Contest Decision

This article is a follow-up to New Two by Two Training Plan and Next Contest Plans.

After competing in IPA PA States on Saturday, March 5, 2016, I mentioned that I was planning on entering a second powerlifting contest this year in September. I said I had found three possibilities, but I hadn’t decided which one to enter as there were pros and cons for each. Well, I recently found a fourth contest for which there are all pros and no cons, so God-willing I will be entering APF/ AAPF Ohio States in Mansfield, Ohio on Saturday, September 10, 2016.

I entered one APF contest before, back on Labor Day weekend in 2006 held near Pittsburgh, and I very much enjoyed it. I found it to be very similar to the IPA in terms of rules and the atmosphere at contests. I haven’t entered another APF contest since then only because the APF never held another contest near Pittsburgh, PA where I live. However, Mansfield, Ohio is only a three-hour drive, which is a little less than the 3-1/2 hours for IPA PA States in York, PA, just in the opposite direction, west rather than east.

APF Ohio States was held in this location and at about this time the last two years. When I was looking for a second contest to enter last year, I saw it but ignored it, as I had checked the APF 2015 Rulebook early that year, and it only had a raw without wraps division described, while I am now only planning on competing raw with wraps. But apparently the APF added a raw with wraps divisions after I checked the rulebook, as both a “Raw” and a “Classic Raw” division were contested at this contest last year and will be so again this year. The 2016 Rulebook describes the Classic Raw division as allowing 2.5 meter wraps, which is what I use. If I had known this last year, I would have planned on entering this contest then. If I had, I might have avoided the hamstring injury I sustained around that time, as my training plan would have been arranged differently, and I wouldn’t have been doing the good mornings I injured my hamstring on.

Be that as it may, I am planning on entering APF Ohio States this year. Counting out the weeks, I should get in the full 12 weeks of both of the training routines of my Two by Two Training Plan before this contest. If I then enter IPA PA States again in 2017 and it is again the first weekend of March, I should get in a 12-week routine and a 10-week routine before it. Thus these two contests will work nicely for my Two by Two Training Plan, which is designed for doing two 10-12 week routines between contests.

If anyone is interested in this contest, details are posted on the WPC/ APF’s website on their meet schedule page, as is the entry form.

Powerlifting and Back Pain

The first book is geared towards the beginner to intermediate powerlifter. It presents sound training, competition, dietary, and supplement advice to aid the reader in starting and progressing in the sport of powerlifting. The second book details how I overcame years of crippling low back and was able to return to the sport of powerlifting.

Starting and Progressing in Powerlifting: A Comprehensive Guide to the World's Strongest Sport

Overcoming Back Pain: A Mind-body Solution (Second Edition)