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RPS Legion – 2024

Contest Report

By Gary F. Zeolla

8/9 (missed final Deadlift)

Four RPS Raw Masters (60-64 age) Records

One RPS Raw Open (all ages) Record (Squats)

One All-time Raw Masters (60-64) World Record (Squats)

First Place, 123-pound weight class

Background

      I competed in the Legion powerlifting contest for the Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate (RPS) in Monaca, PA, on Saturday, September 7, 2024. It was held at 580 Barbell, located in the basement of the local American Legion, #580 (hence the gym name and name of the contest). I competed in the Am division, 123-pound weight class, men’s masters (60-64 age) category, Modern Raw (raw with wraps) division. For my workouts leading up to this contest, see Powerlifting Workout Posts and Videos: July to September 2024 (Q3).

Weight Class and Weigh-ins

      Weigh-ins were the day before, so I weighed in Friday morning. With one exception, I have been competing in the 114-pound weight class since I started competing again back in 2003. However, a new medication I tried a few weeks back caused me to gain a 2.5 pounds that I never lost, just enough to put me out of range to cut to 114s. As such, I only had a couple of pounds to lose, but I overshot it and weighed in at 121.5 pounds. I ate as much as could the rest of that day and weighed 123.0 pounds the morning of the contest.

The Week and Night Before and Driving

      Unfortunately, I had lots to do the week of the contest and was really pushing it to get it all done before weigh-ins on Friday. Then the contest site was an hour drive from my home.

      I drove there and back twice, for weigh-ins the day before and again for the contest, for a total of four hours of drivetime. I knew all that driving would tire me out. That was made even more so by the stress of me not having a clue where I was going, never having been in Monaca previously, so I was depending solely on MapQuest on my phone to get me there.

      I must say, MapQuest’s directions are not the best. Too often, she would tell me to turn onto a road naming it by a name, but the road sign only had a route number, so I wasn’t sure if I was turning onto the correct road or not, or she would wait until the last minute to tell me to turn. I would be in the righthand lane and need to turn left, making for some dangerous maneuvering. I missed a turn on the way home from the contest because she didn’t tell me to turn, then she gave me a 15-minute tour of wherever I was before getting me back to the missed turn.

      Not MapQuest’s fault, but I had trouble finding the gym itself. I did not know ahead of time that it was in the basement of the American Legion. MapQuest told me to turn onto the side street that leads to its parking lot, but I didn’t see a sign for the gym. I left that parking lot and drove around a bit looking for a sign, with MapQuest going crazy the whole time telling me to take various side streets, I stopped twice to ask someone where the gym was, but neither person I asked had heard of it.

      I finally went back to the American Legion and put together its number of 580 and of the gym having 580 in its name, parked, looked around, and saw a sign for “Strongman 580” and followed it and found the pathway down into the gym entrance.

      When I entered and met the meet director and gym owner Josh Hendrickson, he mentioned about having hosted Strongman events (hence the sign) but that this was his first powerlifting meet. It was not until Sunday morning that I checked my email and saw Josh had sent an email with a link to a video showing people where the gym was and how to enter it. But that was not sent out until 10 pm Thursday night, after I had gone to bed, and I did not think of checking my email Friday morning.

      In any case, even with the driving hassles, it made no sense to stay at a hotel near the contest site just to save on two hours of driving. But the driving and stress from it did tire me out. Then Friday night I barely slept due to a couple of my health issues flaring up.

      Consequently, come Saturday morning, I was feeling exhausted. This was my fibromyalgia fatigue coming out. But I had previously brewed a quart of iced black tea extra strong, so that helped get me through the contest. I also took ibuprofen, fish oil, and turmeric to help with my various pain areas throughout the contest. And I drank my normal pre-workout before each lift, with Guarana powder (another source of caffeine) and creatine, so that all helped get me through the contest.

Records

      There were no records in the RPS Men’s 123lb. Amateur, Master 60-64 age, Raw Modern Division, so all of my successful lifts would be for those records. The other two records will be mentioned in the next section. See RPS Records.

Third Comeback

      Back in 2003, I entered my first full power contest since 1982, due to health issues keeping me from competing all of those years. I competed until 2009, when health problems and injuries again forced me to stop competing.

      But then I made my second comeback in 2015. I competed until a contest on my 60^th birthday in March 2021 (see RPS Powerpalooza – 2021). Then once again, health problems and injuries forced me to stop competing.

      This contest was 3-1/2 years after that contest and would mark my third comeback to powerlifting. That also of course means I am now 63-1/2 years old.

Squats

Gear: Crain: power belt, Genesis wrist wraps, 3.0-meter Genesis knee wrap; APT knee sleeves.

