 as his next attempt. This was the first time he had done this so he told the official 475 and then 501. Sid did not know that he was to give just the weight for his next attempt, so when he came out to lift he thought he was lifting 475 when the bar was loaded with 501. When I told him to give his third attempt as 534 he told me he had already given 501 as his third attempt. I said “you just pulled 501”. He told me he thought 475 felt really heavy”. He entered 540 as his third and it was just a little too heavy. He pulled it to just below his knees and ran out of gas. I think the 534 would have gone.
There were user problems with the scoring software, so it was after 8:00 pm before Sid received his second place trophy for a 1244 total. He had a very good day. He met and impressed a lot of new power lifting friends and took home some nice hardware.
We stopped at the Mexican restaurant on the way out of town and devoured some fine food. We arrived back home at 11:15 PM, 17 hours and 45 minutes after we had left. It was a long day, but a good one, and Sid is now qualified for Raw Nationals in Charlottesville.

2009-04-07T04:16:00.000-07:00

There has been some postings about the infamous Masters world bench team speedo on the USAPL Forum. I thougth it would be apprpriate to post a picture of it here.

2009-04-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

Ready for Richmond!

On April 11, I will be heading down to Mechanicsville (Richmond suburb) for the Richmond Open.
I hit 405 unequipped on the flat bench last night for the first time in 3 years. I have nailed over 500 in both my past two shirted work outs. The American record for 275 - M4 (55-59) is 490. It looks like preparation and opportunity are about to come together for me. I decided to do bench only so that I could coach my friend Sid in his first meet. He has been training hard and made some great gains. I think he will go over 1300 Raw in his first meet ever.
I hate to open with an American record, because some judges (to remain unnamed) think that you deserve to be red lighted for the presumption. However, if that is where the shirt is dialed in at, then that is where you have to open. Just have to try to make it very clean.
My weight has crept up to the 260’s but my strength is back to where it was when I weighed into the 290’s. My legs and chest have put on a great deal of solid muscle. My shoulder has stopped hurting completely. I think I have to credit the chiropractor for the shoulder rehab. He told me that as he fixed my neck problems my shoulder problems would probably go away as well. This is stupendous, I was ready top go under the knife.

2009-02-26T12:09:00.000-08:00

Frank Beeler Masters Bench Press World Champion and World Record Holder:

My friend Frank has started radiation treatment at Stanford. He has melanoma that has spread a bunch. I will not forget the first time I met Frank Beeler. It was in the warm up room at bench nationals in 2003. The competition was in Newark New Jersey, just a spit down the road from the Rahway Prison. The hotel and parking lot had a fence topped with razor wire that surrounded the entire complex.
It was only my second competition and I was very nervous as you could imagine. There were maybe 50 or 60 people jammed in a very tight room. There seemed to be about a half dozen guys trying to put a bench shirt on this half bald cannonball looking guy in one corner. I later learned his name was “Slade”. I saw other massive guys close to my age with names like Pat Dennis, Fred Dini, CJ Batten, John Blackmon, Kevin Hutchinson, Kevin Johnson, and Dan Gaudreau, just to name a few.
I slipped over against a wall and tried to find a place to put my gear. It was wall to wall stuff. I found a little spot and pushed my bag into it. I knocked a shoulder horn off the top of the bag next to me. I picked it up and was trying to balance it back in place when this big “grizzly bear kinda guy” asked me if he could help me. He was smiling so I figured I was safe and mumbled an apology.
Things got real hectic for a while. I saw the big bearded guy make a couple of unsuccessful attempts at over 500 pounds. Being new to the sport I didn’t know what they called him for but I knew it wasn’t lack of strength because this guy was benching in a white t-shirt. On his last trip to the platform he smoked 540 lbs in that white t-shirt. As you have surmised that guy was Frank Beeler.
Twice I have had the honor of being invited to lift at SHW with Frank on the Masters World bench press team. It was not a competition because I am not any where near the lifter Frank is, but it was a pleasure. I have lost a weight class or two since then but I still lift in the same session with the big guys. In Charlotte last summer “Hutch” and I helped Frank get into his shirt. He benched a cool 590 lbs that afternoon.
I got my money on Frank. He is a world class competitor and a world class guy. Hey Frank, “I love you man”!! I too will pray for your speedy recovery.

