Last Tuesday, a new personal record on squats: 390. Last Thursday, a new PR on the bench press: 225. Tonight, a new PR on deadlifts: 475. A perfect hat trick of powerlifting PRs in a row. I may have strained a piriformis muscle in the process, but the bards only sing of glory, not the piriformis. It was a week, take it for all in all, I shall not see its like again.
September 20, 2023 @ 9:24 am
1000 lb club! Congrats.
Hitting a PR gives me such a rush, especially on the squat, where I have to overcome a good amount of doubt and fear every time.
September 20, 2023 @ 10:21 am
Thanks! Yes, I think that’s a significant aspect of training that often goes unremarked upon. There have definitely been times where I’ve psyched myself out before a big lift. Only three weeks ago, in fact, I missed a 475-lb. deadlift after hitting a 455, though I think that was more due to fatigue than nerves. It’s a valuable practice to have a relatively low-stakes challenge where you can work on staying calm and focused. Earlier in the spring, I got a Baker’s cyst behind my knee which led to swelling and some enforced time off from anything involving deep knee-bends (there may have also been a meniscus tear in there, but I didn’t bother with an MRI to find out for sure). I had some jitters once I started doing leg presses and squats again, but I felt elated to come through it okay.