From gym newbie to powerlifter

     When I started training with Brandon Mauro in May of last year I never would have imagined the transformation journey I was embarking on. And I certainly would not have believed anyone if they had told me that this year I would be obsessed with reaching new goals in powerlifting. I can honestly say that at the time that I started training I had no idea what powerlifting was and I had never followed it as a sport. And last month when Brandon had suggested that I compete in a powerlifting meet, I was like 'yeah right.' I thought he was crazy. Back in November when he explained to me about deadlifts, progressive overload, PRs and deficits (See Deadlifts, progressive overload, PR max and deficits, yeah mind blown!) I thought it was amazing that he was sharing his knowledge and experience of lifting but didn't believe it would be something I could do. I mean, let's be honest, I'm almost 49 years old. Who waits until they're approaching their 50's to enter a sport and become an athlete for the first time in their life? Let alone, enter a sport that puts such strain on the body and the central nervous system. 

     But as the months progressed and I got into pulling and squatting heavier weights, I became obsessed with beating my own personal records and pushing the limits to see what I could do. And back in February when I joined the Winter Transformation Challenge at Muscle Inc. Brandon decided it was time for me to step up my game and suggested a stricter diet and more intense training that included core exercises and interval cardio. And as my body began to change, so did my views on lifting heavy. Even after moving to Arizona, in our weekly conversations Brandon continues to motivate me and inspire me to push myself beyond what I think I can do. After attending The Arnold expo last month and experiencing the energy of the crowd at a powerlifting event, I became interested in attending another one in the future. I went online looking for local events in powerlifting and discovered there was an event for rookies happening in the fall locally. When I mentioned it to Brandon, before I could say I wanted to go watch the meet he said to me "you should enter!" and I was like "I was just gonna go and watch." But he insisted that I should enter. But I went online a few days later to see what the entry fee was and was disappointed to find out the event was already full. And the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do an event. Brandon agreed to coach me and explained how we would train to prep for a meet. So we decided I would enter an event in the fall of this year and I am getting more excited the more I think about it. I could not wait to see what I am capable of lifting.


     So I ended up finding out what I was made of sooner than I thought I would. There was a Push/Pull charity meet happening at Muscle Inc. on April 14 that I planned on attending. One day before the event I was training at the gym and mentioned to Bobby (trainer and owner of Muscle Inc.) that I was talking to Brandon about entering a USAPL event in the fall and Bobby suggested I enter the Push/Pull charity event on April 14. He told me it was the perfect opportunity to get my feet wet and see what I can do. When I mentioned it to Brandon he enthusiastically responded with, 'DO IT!' So I told Bobby to sign me up. At first I was just going to do the deadlifts because I never really do bench or pay attention to PR's or anything. I mean, I knew I would have to start paying attention if I was going to be doing USAPL events but up to this point I had no idea what I could lift on bench. Then Brandon told me it wasn't good to avoid something because you need to improve on it. "Powerlifting is an individual sport. It's you vs. you. Don't worry about anyone else. Do both and see where you are at and we can work from there." So I signed up for both one week before the event and would see where I was at with lifts when I trained that week. 

   Monday night, 6 days before the event I worked on my deadlifts and maxed out at 225 lbs for 4 reps. I had someone at the gym take a video so I could analyze it and send it to Brandon. I made it look easy and quite frankly, it felt easy. Starting with 225 for my first attempt at the meet should be cake. Tuesday night, 5 days before the event I worked on my bench press. Working the bench for me was a little different since I didn't know what I was capable of. I had struggled with tendonitis in both elbows and my left shoulder, had surgery on both my right wrist and my neck and dealt with carpal tunnel in my left wrist. My upper body was always my weak spot. I started with the bar and added plates until I worked up to and maxed out at 105 lbs for 2 reps. But I felt more comfortable with 95 lbs for 5 reps. The second rep at 105 lbs was a struggle and my arms were not steady. So I figured starting at 95 lbs for my first attempt at the meet would probably be best. 

     As the weekend approached I became more and more anxious about the event. It didn't help that nutrition-wise I was on my second week of zero carbs as I had started a cyclical keto diet on March 29. I couldn't wait for the weekend of the event for the carb days let alone the push/pull. The night before I got a pep talk from Brandon where he explained how a powerlifting event usually runs, the commands and the rules. He also recommended I pack a meal and a few snacks and be prepared to be there for a few hours. And as anxious as I was, after talking to him I felt a lot better about what to expect. Still, the next morning I woke up with a knot in my stomach and a pounding chest. I was nervous because of the 'unknown' element of doing something new but more so, I was excited to finally see what I would lift that day!

