10 days of rest are over, time for gym

This past Sunday the Niagara Powerlifting Club held a fundraising event for injured Canadian powerlifting great, Tom Nichols.  The event was hosted by top Canadian lifter, Andy Childs at his gym, Phoenix Fitness in Stoney Creek.  I had considered lifting in it but decided to enter to show support for Tom but passed on actually lifting.  My back or more specifically, my left leg, still wasn't back to normal and there wasn't any point on delaying the recovery.

It's always tough to watch a lifting competition because it's way more fun to participate.  The event was a deadlift for reps competition to determine finalists and the finals were decided with a good ol' battle to the highest 1 RM adjusted by Wilks coefficient.  The men had to do as many reps as possible with a weight equal to a 120 wilks score and the women used a 100 wilks to determine their weight.  Had I lifted, I would've had to rep out with approximately 445 lbs.  Even healthy I would've been lucky to do 10 reps so it was amazing how many lifters, male and female blew right past that number with the top performers doing 20 or more reps.

After doing the equivalent of as much as a deadlift widowmaker (20 rep set), the finalists had a short break and then had three attempts to put up as much weight as possible for a single repetition.  The top female eked out a narrow, less than one point, victory with a wilks score of approximately 146 if I remember correctly.  The top male lifter, the current National Champion in the Junior division (under 23), won with a lift that scored 170 wilks points.  All in all it was a very impressive showing by a great field of lifters. Full results here.

 Pictures of some of the male competitors repping out their 120 wilks weights.

 Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the women's competition.

 After the weekend's events, I was motivated to get back into the gym after taking 10 days off and allowing my back to heal up.  I've seen the chiropractor three times and it seems to be helping with the muscle spasm that was pinching my sciatic nerve.  My left leg is starting to regain strength so it was time to start working again.

Since I'm in the midst of actively trying to drop body weight, I'm not too shattered that I'm as weak as a kitten but it's still humbling to have regressed so far so quickly.  It's a good lesson learned to not underestimate the impact of a pinched nerve on one's lifting progress.

Squats:  135x10, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5x3 sets
Overhead press:  45x10x2 sets, 95x10, 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 155x5
Ab Crunch Machine:  45x10, 90x10, 90x6, 70x6, 70x5, 45x6
Landmines:  45x10, 45x8
Dumbbell Curls:  40x6x3 sets