| 1st Interschool Powerlifting Competition (Oct. 2001) |
| This was my first competition, playing for Ateneo de Manila University. I weighed in at 62kgs for the subjunior category, 67.5kgs weight class. It was a good meet as I put it. I didn't make the lifts I wanted, but I did well nonetheless, making 3rd place in my weight class (losing to two class b juniors). I didn't have a shirt for this competition, but remarkably I got the record for the subjunior benchpress with 76kgs (I know, I know, that's lousy) and I got the record total too! |
| 1, 2 |
Squat 1st Attempt: Blowing up 100kgs. As the commentator put it, "What's that? A warm up?" |
| 3, 4 |
Squat 2nd Attempt: Struggling with 130kgs. My PR so far. |
| 5, 6, 7 |
Squat 3rd Attempt: Buried by 135kgs. Just wouldn't go up at all! |
| 8 |
Deadlift 1st Attempt: The easiest deadlift in the world. 100kgs. Severely underestimated my strength, ended up strategically set back by this lift. |
| 9, 10 |
Deadlift 2nd Attempt: Unfortunately misestimated, and again too easy with 130kgs. Left not knowing what on earth my max was. |
| 11, 12 |
Deadlift 3rd Attempt: This I believe was the best lift of my life. Unfortunately, I failed it. 145kgs was something I had never attempted to lift before (Westside Method, go figure!) =) Hence, I was quite scared of the weight. Spent most of pre-lift grunting and roaring, and generally being a nutcase. By the time my lift came, my blood pressure was sky high. Needless to say I BLEW THE WEIGHT OFF THE GROUND! But as I got to the top, I found that as I was locking it, my consciousness lapsed (I passed out) and I lost the lift. I reeled back after, rather disoriented. Thanks to Eddie Torres, and Mon Debuque for catching me, and consoling me post lift. And thanks to my handler whose name I have forgotten. Without him, I would never had felt so strong. |
| Battle of the Champions (Dec. 2001) |
| This was my second competition, finally with full gear (single-ply shirt, suit, singlet, knee-wraps, and belt). I was playing for my gym, Zest Power, as an out-of-competition sub-junior record breaker. I weighed in at 66.2 (?), good weight for the 67.5 kilo class. This was a wonderful meet! I was very composed. And I made a ton of records at it. 9 good lifts (and one failed fourth attempt), technically a perfect meet. Maybe I shoulda pushed harder. But, well, ALL FOUR Philippine Sub-Junior Men's (67.5 kg) Records are mine! |
| Squat 120 kgs |
An easy 120 kgs opener, nice and deep. |
| Squat 135 kgs |
An easy 4.5 kgs over the old record held by Glenn Graide. |
| Squat 137.5 kgs |
The lift that felt so difficult, but looked so easy on video. Oh, well, I worked for that one! Settling at 7 kilos over the old lift, a new record! |
| Benchpress 70 kgs |
This was actually my warm-up, cause I missed my warm-ups bumming in the men's room and getting my shirt on. ;) Looks like a warm-up, doesn't it? |
| Benchpress 80 kgs |
4 kilos over my old record! Easy does it! (The shirt does wonders.) |
| Benchpress 85 kgs |
This was a little too light for a last lift. But I sat with it, to save my strength and psyche for the Deadlifts. 9 kilos over my old record, with three whites. |
| Deadlift 130 kgs |
Actually, I fought with the referee over this. She thinks I didn't lock it out well. Oh well, she thought I was fighting with her. I was just asking. ;) Two whites and a red, still a good lift. |
| Deadlift 155 kgs |
This was supposed to be difficult but... ;) 5 kilos over the record of Glenn Graide. |
| Deadlift 160 kgs |
Well, I thought I would max out here, but again, not enough weight on the bar. This was my final lift, leaving me with a 382.5 kgs total, 47.5 kilos over my old Total record, and 10 kilos over Graide's deadlift record. Unfortunately, this video only shows me psyching up. ;) |
| Deadlift 170 kgs FOUL |
A repeat of last competition's deadlift, I got it up, but my left knee kicked forward and I lost it. How sad. I did not think this lift would even budge though, so at least I know I have it in me. Fouled due to double-rebend rule. |
