A year ago my brother, Andy Dickey, and I were lifting at a local gym in Camp Verde. The owner of that gym decided he was going to close his doors. We met with our families and decided to buy into the old gym and become partners. The goal was to have a nice place to work out that paid for itself. We accomplished that goal, and 3 weeks ago we expanded. The name of the Gym is the Verde Barbell.
Last weekend we had a grand opening. We extended an invitation for anyone to come in and tour the gym. We were giving out free two week passes, and free food. The local mayor came by to congratulate us on our grand opening, and to see if he could help stir up interest. While he was there he asked me a question. "Why would anyone want to be a power lifter?" I am not the best speaker in public. I am shy, and I was dumbfounded, and at a loss for words. After having a week to reflect and a competition under my belt, I believe I have an answer to the question.
But first I need to explain what being a powerlifter means to me. In order to do this I am going to briefly take you through the past month of my training cycle.
Most power lifters live on a "seefood diet". They see food and they eat it. Myself, I eat a little better. I mainly eat foods high in protien. What carbs I do get come from wine, whole grain breads, and potatoes. So my diet is pretty strict though you can't tell it from looking at me. I don't drink sodas, except for the occasional energy drink. I do drink beer and wine, but not to excess. I am telling you this because I believe that there is a median between the Body Builder's strict diet and the power lifters "seefood" diet.
In addtion to diet, every morning I take supplements in the form of: magnesium, zinc, calcium, B Vitamins, Vitamin C, asprin and Creatine.
Four mornings a week, my brother and I meet at our gym in Camp Verde at 5:30 in the morning. On Mondays and Wednesdays we lift heavy with poundages ranging from 300 to 600 pounds. Mondays are deadlift and squat day. Wednesdays are bench press and upper back days. On Fridays and Sundays we lift light weights, but the speeds are explosive (i.e. weights are pulled for speed not intensity). The light weight days we have found help to decrease time under tension for the heavy lifts, and they also help with recovery by reducing soreness. We have been religiously following this program for a year, and we have seen some good results.
A month before a meet both Andy and I begin to reduce the number of sets and repetitions in our workouts, and we will generally stop all work about a week before a meet to allow ample time for recovery. The day before a meet will will strategize about our body weight and determine how much we need to cut weight in order to get the best coefficient possible without compromising strength. We also have to think about our opening poundages and stategize to get the most out of our lifts. Weigh in is generally conducted the night before and the morning of the meet. Andy and I generally opt to weight in the night before the meet in order to refuel and rehydrate. We don't eat or drink anything 36 hours before weigh in, and we eat and drink like pigs from weigh in until show time.
In power lifting you get three attempts to lift your opening weight. If you make your first attempt you can raise the weight, but if you don't make your first attempt you have two more chances. You can not lower the weight once you have attempted your opener. If you make your third attempt and the attempt is within 15 Kg. of an American or World record then you can make a fourth attempt at an American or World Record, but your 4th attempt doesn't count toward your meet total.
This past weekend November 8th and 9th weekend Andy and I competed at the NASA Arizona Regionals. We competed in the Power Sports Division of NASA, which consists of a curl event, a benchpress event and a deadlift event. Andy competed in the 181 pound weight class, and I competed in the 275 pound weight class. Our actual body weights were 181 pounds and 257 pounds respectively. The Power Sports Division is an unequiped division in which the only equipment a lifter can use is a 4 inch belt. This event was split into two days. Andy lifted on 11-8, and I lifted on 11-9.
On Saturday Andy opened with a curl of 65 Kg. or 143 pounds, and ended the curl event with an American Record attempt of 87.5 Kg. or 193 pounds. He took home a State Record Curl of 75 Kg. or 165 pounds. In the bench press Andy opened with 152.5 Kg. or 335 pounds, and ended the bench press event with an State and American Record bench press of 165 Kg. or 364 pounds. That is over twice his body weight! In the deadlift Andy opened with a 190 Kg. or 420 pounds, and ended with an attempt of 206 Kg. or 455 pounds. He accomplished his deadlift attempt of 446 pounds, but missed his attempt of 455 pounds.
On Sunday I opened with a curl of 72.5 Kg. or 160 pounds, and ended the curl event with an American Record attempt of 83.5 Kg. or 185 pounds. I took home a State Record Curl of 75 Kg. or 165 pounds. In the bench press I opened with 177.5 Kg. or 391 pounds, and ended the bench press event with a State Record attempt of 187.5 Kg. or 413 pounds. In the deadlift I opened with a 245 Kg. or 540 pounds, and ended with an American Record attempt of 265 Kg. or 584 pounds. I accomplished my deadlift attempt of 556 pounds, but missed the attempt of 584 pounds.
I have lifted more weight in the gym than any of my attempts at this meet, but I will guarantee you I have never put in as much effort as I did at this meet. For example, I have lifted over a 600 pound deadlift in the gym, floor pressed over 420 pounds, and curled over 175 in the gym. But it is much different on meet day you have to make each one of these lifts on the same day over an eight hour time frame. This takes a lot of energy, and a lot of focus. By the time the day is over you are completely drained, sore and exhausted. And when I say sore, I don't mean the body building good sore. I mean sore to the bone. Last night I had cramps all the way from Mesa to Camp Verde a two hour drive. When I got home I was in pain, and too tired to sleep. So I drank a couple of glasses of wine and watched TV until I fell asleep about 11 p.m.
So if there is so much pain involved why do you do it? Socrates said, "It is a base thing for a man to wax old in careless self neglect before he has lifted up his eyes and seen what manner of man he was made to be" Xen. Mem., III, XII.
Last night, after attempting an American Record Dealift, I realized that my personality will not allow me to do anything half-assed. I will give 100% to what ever I do, and if I can't give 100% then I won't do it. That is the type of person I am. I want to know what I am capable of, and I want to feel good about myself.
Why would anyone want to be a power lifter? To learn more about yourself, and what you are capable of. To pursue a fitness program which inspires you to do better, and accomplish your goals. Power lifting is goal oriented. After a meet, you review your performance. You identify your weaknesses. You design a new program which targets those weaknesses, and hopefully, if you correctly identify the weaknesses, in 4 to 6 months you will compete again and do much better. Such is life.
Because it is almost Thanksgiving a time of year for giving thanks, I want to thank Rich Peters for holding drug free powerlifting meets in Arizona, and always being there personally to oversee them. I want to thank the NASA staff for always being friendly and helpful. I want to thank everyone at Westwood Highschool for setting up the meet, and allowing us to use their facilities. I want to thank people like Robert Lacey and Tim McKeever for being at these meets, and inspiring us to do better. I am much more inspired by these men, lifting 500 plus pounds, in their late fifties and early sixties than the younger men who are lifting 600 plus pounds. These men continue to compete consistently, and verge on putting us young guys to shame. I left the meet yesterday feeling very much inspired by these two men. I want to thank my mother and father for giving me a good work ethic. I want to thank my brother Andy for always being there for me. And last but certainly not least I want to thank my wife for never missing one of my meets, and always supporting me in everything I do.
Our videos are posted on www.youtube.com . Just go to youtube and type in Verde Barbell at the search prompt.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sincerely,
Stan Dickey
Co-Owner
Verde Barbell Gym