2009-02-26T08:38:00.000-08:00

General Well Being and Training Progress:

The groin pull I experienced back in late December is gone. Consequently my squats are headed back up in weight and down in depth. I really don’t like to squat but it is probably the penultimate exercise for core strength. I felt very strong last week and finished with five deep reps at 325 lbs. I am not sure but I think that is a PR. I went on to dead lift two sets of three at 455 lbs. which I know is a PR. My hamstrings have been reminding me of that fact all of this week so far.

My bench press has gone ballistic. Cutting out the speed bench day and putting the heavy decline bench day back in has worked better than I ever dreamed. I had some micro tears in one of my pecs last month and the bruise looked terrible. However it did not hurt at all and I kept pushing the following weeks. I am mixing up the weight and reps and the body shock is really producing results. Adding in heavy lockouts at 2 to 3 inches will boost my shirted bench for sure. I hit 495 lbs. solid last week with just a 46 fury. I will put the 44 on next shirt day and take a shot at 525 and possibly 550, depending on the quality of spotters I can recruit from the gym rats.

Spotters are an unknown at the new gym. I can explain what I want them to do, but not in Spanish. The majority of the guys who look like they can handle the weight are Hispanic and have limited English. They are all willing to help, but having some one grab one side and shift the weight on you is very dangerous.

I have to decide what to do at the Richmond open in April. I am leaning towards equipped bench press only. This will give me the extra time to coach Sid. However, if I do that then Sid might balk at the raw full meet I want him to do as a qualifier for raw nationals. I have a big responsibility to do no harm in my role as mentor to Sid.

2009-01-16T19:59:00.000-08:00

St. Louis is a town that has always been good to me.

An e-mail from a good friend, actually a very good friend, got me to thinking (yes I do think now and then) about a meet that was so very special in many ways. The meet was the USAPL 2005 Bench Press Nationals in St. Louis, Missouri.
This was my third bench nationals. I took a silver in my first in Newark, New Jersey and joined the bomb squad in my second in Killen, Texas. I met a lot of great lifters and some legends as well in those two meets. I knew who was who in and around my age and weight class and how much they had lifted in the past.
Going into St. Louis I had a greater respect for the national platform then previously exhibited. During warm ups in the back room Kevin Hutchinson told me his crew had not shown up and he needed someone to help him with his shirt. I invited him to park his stuff with mine and assured him I would get the help we needed. At the same time Fred Dini was looking for moral support and someone to team with for assistance.
Now let me explain. Kevin “Hutch” Hutchinson was and is a world class benchpresser. I have never actually lifted head to head with him because he is a few years younger than me and usually lifts in a different weight class. I however, always considered him the competition to beat. I have never beat him in a bench press contest. Fred Dini on the other hand had set a world record on the world platform and was one of my bench press heroes. I was going head to head against Fred that day. I was intimidated. Fred said he was really hurting. He told me his shoulders were so bad that he couldn’t bench over 135 without a shirt. I was honored to just be hanging with these two guys. I don’t believe anything the competition says before lifting because they don’t often tell the truth.
Hutch lifted in the flight ahead of Fred and I. Cliff Tallman and I helped him into his shirt and Cliff tried to latch his belt. Hutch is laying on the floor and Cliff keeps pulling on the lever but the latch wouldn’t close. Kevin is starting to show some anxiety at this point. From my angle I could see that the two leather ends were butted against each other instead of overlapped. I reached down and slipped the one end over the other and Cliff locked the lever. Hutch went out a made an easy 408 opener. He then took an incredible 100+ pound jump to 513, and couldn’t quite lock out. He went out for his third attempt and nailed it. One thing I have learned about Hutch over the past 5 years, he does not give up. Adversity seems to make him much stronger.
Fred opened before me with a 352 and made the lift. I was having problems with my feet kicking out from under me because my fat butt was raising me off the bench a little further than I was used to on the bench at my gym. Because of this I had called for the foot blocks. This turned out to be a bad decision. I was all out of position and missed the groove completely causing me to double pump my opening 429. As I was leaving the platform Regina hackney asked me “What was that”. So now I was a lift behind. Fred took a 50 pound jump to 403 on his second lift but missed. I had the blocks removed on my next lift and smoked the repeat at 429. Fred repeated the 403 but missed again. I called for a 468 which would be a National and American record. Kevin and Fred both jacked me up to the max in the back room. I went out, set up tight, took the hand off, and blew it off my chest. The bar stopped and I knew my right arm was not locked out tight but I new if I locked it I would draw red lights. I just held it like a rock and got the rack command. The judges showed two whites and one red it was a good lift. The National meet record still stands today but will probably be blown away by Frank Beeler next year when he turns 55.
I shared the medal platform with my hero Fred Dini. He really was telling the truth about his shoulders. As far as I know that was his last bench meet.
Later that night the legendary John Blackmon came up to me and congratulated me for besting his old record which had been on the books since 1999.The biggest prize of the day was having shared the platform with and made the friendship of Hutch, Fred Dini and John Blackmon.