Warm-ups: 0/15, 65/11, 115/9, 155/7, 195/5, Gear/ Sleeves: 235/3, 260/1 (all weights in pounds)

Attempts:

Planned: Sleeves: 280, Wraps: 310, 327.5

Actual:  Sleeves: 280, Wraps: 310, 327.5

      I used sleeves for my final two warm-up sets and opener, as they are much less tiring and time-consuming to use, and I am more confident about hitting depth with sleeves, at least at lighter weights. But I then switched to wraps for my second and third attempts to hit my two main goals for the contest.

      The first goal was to break the all-time, raw with wraps, masters (60-64 age) world record, as according to Open Powerlifting. It was 308.5 pounds. All-time records can be broken by as little as one pound, so I tried 310. It was a hard lift, made harder by me wrapping a bit too earlier and not quite right. But I got it with three white lights.

      The second goal was to break the RPS Men’s 123lb., Amateur, Open (all ages) Raw Modern record. It was 325. A RPS record can be broken by as little as 2.5 pounds, so I went for 327.5. This time, I timed my wrapping just right and got my knees wrapped just right and as tightly as possible, and I got really psyched up. As a result, this lift felt better than the previous one. I am sure I could have done 330, but I went for the odd number to be sure I got the record.

      At the contest on my 60^th birthday I had squatted 335, so my Squat was down just five pounds from then, assuming I would have gotten 330 here.

Benches

Gear: Crain: power belt, APT: Black Mamba wrist wraps.

Warm-ups: 45/15, 65/11, 80/9, 95/7, 110/5, Gear: 120/3, 130/1

Attempts:

Original: 140, 150, 160

Planned: 140, 150, 155

Actual: 140, 150, 160

      My final bench workout did not go well, with me barely benching 152.5. I had originally hoped to do 160 at the contest, but after that workout, I dropped my planned third attempt to 155. But at the contest, the 150 felt rather easy, so I went for the originally planned 160. It was very hard, but I got it!

      I only benched 145 at the contest on my 60^th birthday, but that was because the shoulder pain that led to my first shoulder surgery had begun two weeks before. But prior to that, I was on track to bench 165. Using that number, my bench was also only down five pounds, not bad after surgery on both shoulders, tendonitis in both elbows, and arthritis filling up my right shoulder due to a bicycle accident back in the day.

    Before proceeding, two additional points on Benches. First, as I was setting up a bench to warmup up, I stupidly hit my left thigh against a safety bar. It left a small gash and bruise. The cut was bleeding. But fortunately, I had the foresight to have band-aids in my gym bag. But it took three to stop the bleeding. I wasn't sure if that would hold for deadlfits, but the cut was to the side, so it held, thank God.

    Second, also thank God that the tendonitis in my elbows only bothered me a bit during warmups but not at all during my attempts.

Deadlifts

Gear: Crain power belt; APT knee sleeves; Sheik wrist wraps.

Warm-ups: 0/15, 45/11, 135/9, 195/7, 255/5, Gear: 305/3, 345/1

Attempts:

Planned: 365, 385, 400

Actual: 365, 385, 400

      I was really sucking wind by deadlifts. But I rested between lifts as best as I could and got as psyched up as possible for each attempt. My opener was harder than I would have liked, but I got it without too much struggle. My second attempt was very hard. I debated on only trying 395 for my third attempt, but I really wanted that 400.

      It was a very hard lift, a grinder the entire way. But I got it and began to celebrate, until. I saw three red lights. I was flabbergasted. I asked the head judge what the problem was, and he said my shoulders were rounded, not back far enough.

      I was very upset, as I never got called on such a thing in all of my decades of powerlifting. But then, I switched from a sumo (wide) stance to a conventional (conv, close) stance a couple of years back due to the sumo stance being too hard on my tender adductors (inner thigh muscles). Maybe it is more natural to lock the shoulders back with sumos than conv.

      In any case, I watched another lifter get called on the very same thing. It looked like he needed to move his shoulders back about an inch. I would guess it was the same for me.

      Later, I reviewed my most recent deadlifts workout videos. For most of the reps, I am locking my shoulders back, sometimes excessively so. But for a few reps, my shoulders are indeed rounded. Then when I got pictures from the contest, there are two of me on my second attempt at the upright position. The first is with my shoulders just a bit rounded and the second with me perfectly upright. I am guessing I stopped at the first position for my third attempt.

      I can only guess if I would have had the same problem if I had gone with 395. But if I had and it passed, I would not have found out about this problem and might have faced it at my next contest. This way, I can now work on it and be sure I am getting my shoulders back for each and every rep moving forward.

      But still, being red lighted on this lift put a damper on the entire meet for me. It ended it on a down note. It was only later that I refocused on the two successful third attempts on Squats and Benches and can now look back on it as being a successful contest.

