The NASA Summer Nationals powerlifting report

I competed in a poweifting meet this last Saturday. It was the Nasa Summer Nationals. I hit lifetime best lifts for all three. If I hit the same total in the USPA state championships on December 1st I'll qualify for my first ever national championships. Not bad after only 9 months of powerlifting. I know, I know, my bench sucks. But it's getting better.
451lb squat
314lb bench
501lb deadlift
1266lb total

2018 USAPL New Mexico powerlifting state championships report

Me:
433 (state record)
297.5 (tied competition PR and state record)
484 (competition PR and state record)
1214 (state record)

Cody James
71/45/104/ 210

Today my son and I lifted in the USAPL New Mexico Powerlifting state championships meet. My son did great. He lifted 9/9
71/45/104 for a total of 210.

I didn't do very well. I missed my third squat of 455lbs. I'd been struggling with squats in training for awhile. So that didn't surprise me. My top squat of the day was 433lbs. 18lbs less than my last meet.

I pulled my pectoral muscle a little over a month ago so i assumed I'd do poorly in the bench. I was wrong. My third lift of 297.5lbs was easy. That lift tied my competition best.

I assumed I'd kick butt with my deadlifts today. My deadlift training has been amazing the last few months. Boy was I ever wrong. I made my first lift of 484lbs. My 2nd lift was a 525, which should have been easy.  But I missed it. I tried 525 again and missed it. It wasn't even close. This was surprising because my powerlifting coach and I thought I'd get a 550lb deadlift today. My lift was actually a competition best. But we expected more.

But, my powerlifting coach is pretty awesome. He warned me that because of how much weight I've lost I may struggle in the meet. He was right. I've lost 70-75lbs so far. I have anothe 50-55lbs left to lose. This is going to be a struggle. But it'll be worth it.

Squat struggles

The last month I've been struggling something horrible with my squats. On Friday I was scheduled to do a set of 3 at 395 pounds. I could only get 2 reps at 375. All of my lifts have increased except my squat. Squat. This is kind of shocking for me.  Squats always been my strength. I've never struggled with squats before. But at least everything else is still gaining.

The 2016 USPA High Dessert regional powerlifting championships

On February 27th 2016 I competed in the USPA High Dessert regional powerlifting championships held at Duke City Strength in Albuquerque New Mexico.

I took a couple weeks off right before the meet so I was expecting to lift poorly. But, somehow I still pulled off a few lifetime PR'S and a meet PR. I think most of my accomplishments at the meet had to do with having someone there to coach me who was knowledgeable and motivational. Vernon Smith coaches out of Grow Strong which is a weightlifting, powerlifting, and strong man gym. I met him at a few olympic style weightlifting meets. Then in December 2015 he was coaching some of his athletes at a NASA powerlifting meet. I didn't have a coach there, it was my first powerlifting meet. I was completely lost, out of my realm, and overwhelmed. Vernon asked if I wanted him to coach me. He saved my meet. He offered to coach my best friend and I at the 2016 US powerlifting association High Dessert regional powerlifting championships. I knew we were in good hands with Vernon.

I entered the classic raw division because the weights I'd be lifting would break all the masters 40-44 AG 308lb classic raw state records. Even though I entered the classic raw division and I could have wrapped my knees, which is a lifting advantage, I opted out of wrapping my knees. I've never trained with my knees wrapped, and at a meet isn't a good time to try something new.

I ended up successfully lifting a meet PR 130k (286lb) bench and lifetime PR's of a 190k (418lb) squat, a 197.5k (435lb) deadlift, and a 517.5k (1,138.5lb) total. I took first place in the 40-44 AG, 308lb, classic raw division. And a Wilks of 292.182.

Turns out I had to tell the meet director before my lifts that I was attempting state records. So even though the weights I lifted were state records USPA won't count my lifts as state records.

powerlifting weekend excursion for the boys

Last year my buddy and i were planning on going to an out of town NASA powerlifting competition  but i wasn't able to get time off from work. I requested the time off from work this year for a meet on December 5th 2015 in Roswell New Mexico and was approved. I looked up the New Mexico NASA records for my age and weight and it was crazy how many different categories there were! The weight classes are in pounds, the records are in kilos.i know,  very confusing. But here they are in all its baffling glory:

On December I'll be 40, so i can compete in the
1)Masters 1 division
2)masters pure division
3):and if they let correctional officers compete in the police/firefighter division i could also compete in that.

Plus I'm teetering between the
1) 242 pound division (242-274lb)
2) and the 275 pound division  (275-308lbs).

In each of those divisions i could compete in the following divisions:
1) power sports & power press/clean
-unequppied records
2) unequiped division and retro
3) eq'd & uneq'd push/pull

Since it was so complicated and time consuming looking up all the divisions i decided to record the records for all the divisions i can compete in here so that i dont have to go through the headache of figuring it all out again.