| That was a wonderful meet. Thanks to my mom, my dad, my two bros, my girlfriend, and my handler for helping me through that meet. ;) More records next time! Oh wait, I'll be a Junior already, and the records are HIGH. Oh well. Give it a year. ;) |
| Miscellaneous Coverage |
| 01 |
I am big. Yeah. I am strong. Yeah. Well I'd better be, cause it took ninety minutes to get this Inzer Blast Shirt on! ;) The pain put me in a thug/zombie mood. |
| 02, 03 |
Pictures! Post Battle of the Champions 2001, order in the first picture is (from left to right) Me, with my bro Iņigo atop my shoulders. Then my lovely and most supportive girlfriend, best friend, and pseudo-sister, Pauline. Next are my folks, thanks for coming, Mom and Dad! And last two -- my big bro Jijo, and his girlfriend Peachy (thanks for bein' my cheering squad). I have to be the most supported powerlifter in my country. What a staff! |
| Clean & Jerk, 170 lbs |
Training vid on May 17, 2004. Bodyweight 145 lbs. Training for this lift, self-coached, for 2 weeks only. Many errors: catch too high, poor transition from first to second pull. |
| Bulgarian Style C&J;, 185 lbs |
Training vid on May 21, 2004. Failed power jerk. Goofing around with the jumpback clean, ala Vanev & Boevski. Not doing it well though, jumping back too far, second pull not extravagant enough for this style. Moved back to conventional squat clean after this. |
| Drop Cleans 155 lbs |
Training vid on May 24, 2004. Second one is good. Third is Godawful. Some mild profanity, warning. |
| High Hang Cleans 165 lbs |
Training vid on May 24, 2004. Second rep is good, but my feet have mysteriously stopped readjusting, which is a bad thing. With this and the drop clean it is apparent that my depth in this exercise is better than in full cleans, but still not catching low enough. |
| 6-inch Squat Lockouts 505 lbs |
Training vid on May 24, 2004. This was difficult. I don't really train for this, but it can be fun. :) Someday, maybe I'll clean that. :) |
| Mikko, 6-inch Squat Lockouts 505 lbs |
Training vid on May 24, 2004. My dorm training buddy and protege, Mikko Garcia, who a year ago could barely squat 55 pounds for twenty reps, does this. He has done a lot of catching up and has now thoroughly surpassed my initial expectations as well as my bodyweight (155 pounds), with the help of the Hell's Athlete program, balls and a whole lot of milk. |
| Split Snatch 135 lbs |
Training vid on Sept 20, 2004. Bodyweight 150 lbs. This is me getting close to my old max of 145. Did 142.5 before this, but I was too tired to repeat the feat by the time the camera came. All hail Norb Schemansky! |
| Split Snatch side view 135 lbs |
Training vid on Sept 20, 2004. Same as the above but side view. Nicer looking, Catching at parallel which means it's getting closer to the rock bottom Norb depth. :) |
| Clean and Jerk 215 lbs |
Training vid on Sept 20, 2004. This is my form as it is now - no longer power jerking. Take note the more matured mild jump-back on the clean, ala Zlatan Vanev. This is of course much improved from the excessive jump-back on the old "Bulgarian" vids. My form is not as sharp as before the injury though, but it's getting there. |
| Clean, Failed Jerk 225 lbs |
Training vid on Sept 20, 2004. My split for the jerk is off today, but this is only 5 pounds off my best jerk, 10 pounds off my best clean. Which means I'm back, basically. :) Need to re-polish that clean, tighten up the solidity of the catch. And my front squat lost a lot of strength, hence the difficulty. |
| Mikko, Thick Dumbell Bent Press Double, Left, 105 lbs |
Training vid on Sept 20, 2004. Yeah, my star athlete is now outlifting me. Verdammt! My old-school infatuation rubbed off totally on him. He does the bent press pretty well, maxes at 130 pounds I believe. At a bodyweight of 155 pounds. :) |
| Mikko, Thick Dumbell Bent Press Double, Right, 105 lbs |
Training vid on Sept 20, 2004. For a change, I think his form is better on his right hand. This is light for him though. His max has yet to be digitized. |
