Powerlifting

[Birds]

Fitness and poor form aside, pushing that weight for those reps at that body weight is pretty impressive to me.

[Mitcho_7]

Talk about banging some reps out.

He bounces the bar off his chest like nothing else, but with 100kg getting that many done regardless, is solid!

[TTT]

Equiped lifting is just another sport really.

it is still powerlifting but the equipment gear allows people to push the limits.

it does change the movement a fair bit.

there are bench shirts, squat suits and deadlift suits.

it's a totally different ball lifting game...

[markos]

PTC NEWSLETTER

#170

2012 GPC WORLDS

I just got back from Europe yesterday, so I’m going to write this newsletter while everything is still fresh in my mind.

For those that don’t know what I’m talking about, the 2012 GPC Worlds was held in Bardejov, Slovakia this year, and GPC Australia sent 17 athletes to compete, the largest Australian team ever.

Of those 17, 9 were from PTC Frankston, 5 from PTC Brisbane and 1 from PTC Perth.

Before I discuss individual efforts, the first thing that hit me when I got home was how many people back home were watching. Before a big comp like Nats or Worlds, I think a lot about the lifter. We prepare as best we can, but the last thing I want is for the lifter to bomb. I keep to myself and don’t say much, but it’s something I worry about. After the event, I kind of retreat into myself. I can’t explain it, its relief and a letdown I suppose. I tend to notice what isn’t perfect at an event, and focus on that, rather than look at the positives.

This event was no different. What I didn’t understand was the affect it had on the lifters and relatives back home. When I watched the vids on my computer, I noticed some lifters close to tears with the National Anthem being played. Jesse tells me he stayed up and watched the entire event, he was in the chat room talking to others, parents, friends etc

I must admit I don’t get emotional after an event, except for one occasion I’ve previously mentioned. Even though Max has medalled twice at a Worlds, and set a WR, Nina winning Gold and breaking WR’s, I don’t get emotional, so I miss how important it is to some.

Only when I got home did it sink in. I now wish I could have enjoyed the aftermath more, but it was more about relief for me. Of the 9 lifters from my gym we had 7 Golds and 2 Silvers, we set 17 World Records, Max finished 2^nd overall in Juniors and Nina 3^rd overall in masters. I’m very, very proud of what they achieved, and relieved. Once I can stop noticing the negatives, I’m sure I’ll learn to enjoy the success of our lifters more.

Here’s a rundown of the trip. We left Tullamarine on Tuesday the 11^th of September at around 3pm, stopping in Singapore then London on our way to Vienna, Austria, arriving there on Wednesday.

For those that haven’t been to Vienna, let me describe it. Awesome. It was Nina’s favourite place that we visited. The people, the city, food, shopping, was excellent. We left on Sunday for Bardejov, Slovakia, arriving at Kosice airport in the afternoon. The meet director, Jan Matej had a big coach waiting for us. We took 90 minutes to arrive at out hotel in Bardejov, sharing the coach with the Israeli team. The area the hotel was located in was ordinary, 5 minute walk had us at the venue, a very special place, and it was excellent. Another 2 minutes by foot had us in the Bardejov town centre. What a beautiful little town, and exceptionally cheap.

Our team started lifting on Tuesday, the girls first.

Vicki went 87.5/55/130.5 for 273kg@57kg for a total of 273kg (4^th attempt deadlift WR 132.5kg). One WR

Sussy went 112.5/60/120 for 292.5kg@54kg, 4 Masters WR

Nina went 120/70/140 for 330kg@57kg, plus a 4^th attempt 142.5kg deadlift, for an Open and Masters Women World Record, Masters squat, deadlift and total WR

Amanda went 135/67.5/135 for 337.5kg@76kg, including an Open Women squat WR

All 4 girls won Gold, with Nina finishing 3^rd overall in Masters.

The other 3 girls on the Aussie team, Tish, Cami and Bec, also won Gold.

Emad was the first of our male lifters, followed by Conor, Max, Spiros and Jack. Emad, Spiros and Jack won Gold, Max and Conor won Silver.