2009-01-13T05:01:00.000-08:00

What happened in 2008, and what's up for 2009?

I turned 59 last Sunday. This will be my last year as an M4 (55-59). There have been a lot of changes this past year in my lifting regimen.

World gym closed the Manassas location and herded everybody out to their Gainsville facility about 10 miles away. The management there would not allow my equipment bag on the workout floor and thought that chalk was a controlled substance and a felony to have in ones possession. I opted out and bought myself and my neighbors’ son a membership at Fitness 19 just 2 miles from my house. The gas savings paid for the memberships. Unfortunately I no longer bench press with Demitrius Maoury. I do miss his attitude and work ethic.

Dino threw me out of his gym for offenses I feel he only imagined. Jim Pope chose to continue working out there so I lost my squat and dead lift partner and a good friend. Had I known that Dino did the same thing to Gary Hart earlier I would have walked. The story I got was that Gary had moved on after Dino lost the law suit because he thought they would close. But apparently the real story was the same as mine. I will not continue to do business with someone who trashes my friends.

On the plus side; my neighbor Sid is a great workout partner. He has a real desire to make gains both physically and mentally. Our squats and dead lifts have been creeping up weekly. We lift unequipped except for an occasional bench shirt night for me. As a matter of fact I had no successful equipped lifts in any meet this past year. I bombed 3 for 3 in Bratislava and was red lighted on my only shirted lift at bench nationals in Charlotte.

I just received an invitation to go to New Zealand and bench press with the Masters World team, however Pat and I had talked it over previously and had decided that we could not afford it this year. We are still paying off the credit card from last years travels that included Bratislava, Slovakia for Master Bench Worlds, Worcester, England for the flower show (I owed it to Pat), Columbus, Ohio for the Arnold (I felt I should help and support my friend Jim) St. Louis, Missouri for Raw Nationals and Charlotte, N. Carolina for bench press nationals. Even though I did not get an equipped lift in I won 2 national championships, Raw 55-59 and Masters Bench 55-59 and took Silver in the Open Raw Bench press.

Sid and I are going to do the USAPL Richmond Open this spring as a qualifier for him to enter the Raw Nationals in Charlottesville this July. My successful meet last year will qualify me. I am also looking at the AAU bench press world championships. I will do the USAPL national bench press championship and see if I can make the masters bench team for Sophia, Bulgaria in 2010. I will be 60 then and could have a good chance to medal.

2008-12-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

Back to the bench shirt!

Tonight will be my second session with the bench shirt after almost ten weeks hiatus. I took three lifts on Tuesday of last week. The first @ 425 had no problems, the second @ 455 I came up under the brackets, and the third @ 440 had no problems. On Friday I did ten reps @ 315 on the decline and then heavy lockouts off the brackets.

My shoulder hurts like hell during the warm ups, but it seems to diminish when I hit the 315 mark. This makes me think that tendonitis is potentially causing the pain. I really have no pain when using the shirt. So, tonight I will but the old guy sports cream on the shoulder before warm ups. Warm up with lighter weight until the blood gets pumping. Hit one at 275 and then 315. Throw the shirt on and put in half a dozen lifts.

Perhaps I will throw the tight shirt on (44) and do some real heavy lockouts.