      In any case, at my 60^th birthday contest, I pulled 405. If that 400 had passed, once again, I would have again lifted five pounds less than last time. I’m harping on this comparison, as after two shoulder surgeries, a string of other injuries, and various health setbacks, I thank the LORD I was able to almost get back to where I was 3-1/2 years ago.

Total and Attempts Ratio

      I totaled 872.5 pounds and once again went 8/9. I say that as at every contest since my second comeback in 2015 I have gone either 8/9 or 9/9. And like with this contest, all of my third attempts have been near or actual full maxes, meaning I am not getting all or most all of my attempts by taking it easy but while pushing it to the limit. That is because of getting my peaking plan down pat.

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Cramp

      Like my 60^th birthday contest, my right thigh just above the knee began to cramp up on me after Benches. But I had the foresight to bring potassium tablets with me. I had taken a couple already, but I took one more, and that did the trick. The cramp alleviated and did not come back.

The Venue and Contest Itself

      As indicated, the venue was Barbell 580. It is a very nice gym, perfect for powerlifters and strongmen. It has several power racks, benches, and deadlift platforms, and much other equipment, including an assortment of concrete balls for strongmen, all on a spacious basketball court sized area.

      I should have taken pictures at weigh-ins before things were moved for the contest, but didn’t think of it. But trust me, it looked really nice. If you live in or near Monaca, this would definitely be the place to train.

      There were 37 competitors, though some were Bench and/ or Deadlift only. The contest was supposed to start at 10:00 am, but it started about half an hour late. I do not like it when that happens, as that is when I start to get nervous and fidgety, wasting energy. But once it started, it ran smoothly, and we were done by 4:00 pm. That was all good.

      However, I had two minor complaints. First, when the lists for the flights were posted, they were printed in very tiny fonts, too small for me to read. Younger lifters might be able to read such small print. But us master lifters do not see as well as we used to. A larger print size would have been nice. As it was, I just assumed I was near the beginning of the first flight for each lift.

     Second was the announcer. Usually, the lifting order is announced as the lifter who is “up” then “on deck” then “in the hole.” But here, he seemed to be taking “on deck” as the lifter who was lifting next. That was quite confusing.

      Also, he was only giving the lifter’s name but not the weight to be lifted. I guess he didn’t think the latter was needed as there was a computer screen facing the platform that the spotters/ loaders could see for the needed weights, as the “up” lifter’s line in the chart was highlighted. However, no one else could really see that screen. I only noticed it at deadlifts. That meant the audience had no idea how much was being lifted.

      It’s bad enough sitting in the audience and not knowing who is in what weight class and who is competing against who, but to not even know the weights being lifted left anyone watching the contest with no idea what was happening.

      At my first contest for my first comeback, an image like on the that computer screen was projected onto a movie screen to the side of the platform, so that everyone, lifters and audience, could see it. I just assumed such would now be standard for powerlifting contests, but I have never seen such a projection used again.

      People wonder why powerlifting does not get more support and interest from non-powerlifters, well this is why. There is no attempt to make the sport audience friendly. Go to a football or baseball game, and you can see what is happening with a glance at the scoreboard, but not so with a powerlifting contest.

      Those minor caveats aside, Josh said there are plans to make this an annual contest and that they might also hold a contest in the spring. If that proves to be the case, I could very well enter future Barbell 580 contests.

After the Contest

      After I drove home and unpacked my car, I took a shower, then laid down and didn’t move for a couple of hours. I was so exhausted I wasn’t even hungry. That exhaustion continued through the next few days. Again, my Fibromyalgia flaring up. I also had all of my gear and other stuff to wash or air out, which I must do due to my Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. That is why it took me three days to get this contest report and the pictures posted.

Conclusion

     With the new records, I now hold fifteen all-time master world records and 114 federation records. For details, see Summary of Powerlifting Contests, USA Ranking, and Records and My Powerlifting Accomplishments.

      I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for enabling me to overcome my various injuries sufficiently to not only compete again but to almost get back to where I was before the whole injuries’ ordeal started. I am still dealing with the same health issues otherwise, but again, I am thankful they are not keeping me from the sport I love.

For pictures from this contest, see RPS Legion – 2024 - Pictures.

The full meet results for this contest are posted on the RPS’s website at: 2024 RPS Legion.

My initial workouts post-contest begin at Week 37 at Powerlifting Workout Posts and Videos: July to September 2024 (Q3).

Addendum: Master Best Lifter

      The meet results for this contest are now posted on Open Powerlifting. These results are interesting in that they list lifters according to the Wilks rankings. I was number 7 out of 22 full power lifters. But more importantly is if there had been a Master Best Lifter award, I would have won it, quite easily in fact, out of six master full power lifters.

Disclaimer: The links to Amazon are advertising links, for which I receive a commission if a product is purchased after following the link

The above contest report was posted on this site September 10, 2024.

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