Emad set the 75kg Masters WR, Max set the 90kg Juniors bench press WR, Jack set 4 WR.

Emad won a tough tussle for his Gold. He deadlifted a massive 260kg at only 74kg bodyweight to seal the Gold. Only later, when watching my videos of the presentation on my computer when I got home, did I realise how much it meant to him, and how much it must have meant to his whole family who stayed up to watch.

Conor just missed a Gold, once he improves his bench press he will be very hard to beat. To be squatting 200kg at 17 and only 81kg is incredible, he had a 20kg lead after the squats, only to give it back after the bench press, a Silver for Conor.

This was Max’s first comp for 2 years, in fact his last comp was the 2010 Worlds in the States. He had set himself to total 650kg, which he did. His comp went down to the deadlift. If Max had managed to make 255kg, he would’ve won the Gold. He did set the WR bench press with 155kg@86kg in the 90kg Junior class

Spiros started well, squatting a 235kg PB, then benching 150kg, before re injuring his lat during warm ups on the deads with 170kg. He took a token 140kg deadlift. He was set to go well over 600kg, but it wasn’t to be, still won Gold.

Jack had his worst comp ever, yet still broke all 4 of his WR, broke all his PB’s and won Gold. Jack dropped 7kg of bodyweight, had a doctor visit his room in Vienna, helped others all day Tuesday and half the day Wednesday, then competed. To put in perspective what a bad day meant to this 21yo giant, he squatted 280kg, benched 185kg and deadlifted 280kg, totalling 745kg, a 40kg increase on his WR he set in June.

Emad went 220/122.5/260 for 602.5kg@74kg, WR total and Gold in the 75kg Open Men

Conor went 200/90/210 for 500kg@81kg and Silver in the 82.5kg teen class

Max went 250/155/245 for 650kg@86kg and Silver in the 90kg juniors, WR bench press and 2^nd overall teen/junior

Spiros went 235/150/140 for 525kg@126kg for Gold

Jack went 280/185/280 for 745kg@153kg, Gold and 4 WR

The other male lifters were Scott, Ricky and Zach from PTC Brisabane and Dan from PTC Perth.

Dan finished 3^rd in the 82.5kg open men

Scott got Gold in the 90kg open men, including a WR deadlift of 302kg and WR total of 724kg

Ricky finished first in the 110kg Open men with the Russian, but the Russian was 1kg lighter so Rick had to settle for Silver. Ricky totalled 847.5kg@110kg

Poor Zach pulled his hammy on his second squat. It was 310kg. Zach is 18yo.Zach also benched 190kg, he weighed in at 144kg, he won Gold and set the squat and bench teen WR.

Big Will lifted in the equipped bench only section, missing all 3 lifts and bombing. Zach also competed in the Equipped Bench only, benching a massive 250kg for Gold and WR.

Dirk and Sammy ran around both days helping everyone that needed a hand. Every team needs helpers, we were lucky to have them, hopefully one day some of our lifters can repay the favour.

With well over 500 lifters and 25 countries represented, Australia finished 4^th overall. The scoring system is heavily weighted towards Masters lifters, of which Israel had plenty, they subsequently won Gold overall, even though Australia had the most Gold Medallists with 12, add 3 Silver and a Bronze to that. In the overalls, Cami, Nina, Max and Ricky all finished top 3.

Emad set the all time Oz record 75kg total with 602.5kg. He has now gone over 600kg twice

Scott set the all time Oz record 90kg total with 724kg

Ricky set the all time Oz record 110kg total with 847.5kg

These are all time, any fed, raw, by an Australian lifter. To have 3 of the all time records broken at one meet shows what a brilliant job the boys did. To do it at Worlds is exceptional. To do it 30 hours from home is mind numbing.

Of all the performances, the 2 that stick out the most to me were Scott’s and Max’s. They wrapped, spotted and loaded all day for their team mates on Tuesday, beginning at 8am, before finishing lifting themselves at 11pm.