Anyway, I wish everybody a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannuka, and a Great Kwanza, depending on your personal preference.

2008-12-07T06:17:00.000-08:00

Banned Again!!

Well, it would appear that my big mouth and unusual sense of humor have once agin landed me in hot water. I have been banned from Dinos Gym. Apparently I made a remark to one of his customers that caused so much anguish that Dino felt it necessary to threatened to have me arrested and subject to bodily injury if I tresspassed on his premises ever again. He also leveled a number of other charges that I also have no idea where they came from. This all came out of the blue in an e-mail. I have no idea what he is talking about but that doesn't mean I am not guilty of being myself.
Unfortunately this means that Jim Pope will have to find someone else to spot and load for him on his Sundays off from work. I feel bad about that. Jim started working out with me because I could tailor my shedule to synchronize with his shift work . He was willing to travel all the way from Bluemont to Manassas for our work outs. I in return am very consistant and almost never miss a work out. I run my mouth the entire work out and Jim averages about eight words so that worked well for us also.
The problem arises from the availability of a gym that has squat racks (competition type) and will allow heavy dead lifting. Heavy dead lifting usually involves baby powder on the legs and this is very hard to clean up from anything that isn't a slick surface. Most fitness centers won't allow it to be used. Jim can't work out of a power rack or off a hack squat rack becuse these wont allow you to grip the bar out at the collars. I start with my grip inside then slide out to the collars after taking it out of the rack and sliding back in before racking. The weights that Jim squats are too high to be able to perform this maneuver.
I dont know what the future holds at this point. I am going to continue my workouts at Fitness Nineteen where I have very good relationship with the management. I hope that being myself doesn't screw that up as well.
This is certainly not the first time I have managed to anger someone without knowing how or why. Lord knows I do it enough on purpose. I am sure it will probably not be the last time either. I do regret the unintentional situations. I really do not want to bring problems with out cause or intent to people I have no animosity towards. Oh well, Se La Vie!

2008-11-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

One More week until I bench again!!

The past seven weeks have been very productive for my squat and dead lift. While spotting for Sid on bench Tuesdays I have been hitting the leg press and seated rows with a vengeance. Last Sunday after warm ups I did my standard work set of 4 sets of 5 reps with a weight of 285 lbs. next Sunday that will go up the usual 5 lbs to 290. After my work sets I put 355 on the bar and did 2 sets of 3 reps a major pr (personal record) for me, squatting out of the racks. I have done more in the Smith machine but it is not the same. After squats I pulled (dead lifted) 3 reps at 435, 1 at 475 and a new recent (lower weight class) pr at 505. The 505 went up much cleaner than the 500 did two weeks ago.

A few thoughts on feeling sorry for oneself:

Because I did not make the Masters World bench team, I was feeling a little sorry for myself and questioning my ability as a power lifter. When I first chose to compete in 2003, my goal was to set a state bench press record in the 50 to 54 age division of the 275lb weight class. The record was held at that time by Willie Morris with a 407lb lift.
I went to Ken Ryder, who owned the Bull Run Athletic club at the time and was the power lifting “Man”, and asked if I could train with his crew. He allowed that I could, so I did. The training went well and at the 2003 USAPL Virginia Open I went to the platform for my first meet. I took a token at the squat, then wearing an old school Inzer blast shirt, I went out for my first attempt on bench. The bar was loaded to 385lbs and I took the hand off from Steve Horton. I brought the bar down to my chest then smoked the lift and racked it. The head Judge said “start” and everybody had a good laugh. I had jumped all the signals so received three red lights and a no lift. I went to the jury table to give my number for my second attempt. John Shifflet asked if I was going to take the lift over at the same weight, which is the custom. I replied that I had lifted that weight and my plan was to go to 395lbs so I did. This time I paid attention to the commands and smoked it again, three white lights good lift. For my third and final attempt I called for 410lbs, this would be a new State Record if I was successful. This is what I came to do. My wife has a 6x8 framed picture of me on the bench. Thacker is in the head chair and a crowd of power lifters is gathered around the platform. Ramsey is notable in his red bench shirt. The lift went by the numbers and I was the new state record holder. This record still stands 5 years later.
In the past five years I have competed in three major federations, the USAPL / IPF, the APA, and the 100% Raw. I have won state, national, and world championships. I went back through the records of these feds and discovered that I still hold 42 state records, 15 national records and 8 world records combined in these three federations. In 2008 I won two National Championships and set four new national records.
Now let us go back to where I am feeling a little sorry for myself, I guess I can let that go!!