Masters 1
Power sports
242lb
Curl 77.5
Bench 182.5
Deadlift 240
Total 500

Police/firefighter
Power sports
242lb
Curl none
Bench- none
Deadlift- none

Masters pure
Power sports
242lb
Curl 70
Bench 147.5
Deadlift 140
Total 347.5

Masters 1
Power sports
275lb
Curl 87.5
Bench 205
Deadlift 260
Total 497.5

Police/firefighter division
Power sports
275
Curl 70
Bench- none
Deadlift- none
Total- none

Masters pure
Power sports
275lb
Curl 82.5
Bench 172.5
Deadlift 272.5
Total 505

Masters 1
power press
242lb
Ttl 227.5

Police/firefighter
power press
242
total None

Masters pure
Power pres
242
total none

Masters 1
power press
275
Total none

Police/firefighters
Power press
275
Total none

Masters pure
power press
275
Total none

Masters 1
Power clean
242
None

Police /firefighters
power clean
242
None

Masters pure
power clean
242
None

masters 1
Power clean
275
None

Police /firefighters
Power clean
275
None

Masters pure
power clean
275
None

Masters1
Unequiped bench
242
Bench 150

Police/firefighter division
unequiped bench
242
Bench- none

Masters pure
unequiped bench
242
Bench 150

Masters 1
Unequiped bench
275
Bench 185

Police/firefighter
unequiped bench
275
Bench-none

Masters pure
unequiped bench
275lb
Bench- none

Masters 1
Unequiped records
242lb
Squat- 192
Bench 147.5
Deadlift 220
Total 547.5

Police/firefighter
Unequiped records
242
Squat- none
Bench- none
Deadlift- none
Total- none

Masters pure
unequiped records
242
Squat 210
Bench 122.5
Deadlift 127.5
Total 580

Masters 1
Unequiped records
275
Squat 205
Bench 170
Deadlift 232.5
Total 602.5

Police/firefighters
Unequiped records
275
Squat 227.5
Bench 125
Deadlift 227.5
Total 580

Masters pure
Unequiped records
275
Squat 275
Bench 172.5
Deadlift 260
Total 707.5

Masters 1
Push/pull
242
none

Police/firefighter
Push/pull
242
327.5

Masters pure
Push/pull
242
327.5

Masters 1
Push/pull
275
None

Police/firefighters
Push/pull
275
None

Masters pure
Push/pull
275
320

Masters 1
retro
242
none

Police/firefighter
retro
242
None

Masters pure
Retro
242
None

Masters 1
Retro
275
None

Police/firefighter
Retro
275
None

Masters pure
Retro
275
None

powerlifting totals

A couple of my buddies from church have been working out with each other all year. They told me their goal is to get to a  bench,  squat,  and deadlift of 1000 pounds. They motivated me to challenge them to a N.A.S.A. weightlifting competition.They agreed!  I'm already doing a ton of squatting and deadlifts in weightlifting. All i need to do is start doing bench press a few times a week. I already have a great bench press program. My weightlifting coach Shane Miller built one for me last year. In only a couple months i put on 60 pounds to my bench,  hitting a lifetime PR of 280. I'm going to start throwing in some  bench with my weightlifting and see if i can take these guys to school!  Gonna show 'em how olympic style weightlifters lift! The NASA divisions are:
SUBMASTER: 33 to and including 39
MASTER: 40 years to and including 49; 50 years upwards.

Weight Classes
Men
52.0 kg Class - up to 52.0 kg
56.0 kg Class - 52.01 to 56.0 kg
60.0 kg Class - 56.01 to 60.0 kg
67.5 kg Class - 60.01 to 67.5 kg
75.0 kg Class - 67.51 to 75.0 kg
82.5 kg Class - 75.01 to 82.5 kg
90.0 kg Class - 82.51 to 00.0 kg
100.0 kg Class - 90.01 to 100.0 kg
110.0 kg Class - 100.01 to 110.0 kg
125.0 kg Class - 110.01 to 125.0 kg
140.0 kg Class - 125.1 to 140.0 kg
140+ kg. Class - 140.1 to unlimited

Full powerlifting
a. Squat
B. Bench Press
c. Deadlifts

Full Power Sports Division:
a. Curl
b. Bench Press
c. Deadlift

Power press:
A. Clean
b. Bench Press.

increased calories, PR's, and phone data

The last few workouts I've struggled to finish my workouts. I'm running out of energy which is an obvious sign that i need to increase my calories for awhile. I'll be raising it to my metabolic rate of 4000 calories a day for approximately 1-2 weeks depending how i feel.

I pick up my youngest son from pre-k before i go to weightlift each day. He's really well behaved for a 5 years old, but 1-2 hours in the gym everyday is a struggle for him. Last week i increased the data on my phone plan so he can watch NetFlix while I'm working out. That's been one of the best decisions I've made in awhile. I can lift with less interruptions and stress, and he's entertained and happy. Win win.