     And I was amazed at what I was able to lift at the push pull. The event was a huge success. I think Bobby said there were 40 lifters all together. When I arrived I registered, weighed in and they recorded my first attempt for both bench and deadlift. There was a bit of waiting around but finally the event started with bench. My first attempt at 95 lbs was good. Second attempt at 105 lbs was disqualified because I didn't wait for the command to rack it. So for my 3rd attempt I went for 105 again. Success. I was happy with what I pushed on bench but deadlifts were what I couldn't wait to do. I started with 225 lbs on my first attempt and as I figured it went up easy and didn't feel heavy at all. What I never imagined was pulling 250lbs for my second attempt and (holy cow!) 275 lbs for my third attempt. And even though my 275 lbs lift was disqualified for hitching (moving the bar up and down your thighs to get to the locked position) I’m still damn proud of myself for getting it all the way up and not dropping it! (see videos below) Next meet I will beat myself for sure! I’m addicted. The energy in the room was exactly as I imagined. It was that energy, the sound of people calling my name, yelling 'pull' on my last lift and cheering that gave me the drive to pull that last weight to the standing position and not drop it. I thought to myself, 'I am not dropping this bar. It is coming up!'

     It is amazing how much an event like that takes out of you. Brandon had told me it taxes the central nervous system but I never really imagined what he meant until it was all over. The next day I woke up feeling like I had been in a car accident, sore all over. Two days after the event my lower back was still very sore. Three days after the event I noticed bruises on my biceps and swelling on my wrists. By the fourth day I had charlie-horse pain in my left glute and hamstring. Brandon had told me to take a break from training to let my body recover and that is exactly what I did. I scheduled a massage and took it easy. It took me about a week to feel fully recovered. I have to say, at one point I thought to myself, 'I am never lifting again!' But when my body bounced back I thought to myself, 'What the hell was I thinking?" And Brandon has convinced me that when I do a future event with the proper prep, although I will still need time to recover, my body will be conditioned and prepared to lift heavier weights. And I cannot wait.

Yes, yes! I went to The Arnold...(a long overdue post)

Posing with the infamous Arnold Statue outside
the Columbus Convention Center

     This blog post is LONG overdue. I know. I have been so busy since I got back from the most amazing weekend I have ever experienced since I started this journey of self discovery and healthy living. I have run over in my head what I want to write about a dozen times but the time constraints of daily life (job, family, training, health coaching school, meal prep etc...) have made it difficult to find the time to sit down and write until now. So here ya go...

     Sometime back in February my friend Kim from the gym (I know. I chuckle when I say it t0o.) called me to ask if I wanted to go with her to The Arnold Expo. At the time I wasn't even sure I knew what The Arnold Expo was but had heard of it and knew that going to it would be an inspiring experience, an opportunity to see some of the world's best powerlifters and bodybuilders and a chance to get some free stuff (insert winky face here).  So for the month leading up to March 1st I spent time learning about the events at The Arnold, following the athletes on Instagram and getting psyched for that weekend. It seemed like it was so far away when we planned to go and then suddenly it was here and we were in the car on our way to Columbus!

     Living in eastern Pennsylvania, it didn't make sense to fly one state over. So Kim and I had decided to drive as far as Pittsburgh Thursday after work (about a 5 hour drive), crash at a Marriott and then hit the road to Columbus Friday morning (After a cardio workout, of course.) From Pittsburgh we would only have 2 1/2 hours left to drive. The ride Thursday night was smooth until we hit snow outside of Pittsburgh, adding an hour of stressful driving to our trip. Quite honestly, we were both so pumped for the weekend it didn't matter that we had been up since the early morning hours and worked all day before hitting the road. We stopped only once to get gas and coffees somewhere outside of Altoona, PA. It was shortly after we got back on the road that we started seeing plow trucks along the interstate standing at attention in the wake of the bad weather that was coming. When we hit the snow it was impossible to see the lanes. I fell in line behind a tractor trailer so I could follow his tracks. I looked in my rearview mirror and found a half dozen cars following my lead. I was never so happy to pull into a hotel as I was that night. It was midnight but Kim and I were both stoked for the next day. We sat up talking, ate (we had done meal prep for the weekend to ensure we stayed on plan) and finally fell asleep sometime after 1am.

Me and Kim representing Muscle Inc
at The Arnold 2019

      The next day we got up, did cardio, grabbed an Americano at Starbucks (yes, I have Kim hooked now too!), checked out and hit the road. We arrived in Columbus around 1pm, checked in and dropped off our bags and headed straight over to the expo. We parked about two blocks from the Columbus Convention Center. As soon as we got out of the car and started walking I could feel my chest pounding with excitement. The infamous Arnold statue stood outside the doors we entered and there was a line down the block of people wanting to take a picture in front of it. Kim and I decided we would get a picture the next day since we would be there earlier. The convention center was a ball of energy and excitement. The concourse was crowded but not impassable. There were vendors all along the concourse selling t-shirts and product, giving demonstrations and handing out ads. Every once in awhile we would pass a section where small free competitions were being held; amateur powerlifting, jumping rope, and arm wrestling to name a few. The thing I found most surprising were the food vendors selling pretzels, hotdogs and soda, something I never expected to see at a fitness expo. There was so much going on and we were only in the concourse!

