USAWA Nationals | Eric Todd

Posted on July 31, 2018 at 12:00 AM

A few weeks ago, I flew down to Cocoa Beach, Florida to compete in the USAWA Nationals. I felt my training had been spot on for this meet, and was feeling strong. The caliber of competition was impressive, but I was feeling ready.

It was very hot and humid in Cocoa Beach, but I reckon that is to be expected. My lifts for the event were pretty much on par with what I was hoping to hit to begin with.

Event 1 – Cheat Curl

(demo video)
I had a missed lift on the cheat curl when I was trying for a near PR attempt. I hit the weight, but threw it up so quick that I got off balance and took a step back.

Event 2 – 1 Arm Snatch

(demo video)
I hit 121 lbs. to tie for 2^nd place in this event.

Event 3 – Pull Over and Press

(demo video)
Took home an event win with a lift of 358 lbs.

Event 4 – 1 Arm Deadlift

(demo video)
When we got to this event my day took a turn for the worse. This was one of the lifts I spent the most time training for and made remarkable strides on. My opener was 380 lbs. and I knew I was good for it. However, when I did a warm-up at 308 lbs., my hook grip popped open, and I lost it. So I changed strategies and called 308 for my opener. When I got to the platform it turned out the barbell was a thicker diameter than what I was used to, which made my hook grip virtually useless. I got my opener, but missed my second and third attempts.

Event 5 – Zercher Lift

(demo video)
I lifted 352 lbs. in the zercher lift to tie for 2^nd place in this event. I ended up in second place overall by a few points. There are a few things here and there that I could have done differently to have changed the outcome, but the biggest issue was leaving over 100 lbs. on the 1 arm deadlift, in which I hit 421 lbs. in training. This was a pretty big disappointment.

I was voted by the USAWA membership as runner-up in the athlete of the year category. A few days after USAWA Nationals, I found out I had won the second Quarter Postal meet. In that meet I hit a 400+ pound 1 arm deadlift, and it was EASY. I was saving my big lift for USAWA Nationals. Oh well, who knew?

At any rate, as with any disappointment, you have to dust yourself off and decide how you want to handle it. Do you want to remain bitter and lose your focus? Or do you want to refocus and get back to work? I decided to refocus, and have geared my training towards the Old Time Strongman Championship coming up in September. Thank you so much to the support of Metabolic Technologies, Inc and TSI Group Ltd. (developers of the ingredients myHMB and PEAK ATP) for allowing me to do what I love.