I was genuinely concerned they’d blown their Worlds prep. Instead, they were unbelievable. Scott broke his total PB by 39kg set in June this year, Max beat his last comp total by 160kg.

I already knew Scott was a top bloke, but I always thought he was a crap lifter. Now he’s top of the World. His performance was the best I’ve witnessed at a comp, ever. From the 8kg he dropped in the sauna the night before, to staggering in the queue at the weigh in, helping his 2 female lifters, regaining the 8kg he lost, winning gold, setting 2 WR, an all time Oz record, then getting up early the next day to help Zach and Rick.............and doing all this while on his honeymoon. Something had to suffer, and going by the smile on Tish’s face, it wasn’t the honeymoon, so I’m lost.

The Australian lifters made lots of friends and had lots of photos taken with other lifters. Our crew was very popular and did their country proud. I’m very happy I was there to see it, and record it. The vids are on our YouTube channel and ProRawForum.

From Bardejov we went to Prague, which has to be the most beautiful city in the world. Emad took the boys clubbing every night, going by the stories, they party as hard as they lift, to see Max and Jack with hangovers was very amusing.

I was very blessed to able to make this trip, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous person. It was the trip of a lifetime, but I got a little homesick in the end, missing Jesse and my girls. I don’t think I’ll ever undertake another trip like this without my kids because I was quite miserable by the end of it. I was glad to be back home, even if our luggage didn’t make it...........yet.

Jesse tells me he wants to compete next year. He was meant to go this year, but instead stayed home and ran the family business. Oddly, he would have won the 67.5kg Open Mens class at 18yo this year. He is quitting basketball and going to compete in powerlifting.

I’d really like to thank everyone that contributed to our fund raising, and a huge thanks to Pirotta Roof Plumbing, who covered all of Sussy’s costs, accommodation and travel. Very special people. Their money was well spent, Sussy won Gold, set 4 WR and greeted everyone with a smile, a great ambassador for powerlifting and Australia.

Now I’m not sure I’ll ever get another chance to travel overseas with such a great and successful bunch, but doing it just once is plenty for me.

Thank you

Markos

[markos]

[markos]

[markos]

[markos]

[NickR33]

awesome, well done mate! and well done to all the lifters, not easy to fly all that way and perform at your best... takes ages to fully recover from those long arse flights

I didn't get to Vienna or Prague last Europe trip... really want to do Eastern Europe next time, supposed to be beautiful

will send that last vid to my Mrs, she is about that size so will be impressed... that's a hell of an arch! I'll also send her the Nina DL WR, Mum power! impressive

[Trozzle]

Mindblasting effort from the guys and girls there Markos, you should ALL be very proud. Super impressed.

[markos]

Thanks fellas

[GHOSTrun]

Amazing results Markos

[markos]

We've got the Novice Comp on Sunday, lifting starts at 12, come have a look, Nick from SAU will be repping you guys

[NickR33]

We've got the Novice Comp on Sunday, lifting starts at 12, come have a look, Nick from SAU will be repping you guys... poorly

fixed your post lol

seriously though, I haven't made it through the full PPP program on any of the lifts so going to be some more guesswork I think... will test the squat max tomorrow night as I tested the bench and deadlift on Sat... then no heavy stuff til Sun

is there a formula or rule of thumb for working out openers?

aiming for 500kg total... 170/120/210... but I haven't made any of those lifts yet... there's always hope haha

Edited October 2, 2012 by NickR33

[markos]

A good opener is a weight you can do for 2 reps

[TTT]

I'm doing the PTC Brisbane deadlift only comp on Saturday.

PB or injury.

we'll see which comes first.

[markos]

I reckon it will be a dead heat lol

[Birds]

Do you guys ever do bench only comps?

[R31Nismoid]

What time are you leaving your place Nick?

I've got nothing on this w/e

[Nee-san]

What time are you leaving your place Nick?

I've got nothing on this w/e

Feels like I'm wearing, nothing at all...