Sean’s Total

I am gonna brag for him, so he seems more modest.

Sean’s PRs before October were something like….255 squat, 135 press, and 305×2 deadlift.

In training he has done 325×5 squat, 135×5 press, and 325×5 deadlift. Solid improvements from the old PRs into the training lifts. But no amount of training equals the excitement of testing. So we tested tonight.

In the past 4 months, Sean has had some small setbacks. Small pants, collapsing knees, elbow tendinitis, a hacking cough, and hating deadlifts. Not to mention his initial problem of being 160lbs.

However tonight all that changed. In shorts, he weighed in at 199, so thats a milestone in itself. But more impressively was the 9/9 CrossFit Total performance. He opened his squat at 335, went a full inch below parallel, and sped back up. It was easy, a conservative opener when he had done 325×5 previously, but the elbow tendinitis kept him from doing much low bar squatting in the past month. 355 went next, with even more depth, and just as quick on the concentric. Looked so easy Troy called for 375. 375 on the bar, Sean got pumped and…squatted it with just a but more effort than the 355. He then mentioned there might be more in the tank! We didn’t investigate that though, because to total you can’t just blow all your effort on the squat.

Press opener at 145. Also conservative, but the press has been tough, again due to the elbow pain. 155 was slightly slower, but went, as did 160. All Sean’s hard work on the bench press really helped him lock out that 160. His old bodyweight!

On to the deadlift. The nemesis. For a while Sean was really worried, because his DL sets were at a lower working weight than the back squat. But people who’ve totaled know, the deadlift is where you are free to roam. No lift to follow, no energy to conserve, just load the bar and pull it as hard as you can. 355 to open (I think). Locked out with no problems. 375 next…and why not, he just squatted it a half hour earlier! That weight also proved to be easy. There was some brief talk about 385, but knowing it was his last lift, Sean opted for 390. With 8/9 already locked up, and PRs across the board there was nothing to risk, and 5lbs to gain! 390 went up fine, and thats all there was.

It was a fine performance. In the grand scheme of the iron game 925 total is nothing super amazing, but that not the point. The point is that a guy set his mind to what he wanted to do, something which few people can do, and which even more fail to do when they try. Find me 10 guys in a random gym with 900 totals? In the past 4 months Sean drank his milk, slept a lot, skipped going out sometimes, learned to eat like a hog, grew like a hog, and lifted weights that would have crushed him before, and then did it all again every 2 days. I am very proud to have been associated with Sean’s effort, as is Troy, and I look forward to his continued progress in his training.

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