2008-11-12T04:46:00.000-08:00

Recovery!

As we know from previous posts, before Raw Nationals I added another work out day for speed bench. The concept was good , but the reality for a lifter my age was not so good. I believe this extra bench workout is probably responsible for the recent impingement I have been trying to rehab. Back when I started training with Ken Ryder and his crew, they recommended that I not lift more than two days a week and definitely not bench more than once a week. I had forgotten this advice. As a matter of fact, the reason I started squatting and deadlifting was to have another day of lifting during the week.
I tested my shoulder last night on the bench to see if after four weeks it was recovering.
After a quick warm up, I smoked 315, 335, and 355 with no problems. I had some slight discomfort in my shoulder while lifting but no pain this morning. I am going to continue to take off from benching until after Thanksgiving as planned.
Sid, my neighbor and one of my current training partners, has been feeling some pain in his shoulder as well. We decided last night to take Fridays off from benching to see if it helps our recovery and overall feeling of well being. We will continue accessory work and cardio.

I got an e-mail from my buddy Kevin Hutchinson. He told me that the Geudreaus are having a hard time filling in the masters world bench team. I am sure that this is due to the economic situation and the cost of the trip to New Zealand. Pat (my lovely wife) and I discussed it and decided that if I was asked I would decline this year. We will save the money for a run at the worlds in Sophia Bulgaria in 2010. I will be in the M5 (60 to 64) class and will take a shot at the world record. The qualifying meet will be the bench nationals in 2009.

2008-10-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

Progress report on chiropractor, supplements and "The Impingement":
Well, it has now been three weeks without bench press, it seems like forever but I am holding strong. The pain has definitely abated but I can steel feel the scapula rubbing. The chiropractor tells me that a side benefit of the stuff he is doing for my neck should also give some relief to the impinging shoulder. We shall see. I see him twice a week. For the first ten minutes I lay on my back on the mechanical massage table. These two rollers roll up and down from your neck to the back of your thighs. Then the doc cracks my neck to both sides. Then he takes this little hand held electric tapping hammer and applies it to my spinal column in various locations. He gave me this Tens unit that I apply to the back of my neck for a half hour twice a day. It has two pads like one of those emergency defibulators they have most places now. I stick them on either side of my neck, plug the electrodes into what looks like an old style pager and it puts out these pulsing vibrations that are supposed to break down the old scar tissue. The tens unit is most commonly used for muscle cramping and pain. The side to side range of motion in my neck has definitly increased and the tingling sensations come much less often than before. So if this guy is a quack than I must be a duck because what he is doing does seem to be working well.

I quit the ATP for three weeks because I thougth it was causing my creeping weight gain. I went from 258 after bench press nationals to 264 while taking it. My weight is back down to 258 this morning so I believe my suspicions were correct. The ATP taken directly, which is what your body creates when you take creatine monohydrate, has the same effects. This should be expected. I do feel more tired the last couple of weeks but this could be attributed to other factors as well. I have been working back and legs a lot more and upped the cardio as well.

All in all, I feel much better overall than I have in the past. Friends have told me I look good, and people that new me ten years ago say I look great. I of course think I look like I did when I was nineteen. Then I see my reflection in a window or mirror or other shiny surface and wonder where my father came from.

Five more weeks without bench!! I can do it!!

2008-10-15T03:57:00.000-07:00

Every which way but loose!

This is how the chiropractor has been turning my neck.

My neck has been stiff for about six months. The range of motion from side to side was also diminishing. I was getting a tingling sensation in it and down into my shoulder as well. It did not go away. I was at my companies health fair last week to get my annual flu shot and they had a local chiropractor there. I talked to him for maybe twenty minutes and he seemed to have a good understanding of my symptoms and assured me he could make it better. I have been to see him twice in the last week. The range of motion in my neck has already increased and the tingling does not occur nearly as often.

