July 30, 2005

8 responses to Week 31: Heels over head

  1. brent Says:
    September 11th, 2005 at 3:47 am

    your persistence and devotion to powerlifting despite your back condition really is admirable
    i’ve been questioning myself about joining my school’s Olympic lifting team because i don’t know if i’ll be able to train myself to a competitive level, and like i read your training entry, i read about you having to stretch and decompress because your body twists during workouts, and i tell myself, i’ll join the team

  2. Kris Says:
    September 11th, 2005 at 6:06 pm

    Luckily, my back problems seem to come in bouts and most of the time I am pain free. The problem is that I haven’t been able to make any progress over the past two years in the deadlift since hard bouts of training always seem to trigger the back condition. This bugs me enough to not want to quit. Besides, I have been involved with barbells and dumbells since the early teens, so if anything, I guess IŽd just go Olympic or back to bodybuilding if my body gives up on me. I know I will never become a name in powerlifting, but it is really just doing it and beating old records that counts (I’m vehemently against drugs too, which doesn’t help…). I’d be happy to compete in a few low-level meets and put up respectable enough numbers to not be laughed at. My added mass disguises it well, but in high school my forte was actually endurance events and I was a pretty good martial artist (got my black belt in three years). But there is nothing like breaking a PR, even if it is nowhere near a WR. I’d say you’re making a good decision joining that team. Who knows where you will end up, but chances are there will be a barbell around. Good luck!!

  3. alberto caraballo Says:
    September 12th, 2005 at 3:38 pm

    One day, my benching will look that pretty. That even includes the scenery, lucky dog. If you had done the 232 w/chains first instead of the 232 without them, would you have nailed it?

  4. Kris Says:
    September 12th, 2005 at 6:53 pm

    Given the same spot on form as on the first 105 kg/232 lbs, I think I might just have hauled the chains to the top given that my lockout is strong. The next attempts weren’t nearly as good, but one can’t complain. This PR felt especially good.

  5. Jon Says:
    September 13th, 2005 at 3:10 am

    Nice pr Kris. I agree with your assessment of powerlifting. Breaking my own records is all the incentive I need to keep going. I don’t really care if I ever compete. It’s about the challenge of laying out a plan, executing that plan then putting up a record. It’s about testing ones physical, mental and emotional toughness. It’s such a wonderful battle to engage in.

  6. Stinn Says:
    September 17th, 2005 at 3:03 pm

    Nice work on the declines. Like everyone says it’s the best feeling to beat your PRs. This is all a competition with yourself, to better yourself every week and man is it addicting!

  7. Bobby Says:
    July 11th, 2010 at 2:53 am

    wow nice work. I really enjoyed seeing how you built it from start to finish. i am thinking of making my own power rack since i can weld. i go to a gym but would be nice to do it at home when i want. great job, everything looks great. one question is how is the power rack holding up to the rust?? did you build a shed over it? if you did i would like to see some updates on your pictures on this web page.

  8. Kris Says:
    July 30th, 2010 at 10:53 pm

    Hi Bobby,
    Thanks for the feedback and sorry for the slow reply.
    I just came back from a few weeks at the summer cottage and Toffe’s Gym the other day. The rack lives under the bare sky (no shed) and is holding up great. It’s now five years old (yay!) and I still have not seen any need to do any maintenance on it (painting up next, the flooring should last some more years I guess).
    I used to cover it up for the winter with a tarpaulin, but last year I decided to just leave it towering up mightily through the snow (which was very heavy this year). I suspect that it really does not matter. The rack does not have any rust on the outside thanks to the paint, but of course it is slowly rusting from the inside of the uprights. I used to worry about rust, but once I realized that it will long outlive me I stopped. :)
    Here’s some pictures from last year’s Virtualmeet Gathering at Toffe’s Gym. Plenty of recent rack pictures there.
    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=118194&id=185314734104
    If you do build one yourself, I would love to hear how it turned out. Good luck!

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