[Meet Report] USPA Phoenix Europa - Phoenix, Arizona, USA (342.5kg/754.87lbs @ 67.0kg/147.6lbs | 351.51 Wilks - Open Raw without Wraps)
**Background and Training**
I've been involved with powerlifting for about three years, but have only been able to train seriously for the past 14 months or so. I first learned about powerlifting in my first year of law school, which explains why I basically just dabbled with the three power lifts for the first two of those years. This was my third meet, and the first time that I was ever aiming for a specific total and not just to PR my lifts in general.
**Meet Prep**
I did not have a long time to prep for this meet. I basically went from not training at all to jumping into a peaking program. I recently moved back home to Arizona after graduating from law school. Between moving and my last-ditch efforts at cramming for the Bar Exam, I had about a four week period where I didn't really train at all. After I took the Bar Exam, I had nothing to do with my life, so I randomly decided to register for this USPA meet which I had heard about through people at my new gym. I had about six weeks to train from the time I decided to register for the meet until the date of the meet.
This was the first time I had my programming written by somebody else, and I was given a basic six-week peaking cycle to prepare. My coach worked with me throughout the cycle. I squatted and benched twice a week with a heavy, competition day and a lighter day for variations. Deadlift was trained once a week, entirely competition style. The cycle itself was loosely based off of Mike T’s RPE-style training, with load drop sets after working up to the day’s top set. I hit a couple of PR doubles and triples leading up to the meet and went in with high hopes for the meet. Assistance work was mostly bodybuilding-style work focused on my weaker muscles, along with prehab movements and plenty of mobility work to keep me healthy. A slight hip issue early on and a slight hamstring strain near the end of the cycle gave me a scare, but I was able to correct those issues with little trouble and it did not affect me on meet day.
I weighed about 154.5lbs throughout the cycle. During the week leading up to the meet I followed a protocol similar to what is outlined in Kabuki Warrior here: http://www.kabukiwarrior.com/cutting-weight_powerlifting_strongman_olympic-lifting/. I water loaded Sunday through Tuesday and tapered off carbs and sodium Tuesday through Thursday. I essentially fasted on Thursday, but was able to have a few ounces of chicken and water because my cut was going well. I weighed in at 67.0kg / 147.6lbs on Friday morning and proceeded to recomp throughout the day afterward.
**The Lifts**
I went 9/9.
Squat 115.0kg/253.5lbs, good: This was easy, and a 3.5lb meet PR.
122.5kg/270.0lbs, good: This was fairly easy. It was 5lbs below my gym PR but was a 20lb meet PR.
[127.5kg,281.0lbs](https://instagram.com/p/8tD8PQQtjO/), good: This was only a little grind, a 6lb gym PR or 31lb meet PR.
Bench
52.5kg/115.7lbs, good: This was a super easy lift, and tied my previous meet PR.
55.0kg/121.2lbs, good: This was also super easy, a 5lbs meet PR.
[57.5kg/126.7lbs](https://instagram.com/p/8tEMwTQtj3/), good: This, again was super easy. I do not know why bench felt so light. This was a 11.7lb meet PR, but still 3.3lbs below my gym PR.
Deadlift
142.5kg/314.0lbs, good: This was easy, and 5lbs below my previous meet PR.
152.5kg/336.1lbs, good: This was a little slower. The bar got ahead of me at first, but I was able to pull it back and complete the lift just fine. This was a 16.1lb meet PR.
[157.5/347.1lbs](https://instagram.com/p/8tEcH4wtki/), good: The video tells me this lift looked hard, but I really don't remember this lift. This is a 27lb meet PR. I had pulled a 350lb gym PR before, but it would not have counted in a meet because I ramped it a little.
**Results**
My goal going into the meet was to get a USPA Master's total of 750lbs for the 67.5kg/148.8lb weight class. I totaled 342.5kg or 754.87lbs at 147.6lb or 67.0kg bodyweight, so I got my Master's total! It also calculates out to be a 351.51 Wilks!
**Final thoughts**
Susan Salazar did my check-in and took my first attempts the day before the meet, and she was there throughout the meet getting her USPA judge certification, so that was really cool.