I thougth that the problem was caused by falling asleep at the computer and snapping my neck when I woke up. Doctor Phil (yes, that is his name) told me that my problem is caused by scar tissue build up from a very old injury (at least twenty years) which caused mis-alignment of my spine. I know, that is what they all say is the root problem, but just because thay all say it certainly doesn't mean they are wrong. As a matter of fact, twenty two years ago I fell 26 feet and landed with both feet on the edge of a hack of 8" semi solid cinder block. I blew both my heels out the bottom of my feet. I landed with my legs bent like I had been taught in ROTC Ranger school. The doctor back then told me that this is the only reason I did not break my pelvis, back and neck resulting in death.

Any way, I have bought in and signed up for twice a week for twelve weeks.

2008-10-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

Movie Time
Found this old link to you tube;
watch the feet, didn't know I was a dancer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lF0fDGG_hs

2008-10-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Ron, do you take any supplements or anything like that?

A decade ago (see first post) I made a few decisions about my life and life style that were intended to extend that life if possible. I quit smoking. I quit drinking. I joined a gym and started working out daily. A co-worker gave me an 800 number and said to call it and have them send me a tape called “The fitness for life challenge”. It was a VHS tape from EADS which was a supplement company owned by Bill Phillips at the time. (This is not the Bill Phillips from New Jersey who was the 1st man over 70 to bench over 400 pounds in the USAPL/IPF) It was a motivational type video about this group of people from everyday life who took a challenge to see who could make the greatest gains in personal fitness over a period of time. At the end of the tape was an offer from EADS for a free book all about dietary supplements and some programs for their use with exercise. I sent for the book. It was my first exposure to the world of Body building and weight training dietary supplements.

My first reaction was NOT FOR ME, however I did try the diet & exercise programs without the supplements and made some good gains. The book did get me thinking about proper nutrition and vitamins in general.

That’s how it all started, one daily multiple vitamin.

I decided that one size did not fit all. A sedentary 110 pound woman and a 265 pound man with a strenuous work out program did not have the same daily requirements so I started taking 2 a day. A co-worker who was very fit told me that stacking vitamin E with selenium was good for strength, mental sharpness (smart pill), and was a known preventative for rectal colon cancer. He also told me that I should be taking at least 1000mg of Vitamin C, so I did.

As a newbie computer geek who was totally unaware of the ergonomics involved in sitting for eight hours or more a day bullying Mickey (pushing the mouse around) I started getting shooting pains from my hand thru my shoulder and into my neck. My shoulders felt like I hade gravel crunching in there. This combined with the joint pains (knee and elbow) from lifting weights led me to inquire about relief. Enter
Glucosamine Chondroitan. This stuff works for me.

In 2003 I started to compete. I had read before about creatine monohydrate and how it worked. I had come to the conclusion that any gains you made while using it were lost when you stopped using it. Therefore it should only be used when preparing to compete. So I often cycle it for six weeks before a meet.

I used to do 5 whey protein shakes a day or 250 grams. I gram per pound of body weight is the optimal for building muscle mass. So combined with what I got with food it totaled the 280 to 295 I used to weigh. I have cut back to just 25 grams after a work out.

The B vitamins came into popular use by the jet set for revitalization from partying to excess, I figured that they ought to work on old and tired as well so I added B6 complex and B12 to the pile of pills I was now taking.

I heard on one of the Sunday morning radio health shows that because of the cancer problems involved with getting to much sun, most adult Americans suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Better start taking some of those too.

I was in my bench press partner’s office one day and saw a big jar/tub of NO-Explode on his desk. Now he is an MD who can bench press over 500lbs. Better get some of that. I use it before a workout.

Two years ago in Kileen, Texas at the masters nationals I got to talking to two guys in their sixties who are world champion power lifters and look to be in their early forties and they told me about fish oil. They recommended taking 4 caps 3 times a day.

