2017 Arnold Classic Recap | Nick Weite
Posted on March 31, 2017 at 12:00 AM
Since 2008, my first meet of the year has always been at the Arnold Classic. This year was my seventh time competing, yet it was a bit different as I decided to compete in two separate events, the Slingshot Pro Deadlift and the Rogue Grand Prix, both put on by USA Powerlifting.
Training for both of these events meant getting back into equipment. My last equipped meet was in 2014 and since then I have been doing some raw local meets in the area. The first week putting on my equipment I wondered if I bit off more than I could chew, but it quickly came back to me the second week and I was rolling through training.
I had some pretty lofty goals coming into the meet and my training was supporting this up until a few weeks before when I came down with a bad case of the flu. I was forced to modify my workouts and my goals for the meet. My goals went from hitting prs to placing as high as I could in each event.
On Saturday I competed in my first event, the Rogue Grand Prix. My strength felt good during warm ups but I could tell my energy levels just weren’t there. Squatting went well only missing my first attempt, finishing with 881 pounds. My bench and deadlifts didn’t go as planned, hitting 600 pounds on the bench and 771 on my deadlift. I only hit my opener on the deadlift but it was enough to put me to place me second based on my total three lifts for the event.
My second event, the Slingshot Pro Deadlift, came on Sunday morning and it was the first time I’ve ever done back-to-back events like this before. I knew I wasn’t 100% going in so I figured if I could get two solid deadlifts in I’d have a chance at the heaviest pull. I took 783 pounds on my first attempt and jumped to 816 pounds, with both being good. This put me in second place going into my third pull and that’s where I stayed, missing my third attempt.
Overall I was not happy with my numbers, but was happy with my placing’s. I competed in two high profile events on main stages at the Arnold and came away with two 2nd place finishes. Next year I’m hoping to compete in the Pro Deadlift again and come away with another heaviest pull.
Right now I’m cutting weight to get back in the 264-pound class, then plan on getting a qualifier in sometime for the USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals in October. I only have another 15 pounds to go to get back to my old weight class and am hoping by continuing my HMB along with the BetaTOR and PEAK ATP combination, my strength will hold or even go up while dropping my weight.
Make sure to look out for future training videos and blogs, until then, continue to lift hard and smart which means adding not only HMB to your supplement list, but BetaTOR and PEAK ATP. You’ll be glad you did.
-Nick Weite