With Michelle Warnky of American
Ninja Warriors at The Arnold 2

     Kim and I got our wristbands to enter the exhibit area and got in line. There were booths for all kinds of supplement companies, protein shakes galore, fitness clothing and lifting equipment. A number of the booths had resorted to using Insta model girls (many of whom looked like they had never lifted a weight in their life) dressed in skimpy outfits to attract expo-goers to sample or buy their product. I was impressed with the companies like Muscle Egg, for example, who had people working their booth who knew and stood by the product they were selling and were not just there because they had a pretty face and a skinny body. We stopped to watch powerlifting on the mainstage where I found the men who can deadlift 700 lbs plus most impressive. After eating a power lunch; salmon, rice with quinoa, and asparagus, from one of the vendors we headed back into the exhibit area and watched the amatuer bikini competition where the winner got her pro card to compete at the pro level. We walked around a little more and found a 'entry level' American Ninja Warriors course being run by none other than Michelle Warnky herself. We watched for a little while as people attending the expo paid $25 to attempt the course. (Not my thing) A few other ANW were there too, including, Captain NBC who ran the course a few times, as he was recovering from an injury. I called Michelle over at one point and took a picture. She was really cool to talk to and seemed really down to earth. 
   
     It was a this point we decided to call it a day and left the expo. Walking down the concourse we ran into Adam, a guy we know from Muscle Inc. We talked for a few minutes and then headed out. Kim must have some kind of lucky aura about her because on our way out to the car she found $30 just lying on the ground and no one around to claim it. Score! Parking money for tomorrow! We were both starving and decided to go out to eat for a cheat meal that night. Coming back to our room after dinner we spotted a large building with a coopula and Kim said, "That must be the capital. Let's take a drive by it!" As we drove towards it we realized it was NOT the capital. It was, in fact, a high class Hilton with almost the entire first floor a gym. As we both cracked up laughing, I jokingly told Kim that must be where Arnold is staying this weekend. We got back to our B & B and talked about what we would do the following day. We had decided we wanted to get tickets to go to the Arnold Classic bodybuilding prejudging on Saturday afternoon. Any opportunity to sit down and get away from the craziness of the expo exhibits sounded good to me. Plus, we would get to see the bodybuilding pros up close.

Came home with some pretty great
stuff from The Arnold

Living statues at the Columbus Convention
Center during The Arnold

     Saturday morning we got up early and were on our way to the convention center by 7am. We had no problem finding parking. Finding a clean, healthy breakfast, on the other hand, was another story. We were able to get coffee from a shop at the convention center but as far as eats went it was all pastries and carbs we didn't want to eat. They didn't even have oatmeal as an option. Hoping to find a few protein shake samples from vendors at the exhibit, we got in line to enter. We had early entry passes which allowed us to enter the exhibits an hour early with a special stamp on our hand. The line went rather quickly (once security filtered out anyone without the proper stamp on their hand). For the first hour we made our way to all the booths we wanted to visit before the craziness of the general public entering. Once the the doors opened to the public it was chaos! I mean, you could not move and I needed to get out of there. We weaved our way through the crowd to the exit and entered the concourse. We explored some of the exhibits like the 'Art at the Arnold' and went to view some of the free competitions happening along the concourse before heading out to find coffee at a local coffee shop a block from the convention center before going to the prejudging. 

     The prejudging, I have to say, was the most amazing part of the whole weekend. A year ago I had a completely different view on bodybuilding. After training for over nine months and seeing the work that goes into getting a body in shape and losing weight, I realize how much hard work, dedication and sacrifice goes into getting your body into that kind of shape. And yes, I realize that pro bodybuilders do not get that way without supplementation. But supplementation is just that, it supplements what you are already doing. No pro bodybuilder gets the physique they have by taking a magic drug. It takes nutritional discipline and beast-like training. It takes know how the body works and knowing how foods interact with fat loss and muscle gain. And the men and women we saw at The Arnold Classic were the epitome of it all. Next year, I definitely want to get tickets to the finals! 

  

     When Sunday morning came and we had to say goodbye to Columbus and head home I felt the pang of disappointment that it was all over for us. We left early trying to beat a snowstorm that was coming across the state of Pennsylvania that day. And although I was anxious to get home, I was also sad that the weekend was over. Spending time amongst so many like-minded people who value fitness, healthy living, clean eating and a positive mindset was so motivating and electrifying. It made me realize how much I love this new lifestyle that I have embraced and rejuvenated my drive to continue to strive to live my bed life and pursue my happiness.