OK so lets put the list together:
Two multiple Vitamins (morning and night)
Vitamin C (morning and night)
Vitamin D (morning and night)
Vitamin E (morning and night)
Vitamin B6 complex (morning and night)
Vitamin B12 (morning and night)
Selenium (one every other day)
5 Glucosamine Chondroitan (morning and night)
5 fish oil caps (morning and night)
No-Explode stacked with Beta Max (three times a week) pre-workout
Muscle Milk whey protein (three times a week) post workout
Creatine Monohydrate (for six weeks before a contest)

September 2, 2008 I added these four new supplements
Protandim http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protandim
EDTA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EDTA
Co-enzyme 10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenzyme_Q10
ATP (adenosine triphosphate) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine_triphosphate

I could find none of these substances or their ingredients on the 2008 WADA banned substance list. I have been drug tested by the USAPL and passed while taking all of the pre Sept 2 stuff. The new stuff is all about cell repair, anti oxidents and getting the heavy metals out of your blood. It is fountain of youth stuff. I have to take a pass on some of the new stuff out there because they boost testosterone and if they aren't on the banned list they probably should and will be in the future.

The new stuff is all in the same category of debate about wether it works or not as the Glucosamine. There is a lot of politics and profits involved with homeopathic and "natural" substances. There is always debate, some times quite heated, from pharmaceutical companies and between doctors. I read all the stuff that comes up in the Yahoo/Google search on each of these items and make up my own mind. My wife who is a medical proffesional does not like to take anything but has now bought into my vitamin regimen on a smaller scale. I think we do look and feel better than ever.

2008-09-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

Major decision time!

The new coaching staff for the Masters World Benchpress team has published the nominations for the 2008 team. I am not even listed as an alternate. I can not claim any surprise since I sucessfully completed no equipped lifts this year. This makes a few decisions easier for me. I was contemplating going to New Zealand as a spectator. However with the US and World economy tanking as I write this, I think it prudent to look to the future.

I am going to take 8 weeks off from the benchpress to allow my shoulder impingement to repair itself. This means no bench until after Thanksgiviing. I will train with Sid Zullinger and Leigh Haines as usual, spotting and loading, but I will be working roatator, back, triceps and biceps while they bench.

I started a new regimen of supplements upon returning from Charlotte. Like most of my supplementation, they are about personal health and fitness as opposed to powerlifting. My next post will be about my supplementation program.

2008-09-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

Let's Talk Impingement:

In 2004, one of my goals was a world record in the 100% Raw Federation. I bumped up the intensity of my unequipped bench work outs and Nov. of 2004 in North Carolina at the 100% Raw World championships I accomplished this goal on my second attempt with a unequipped 405 lb benchpress in the 50-54 age division of the 308 lb weight class. I experienced some shoulder pain while warming up.

Two months later on January 15, 2005 just three days after my 55th birthday, Pat and I traveled to Gettysburg PA where I set an APA World benchpress record with an equipped (bench shirt) lift of 507 lbs in the 55-59 age division of the 308 lb weight class. I noticed that my right arm trailed my left at the lockout.

Three months later at the 2005 IPF Masters Benchpress Worlds in the Chech Republic I opened at 210 kilos (462.9 lbs) and thought that someone had lit my right shoulder on fire. Because of the rule that states you cannot lower the weight from your opener in the following lifts, I knew I was cooked. I had to go out on the platform and try two more times to make a lift that was to heavy. After the meet my right shoulder was screaming at me.

Two weeks later in Nashville Tennesse I lifted in the APA World Powerlifting Championships. I set world records in everything but the bench press. I managed a 425 bench. My right shoulder just could not handle any more weight.

It was time to see a doctor. It just so happens that my bench press partner at the time was a doctor. He snuck me into the MRI at the hospital where he works. I took the pictures to Dr. Snyder at the Blue Ridge Orthopedic Clinic in Warrenton VA. This is where I first heard the word "Impingement"

"Rotator cuff impingement syndrome and associated rotator cuff tears are commonly encountered shoulder problems. Symptoms include pain, weakness and loss of motion. Causes of impingement include acromioclavicular joint arthritis, calcified coracoacromial ligament, structural abnormalities of the acromion and weakness of the rotator cuff muscles. Conservative treatment (rest, ice packs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and physical therapy) is usually sufficient. Some patients benefit from steroid injection, and a few require surgery."

for the full article go here: http://www.aafp.org/afp/980215ap/fongemie.html
I applied for and recieved a TUE (theraputic use exemption) to get the steroid injection. I went to St Louis for the 2005 USAPL Bench Press Nationals and set both the National meet and American records with a 212.5 kilo (468.4 lbs) lift in the 55-59 age division of the 275+ weight class. The national meet record still stands today. My shoulder was back in good shape.

