National Championships
A New Year and a New Age Group for me!!
But first...
North Carolina State Championships!!
1st 2 weeks of Training in December '23
Last 2 weeks of 2023!!
1st 2 weeks of 2024
Mid Jan through January 28th 2024
State Championships were moved to be part of the American Challenge in May at Currituck HS to be part of the competition to determine the National Champion in each division. The Fitness Warehouse Competition was a great way to not wait so long to compete that was not too far away. I was fortunate to be able to stay at my wife's parents' home in Elizabeth City the night before so I could weigh in and eat etc.
Decided I needed to be able to prepare more after setting the state record for the Strict Curl. There are many strong cats out there who are able to beat my curl once they enter my new 55-59 age group so I want to be at least competitive. I didn't want to spend $1200 for an official strict curl set up plus I really didn't have room for one. I decided to look for an old bench or something that I could use the bench pad part. I found this sit up bench for just $29!
March 3rd Update
Time is slipping by quickly. It seems like May is a long way ahead but it's not really when trying to train properly while also keeping my weight down. I'm ranging from 153-156 but of course I need to be 148.8 for competition. So far I've lifted 659,185.8 pounds and I've ran 35.58 miles. I've had some good lifts but oddly just those few pounds dropped to 148 ish really makes a difference. I'm going to try to keep weight closer to competition weight and see what happens. There are a few other competitions before the May one but soccer matches will be on those weekends. As a parent, watching my kids play is everything. These days become more and more limited and I want to see them do their thing as much as possible.
March 9th Update
I can feel myself getting stronger. I just have to be patient and consistent.
A mix of training the first part of March 2024
with my fellow gym rats
I really like using chains for variable resistance. It is my hope that they will help me break some plateaus with my bench press.
March 19th 2024
At about 155 I can do a pretty clean 108kg (237.6lb) bench and an okay 110 (242) along with an ugly would not count 250 but when I drop my weight to 148 I struggle. Trying to be patient.
April 2nd Update
I was really excited about this lift until I saw the scale... bleh... I was around 155 doing this but I need to be down to 148.8!!! Regardless, this was a new PR Pause I think.... I think my previous was just 250 so this was more at 115kd(253.5).
4/16/24
Just playing around with some motivation clips as I prepare... I really need to cut weight... So crazy, I've just been hungrier lately and having all these going away parties for people resigning at work is not helping!! I was about 158 in these clips... ugh! That's 10 over!
