No Surrender!

So this is going to be a combo meet recap/motivational post. I competed this past weekend in an RPS meet over in Eaton Ohio. I want to start off by saying thanks to everyone that helped the meet run so well and for Eaton Barbell for the use of their awesome facility. If you ever get to go to one run by the Iron Mafia guys I hope you partake. They do a great job.

My goal this meet was to total over 1700 which would get me pro status for RPS and get me over a number that's been in my head for a while now. Everything started off well enough. I smashed my opening squat at 530ish and got 2 whites on my second at 562.5 which was a meet PR. Next I had planned for a shot at 590 for a 5 lb all time PR but decided I felt great and the 2nd attempt was easy so I went for 600. It felt solid, definitely was a tough rep for me, but thought I hit all standards. When I looked up I saw 2 reds for depth. After watching the video it was definitely close, but hey, if there's a doubt, there's no doubt.

So now I had put myself into a tough spot. I hadn't benched well at all the past 12 weeks due to some elbow Tendonitis. I hit 460 at the previous meet but missed 455 every time since then in training. I really needed at least a 465 to even have a shot at that 1700 total. During warm ups I worked to 405 and my elbow was screaming on that. My opener was set for 430 and I didn't know if I was going to have it in me. Luckily everything held together and the 1st attempt felt great. I knew it was only a matter of time before it flared up again though. I had planned on 455 and 470 for my final attempts but decided to split the difference and go for 468.5 in the hopes that I hit it and didn't take a third lift knowing that I would be in a good but not great position for deadlifts. The set up felt good, the lift off was solid, but as soon as I descended I could feel my arm screaming. I got the barbell about 2 inches off my chest and then the spotters had to take it. So now I am sitting at a 992 total. If I didn't hit this third attempt I would need a 708+ Deadlift to hit 1700. My best dead to date was 655 and it was a grind. In the past this is where I would put on a happy face and start joking around and acting like this is just a fun day and at least I tried my best. You know, the bull we tell ourselves to feel better about being a loser. I wrote about it in a previous article here. This is when you need to figure out if you are just competing for fun or actually trying to achieve something meaningful. I hate missing lifts in competitions. I got so pissed off in my head. I sat and stewed by myself with one of those "talk to me and I will cut you" kind of looks. My dad ,who was kind enough to watch and film the comp, came over and tried to be all positive and happy (apparently not catching my vibe). God love him, he has always been my greatest supporter in every way possible and he was absolutely trying to help. I just was in no mood to hear it. I was fuming. I decided just because your elbow hurts like a mother f***er doesn't give you the right to bitch out. Your arm will hurt but it will still produce force as long as you can push through the pain. This isn't training! We're here to win medals and crush goals! Destroy the opposition! Hurt some feelings! Sorry it got away from me there for a second. My third attempt on bench was my last chance to have any hope of accomplishing what I set out to do. I am moving across country away from my family to pursue powerlifting. I am not leaving my home for a 430 bench and total less than 1700. Long story slightly shorter, I set up and I took that weight. I'd like to say I then proceeded to absolutely destroy it, but the truth is it hurt every fraction of every second and I had to grind the Hell out of that rep every fraction of every inch. And I did.

Now I was in a much better position. I would still need a 670ish pull to do it, but 6 plates in warm up absolutely flew off the floor. I then proceeded to absolutely molest my opener at 634 lbs. I knew I would need to PR by 15 lbs to make it but the last lift moved so well I went up to 677 to put the nail in that 1700 coffin. I figured if I missed I would just roll like the bench press and make it happen. The lift was a bit of a grind but I got it with 2 white lights. Having already hit my goal I was coaxed by a buddy to go for 700 lbs. Got it about knee high and dropped, but hey, I've never even pulled on 700 before and I ended getting 2nd place in the open division finishing with over 1700 as a total, meet PRs on everything, and all time PRs on Bench and Dead.

Enough about me. Here's the nugget for you guys. It is paramount for you to decide what kind of competitor you are going to be. Are you there to just have fun? If so, great. If you are there to win or hit specific goals then you need to operate like that's what you are trying to do. Don't be satisfied with failure. Heck don't be satisfied with success. Keep pushing. Every achieved goal today means the start of day one and new goals tomorrow.

Get after it!

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr and @RoninStrApparel
For training and nutrition advice and tips email roninstr@gmail.com.

Posting Lifts: Vain, Useful, or Both?

So if you are a lift you are most likely guilty of posting your lifts and workouts online. If  you don't work out then, first off, why the heck are you reading this? Second you are probably super annoyed with your "meathead" friends who fill up your Facebook and Instagram with their stupid videos.

So lets start off with the negatives. There is definitely a pretty big vanity issue here. That's just speaking from my personal experience as a selfish glory-seeking douchebag of a man. I like it when people like my posts and comment on how strong I am and how they want to get to those numbers some day. Now let me just say I am not dumb enough to say that I have great numbers. I am realistically about 200lbs shy on my squat and deadlift to be making such claims, but it's still nice to be appreciated. Another annoying thing about it is that every 20 year old 150lb dude with abs talks about how awesome they are and offers online coaching even though they have no experience coaching anyone nor have the vast majority every accomplished anything of note in their personal strength and physique careers. As a side note I offer online training and diet plans. Unfortunately I am currently abless. A final thing that gets tiresome is the guys who are too new to boast decent numbers (not that they can't get there eventually) calling depth and missed lock outs on people like the Lillibridges or Brandon Lilly coming off knee surgery and only hitting near depth with over 600lbs. (If you don't know who the aforementioned guys are stop reading right now and go Google that crap!) Typically these guys are like 17 years old with private accounts and can't bench 2 plates or squat 2 plates for that matter. Hatorade at it's finest. It's almost more sad than irritating because if they took that energy and spent it eating and lifting they would be getting closer to being the ones hated on instead of where they currently find themselves. This actually leads right into one of the positives.

One of the great things about posting online is that people will call you out for depth. They may be right, they may be wrong, but you will find yourself trying to squat deep enough that no one can say anything. Scratch that...if you go too deep people will tell you it's bad for your knees. Also you can actually get feedback from big names in the sport. Try tagging some bigger named guys on your videos and every now and then you will get a coaching tip or too from them. That also will help with your vanity needs! Screen shot that and send it to all your friends! I know I do! Another cool thing is that with all kinds of folks posting you can study different forms of technique and even analyze top lifters to see what they do and if it can be applied to you. It requires a bit of critical thinking but it's still a great tool. Lastly with so many people posting it brings awareness to the Altar of Iron we all have come to love and respect. Maybe one day we won't be looked at as freaks because enough people will be out there moving some serious weight or eating out of Tupperware for it to be considered odd. So post away, let the haters hate, and reach out to some big names for advice. The great thing about the gym life is that the most famous people out there will actually respond to you.

So comment below and tell me what you think. Any I missed?

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes and a powerlifter in the 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and diet plans email roninstr@gmail.com