Possible contest I may enter!

[VeganEssentials]

Met a guy at the gym tonight I'd never seen before, and after I was done deadlifting he asked if I'd have any interest in entering the lifting contest that they hold at Summerfest in Milwaukee on July 3rd. He originally called it a powerlifting contest, so I was a bit put off since my bench is terrible and my squat is still a year or so away from being where I'd like it, but then he informed me that it was only 2 events - the deadlift and the clean and jerk. Knowing that my deadlift is going well that part I have, and if my wrist will heal I'll probably be able to get a very sloppy power clean and jerk up to 250-260 with a month's recovery work, so I figure I'll sign up and, barring any injuries, I'll go for it since I've got around 5 weeks to prepare. I have no idea how I'll fare, but I figure it's worth it just to be lifting while wearing a "Vegan" t-shirt, so I'm going for it. Wish me luck - I'll certainly need it!

Ryan

[Rochellita]

Good luck, Ryan! Go for it!

[JP]

Exellent stuff mate! All the best for the comp! keep us updated on how things progress!

[JO]

Might be worth a field trip from Chicago to see/cheer. If you have any further info about the contest/summerfest, pls post!

JO

[Pete]

Go for it mate & keep us up to date with comp preps

[Oak]

Yeah Ryan,

Definetly, go for it. sounds like a lot of fun!

The guy must of thought that you would do well seeing you doing your big deadlifts. Plus you pressing is pretty good too!

There is no way you won't do well. Just wonder what the other competers are going to be like?

Good luck!
Oak

[VeganEssentials]

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!

The person who was supposed to get me the entry form didn't show at the gym last week like he said, so this week I'll be hunting it down myself. It sounds like fun, and I won't want to miss out on this one.

I have no idea what the competition will be like, but I'll count on the fact that a lot of people might have a weak spot in the overhead pressing, since you've got to get it from the floor to overhead and not off a rack. If I can get my press back to around 260 or above I think I should do fairly well, so we'll see what happens. I'll try and get someone to take a picture or two when the day comes, and I'll keep everyone posted once I know more details!

Ryan

[Pete]

I sense a WIP update approaching

[VeganEssentials]

Jo,

Here's a link to the details on the time/date for the event:

http://www.summerfest.com/entertainment/artists/view.php?id=2180

Don't know if you've been up for Summerfest before, but if not, this adds to the reasons to come up to Milwaukee for a visit! Not that the thought of wading through a crowd of tens of thousands of semi-drunk people for the day sounds fun to everyone, but at least I've got a reson to go this year and stick around a bit - usually I wind up going for 2-3 hours and get claustrophobic, which is followed by a quick exit! Tomorrow I call for the application, so I'll post more details once I know what's going on.

Pete - I'll definitely have someone take shots for it and get some pics up for the WIP section. I may do some outdoor lifting Saturday for a bit and if so, I'll get some shots from it as well for an update. We'll see how it goes!

Ryan

[JP]

ryan, the clean & presses you do, are they deep or power cleans? Was just thinking if this comp allowed both then you could get a few lbs more by going deep, front squatting the bastard and then pressing it. Though at least with me it would be the pressing part which is the weakest anyway, so it wouldn't help...

[VeganEssentials]

JP -

Tomorrow I hope to get the full rules on the contest. I was told "clean and jerk" by the person who first mentioned it, and I totally forgot to ask the strictness of this lift and if there were performance regulations. For me, I basically power clean the sucker and only dip up to 6-8" under the bar at most, pulling it almost to neck height through brute force and little proper technique. It would benefit me greatly to work on some front squatting and learn to pull properly, but with so little time I probably wouldn't get much out of it, so rather I'm going to work every 4-6 days on my usual technique and try to get over 260 to get a fair amount for the lift. I find that my press is usually only 5-10 lbs. over my clean (at least, that's how it was in the past) so as long as I can clean a fair amount it should all work out in the end. With what I think I'm capable of, here's the plan if there are 3 attempts:

DL - open with 475 just to ensure a number in case I panic and bomb out, then 500, then 515-520, depending on where I max out in the next 3 weeks (provided I get past the 500!)

Clean and jerk/press - open with 225, bump to 250 on 2nd attempt, and if I feel good, push to get 265-270 for the third.

I feel that with the C&P, what holds me back is the feel of the equipment I'm used to. Nothing makes an initial pull feel worse to me than plates that feel loose on the bar, as you can pull the first 1/4 - 1/2" before the sleeves even come into contact with the plates and start the initial pull. I'm counting on the fact that since the people holding it have an olympic lifting club that they'll have some high-quality equipment there, and that'll make it feel that much better. Now, as long as I can get over the anxiety of lifting in front of a stand full of people we'll see how things go!

Ryan

[JO]

Thanks for the info, Ryan! Might make for a nice day trip from Chicago. Haven't been to Milwaukee in a few years (some other festival was going on at the time, closer to Labor day -- or maybe it was also summerfest, I don't remember... lots of people walking around as the crow flies, though).

Well, have fun preparing for the competition!

JO

[ctchrinthry]

Good luck with this. And a day trip up from chicago wouldn't be bad--summerfest is, IMHO, much better than the chicago festivals: smaller, cheaper, and less crowded. I went to several of them when i used to live in 'tosa.

The art museum is great too.

dave

[VeganEssentials]

Dave,

You're from the exact same neck of the woods that we are! We live right in the Tosa Village, in the old historic apartments above the Ace Hardware building in the quaint downtown section. Just to ask, where in town were you living when you lived here? Was this in the last few years or quite some time ago? If it was recently, it's a shame that you never got to stop on by the store, as hidden as it used to be when we were still here in the village. Oh well, if you ever get back up this way you'll have to stop by and say hello!

Ryan

[ctchrinthry]

Heck, i know where the ace hardware is. That's funny. I lived there several years ago, 97 or 98, i forget, 1800 block of N 76th. I loved that area.

I do pass by periodically, because my family lives in la crosse, but i usually go via rockford,madison,etc. Mebbye i will stick in my head at some point, but i'm willing to chaperone a field trip.