Earlier this year I bumped up my unequipped benchpress workouts to train for the 1st USAPL Raw Nationals. Because it was the first raw national meet all three of my lifts squat, bench, deadlift and my total were new national meet records for 55-59 age division and 275 lb weight class. One month later I lifted in Charlotte. (see my last post)

Here's the thing! My right shoulder is impinging again.

2008-09-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

Bench Nationals 2008 Charlotte North Carolina

Here was my plan going in:
Open low, take raw and the M4 medals, then put something stupid on the bar and go for it. Actually this is not that bad a strategy, but my intended second lift would be to beat my raw number from St Louis because it would set the raw record higher. Then I would put on my bench shirt and try to beat the M3 equipped lifters for a place on the USAPL Masters World team.

Broken down here was my plan and how it worked out:
Open with a raw 325 and take the gold in both the Raw and the M4. I did not know that the final roster listed in the program would have Michael Belk in the Raw division. This would mean Silver for me for raw. Before the session I advised him to take a lesson from the 181 results. I don’t know that it was on my advice but he lowered his opener at the last minute. Had he stayed with the 579 as his opener (he missed it on his second and third attempts) it looks like I would have gone home with two golds. I hit the raw 325 with no problems.
For my second attempt I raised the weight to 375 and again lifted raw. This is 2.5 kilos over my last lift in St Louis. Unfortunately it was also 2.5 kilos too heavy.
At this point I put on my Shirt (46). Kevin Hutchison (M3) had made his second attempt at 210 k/463 lbs so I went 212.5 k/468 lbs.

I set up took the lift off held it for the start command. I took it to my chest and held it for the press command. I pressed it up (it slowed at the top but I locked it out), received the rack command and then stared at the light tree, three reds.
As I left the platform Robb Grisham told me he called me for having my hands outside the rings. I told Dave Doan what Robb said. (Dave put my shirt on and was calling my numbers for me.) Next thing I know, Devan Doan tells me that her dad has lodged a protest, on the grounds that I should never have been given the start command if my finger was not on the rings. Dave asked Robb what he gave me a red light for and Robb answered with the ring call. Johnny Graham said he called me for having my head off the bench. The third judge would not respond except to say he gave me a red light. Dave went to the jury and they said that regardless off what the judges called I had my head off the bench and they denied the lift.

Se La Vie, had the lift been good I would have secured a spot on the World team. I will now have to wait to see if I get an invite as an alternate. Sure would like to go to New Zealand!

Final results:
The 325 raw lift secured me the Gold in the M4 and the Silver in the 275 raw, both earned by opening light.

2008-08-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

In the Beginning .......

Ten years ago on August 7 I quit imbibing alcohol. I did not have a drinking problem, my wife did. It was me. I made a deal with her: If she would quit smoking, I would quit drinking. This was an offer she could not refuse.

Since my hobby up to that point was going to the bar getting stupid and then having a really good time, I needed a new hobby. I took up lifting weights. I go to the gym, I am already stupid when I get there, and I have a really good time. After a few years, the weights got to be of a size that others started to take note of how much the old man was lifting. Some of my fellow weight lifters suggested that I might do well in a bench press competition. So I gave it a shot. It should be noted that when I drank I was a world class drinker. After having been invited to be a member of the USA Masters World Benchpress Team for 4 years in a row I would think that I have earned the right to call myself a world class weight lifter. My wife, for one, thinks that this is a much better situation all around. I, for one, have to agree with her.

Now, much to my dismay, I have run into problems with my Hobby.

"GYMS AND SO CALLED FITNESS CENTERS DO NOT WANT YOU TO ACTUALLY LIFT THE WEIGHTS IN THEIR FACILITY"

It seems that all that sweating, grunting, and clanking of plates is bothersome to many of the other members. Well "EXCUSE ME"!! Now that I think back on it, I used to bother a lot of people when I was drinking like a champion. Se La Vie!!