It has been a pretty good start to my year competing in All-Round Weightlifting.  The first event was the USAWA First Quarter Postal.  In this event we had 3 members of the KC Strongman Club lift in the postal at my house.  This included my long time training partner Lance Foster, my brother Chris Todd, and myself.   The lifts contested were the holdout – raised; swing – dumbbell, one arm; and hack lift- one arm.  These lifts were okay for me, and placed me at the top of the heap.

I have dedicated my training so far this year to two major meets: the USAWA Heavy Lift Championships and the USAWA National Championship.  With the heavy lifts being so taxing, it has been a challenge to balance both.  With the help of PEAK ATP my training sessions have been great, and supplementing with myHMB I have been recovered for each session.

The first of these two meets was the USAWA Heavy Lift Championships last weekend.   I had an all right meet, but unfortunately peaked too soon on the neck lift and the hand and thigh lift, which was frustrating.  I was able to salvage the meet in the hip lift, with a lift of 2280 pounds.  This was not only a personal record, but a National Record as well.  In the end, it was enough for me to win my fourth USAWA Heavy Lift Championships.  This ties me as second all-time with Frank Ciavattone, and just one back from Steve Schmidt, both of whom are Hall of Fame All-Rounders.

My training is really going quite nicely for the USAWA National Championship meet in Cocoa Beach, Florida.  I have made significant progress in some of the lifts, while maintaining overall back health, which is sometimes a fine line with my history of back issues, but so far, so good.  Wish me luck as I take on some of the best in the nation next month in Florida!