I lifted an 81k snatch rather easily last week which tied my training PR. The last time i got up an 81k snatch was in January and it was a struggle. Two weeks ago i squated 2 sets of 6 reps at 3301lb another PR. I'm looking forward to my next meet in April. I'm on track to crush my old PR's.

42 days until my big weightlifting meet

It's 1 month 12 days until the John Davis memorial weightlifting meet. All of my weights are moving up and my form is getting better day by day. My ultimate goal would be to have a 186 total. At my last meet I totaled a 182. I'm relatively sure with my recent strength and form increases I should be able to accomplish my goal. I cant wait, I'm super excited.

I've been trained by coach Shane Miller for a little over 11 months and already I can front squat more than I could back squat before. This week I set a front squat pr of 118.5 kilos and a back squat PR of 137 kilos.

My wife failed a 2nd class this semester. The nursing school she is attending kicks out any students who fails 2 classes. She is appealing the decision in hopes that she can continue. If she wins her appeal the school wont let her continue if she fails a third class. If she fails her appeal she's going to attempt getting a nursing degree in a third school. If she fails a third semester at the school she's at or at another school we have agreed she'll go back to work. We're racking up so many school loans we never be able to recover. Pray for her please.

treadmill tabata #4

Today I did a light recovery workout for strength training. Then I hopped on the treadmill and did a tabata. I warmed up for 5 minutes the ran at a 12% grade at an 11:45 pace 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. This was the fastest pace I've been able to keep since I started doing cardio a month ago. This workout was absolutely my max effort! I'm going to need to stay at this pace for awhile.

I did snatch's, squat's, and deadlift's yesterday. It was a great day. I PR'd my snatches, building up to 3X2 at 69k. I then completed a 5X5 at 104k on squats. I rounded the day off with six sets of heavy deadlifts setting another PR on my last set with a single at 356 pounds.

clean and jerk day!

Today was my 2nd favorite day, clean and jerk day, 2nd only to snatch day! I can now get 2 very good reps of the clean and jerk at 5 kilos above the New Mexico clean and jerk state record for the super-heavy weight 40-44 age group. So far there's no sign of my strength gains slowing down. I've set a new personal best clean and jerk AND snatch every week for the last 5 months. My coaches Shane Miller (who's athletes owns over 450 world and national records), Jodi Stumbo (holds numerous world records), and Linda Tetrault (multiple national and PanAm champion) of Miller weightlifting are amazing. With them in my corner I can accomplish anything! Today they helped me clean up my jerk, which has always been a weakness of mine. It's not much of a weakness anymore though!

I'm also getting close to breaking my lifetime PR in the squat which I set last year and bench press which I set way back in 1999! Even better news.... tomorrow is snatch day!!!!

another 3 PR's!

Today I was barely able to wake myself up in time to make it to Miller weightlifting. I need a day of rest and recovery. An entire 24 hours where I can do nothing but sleep and veg out on the couch. I've been working WAY to much and I'm SO TIRED! But all that fatigue disappeared once I started lifting. The gym was virtually empty today. It was just Faith, me, and some kick butt music jamin' out from the Zia CrossFit side of the gym. It was the perfect environment and perfect company to throw some weight around. Faith A is a hero of mine. She's one of the strongest, fittest, fastest, and most humble athletes I've ever met. Virtually everyday someone says something along the lines of, "I wanna be Faith when I grow up." Ya, she's that awesome. Apparently all the conditions were right because I set PR's in the snatch, front squat, and dead lift. I completed 2 reps of my snatch PR, which happens to be a state record baby for the super heavy weight 40-44 division!

More good news, I didn't binge eat yesterday. That's rare now-a-days. Any day I don't binge eat is a good day.

Finally a decent snatch, and I need a different goal!

When I was involved in all the other sports I've tried I would usually struggle for awhile, then get worse for a single practice or a week, then make a huge jump. My progress was almost never gradual or consistent. 2 steps forward, 1 step back. I've been training for Olympic weightlifting for over 2 months now and my snatches suck, my cleans are only a little better. Sunday was my worst training day to date, and then today I felt great! I actually completed a few reps that looked like a real snatch! I live for moments like that. Finally, some progress. Perhaps I'll be ready for the New Mexico state games this summer after all.

On another note, there's a guy I've blogged about a few times named Barry Schroeder. he's in my age group, and I hope to get down to the weight division he's lifting in, the heavy weights. I've said I wanted to continue to lift, progress, and eventually try to compete with him. Yesterday he hit a 400 pound squat. I think I need to find another golden carrot, a different person to try to strive to beat. my max lifts are ridiculous compared to his. My max power snatch was 152, bench was 270, squat was 280, and my max dead lift was 350. My best lifts are no where near his warm ups!