Dominic from Louisiana

[dominic]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Dominic and I am new to Raw Powerlifting, just joined over the holidays but did not get my card yet. I am 31 yrs old and from Louisiana. Am I the first person from Louisiana?? Just wondering. If so I hope it spreads like wild fire all over our state.

I have been out of the sport for 11 years but keep lifting on and off (Bench press mainly). I got married at 22 and went to college for the next 9 years and left with a BS & MS in Mech. Eng. And currently work as a Chief Engineer. I have a 3 yr old daughter and one on the way (due in August 2006). I am 5’-8” 191 lbs (23 % BF) and plan to compete in the 181 lb weight class. I got back into the sport by helping a friend with ZERO weightlifting experience back in August of 2005 workout for the first time ever. This is when I stared to squat and deadlift again (Aug 2005). I dropped to a 250 lb squat and 315 lb deadlift.

In December of 2005 I competed in a APA meet in Jackson MS. My first meet in 11 years. I got 300 lbs Bench press and 445 deadlift (raw) at 198 lb weight class (191 bw). My nephew and I were the only ones without a bench press shirt.
I came across your website by searching for USAPL or APA meet results. After the meet I was a little disappointed with a 300 lb bench but then realized that most other lifters in the USAPL or APA were lifting with shirts when I came across your website.

My current lifts are (raw of course) Squat: 330, Bench Press 310, Deadlift 450. I am planning on attending the World Bench Press Championships in November of 2006. Actually I am trying to plan a vacation around the meet. My goal will be 350 for this meet at 181. I have ALWAYS been drug free. I only use protein shakes and eat protein bars and nothing else. I will continue to lift in the APA and maybe the USAPL, but Raw. I tried a bench press shirt and it cut the Hades out of my arms then never tried it again.

I look forward to hearing back from so of you……..

God Bless
Dominic

[dopar66]

Howdy Dominic! I hope you were spared the wrath of Katrina. My heart went out to yall down there.

If I were you I wouldn't hesitate to hit a couple of full-power RAW meets! Add 5 pounds to 2 lifts and you're looking at an 1100 pound total! That's nothing to sneeze at! And we're talking about "since August"! With some really intense training you'll be above 1200 in no time, knocking on the door of 1300! (A number that I currently dream of....)

Take care and God Bless.
Doug P.

[dominic]

Thanks Doug,

I had very minor damage to my house, but I did see some neighborhoods first hand completely destroyed by 10+ ft of water. It is much worse than the CNN video clips. Very sad.

I squat and deadlift once a week now, but the weight increases have begun to slow down. In three weeks I am going to try the Criticalbench workout that I got from mike at critical bench on the internet. It can add (possibly, let you know) 40-50 lbs on your bench press in 11 or 12 weeks. I changed my form to match the workouts from him and have already seen a difference.
Is anyone familar with if this workout, and if so I would like to hear your comments. I have been at 300-310 for over a year. I will try anything once.

Have a good weekend,

Dominic

[dopar66]

My bench has been extremely critical. :')

Seriously, my first meet with the fed I got 310. Since then I haven't gone over 300. If this works for you, even if it's a more modest gain than advertised, let me know. Right now I'm ready for a positive change!

Glad you didn't get blown away. My house was flooded by Floyd back in '99, so I kept up with Katrina probably more intently than is healthy. Be that as it may, glad yall are okay. It appears (from watching the news) that the rebuilding is really starting to bring the city back.

Take care, catch you later, and God Bless.
Doug P.

[dominic]

Doug,

I just wanted to give you an update on the critical bench program. I have just finished the 4th week (11 weeks long) and it feels like I am a little stronger in my bench press. This week's workout on bench press I did:

205 warm-up (12 reps)
270 X6 (could have got 8, program calls for 5-6 reps only)
290 x3
315 x1 ( Tired after the 290, but 1 more with a good bit of help)

These are all touch and go. My pause max is usually 5-10 lbs less.
My T&go max was 310 going in. I will find out in two more weeks if I made any gain when I am scheduled to do 325. This program also helps you strengthen your entire body.

My squat has also gone from 330-345 ( I do squats every 5th day)
Deadlift 450 to 470.
Military press 170 X2

I will let you know in two weeks about what happens with 325 lbs.

Dom

[Deleted]

I'm from Louisiana, I'm just finding this site. I've only did one bench press competition in Lafayette and it was any equipment one wanted so needless to say I didn't fare that great. I would love to see RAW expanded within my reach. I'm in Southwest La. Dominic

[dopar66]

Hey, Dom. That bench is taking off! Way to go! My bench is still pretty stagnant, so I might have to give your workout a try. :') 290 x 3.....hmmm.... Okay, maybe not this week.
How are your other lifts going?

Hey, Bayoulifter. Glad you found the site! I'd like to see the fed grow too. We have much of the eastern seaboard, and Illinois, so I'm excited about seeing more guys from out west. Maybe before too long Jim Ray won't be the farthest guy out west for us any more. :')

God Bless.
Doug P.

[dominic]

Doug,

My squat is up to 345 lbs and my deadlift 470 lbs. At 191 lbs bwt. I was tryinh to cut to 181 lbs. I dont think was going to happed, but I did get down to 186.5 bwt. I noticed a loss in strength, so I stated to eat more. Now I am steady at 191. I am preparing for a meet on March 18 in Baton Rouge. Myself and my nephew are planning to do it raw. I am shooting for 350-315-480.

Talk at you later,

God Bless,

Dominic

[dominic]

Bayoulifter,

I am in SE La in Madisonville west of Covington. What meet did you do in Lafayette?? My nephew and I did a APA meet in December and we were the only ones without a suit or bench press shirt.

God Bless,

Dominic

[abebesheir]

Nice job on all three lifts, Dominic. I haven't heard anything good about the Critical Bench Program, but all that matters is that it's working for you. Good luck in your upcoming meet!

[dopar66]

That is awesome, Dom! I'm looking forward to you posting your meet results.

Train hard, and God Bless.
Doug P.

[dominic]

Doug,

I just looked at your results from the Feb 11 World Powerlifting. Very Impressive 455-300-500, what was your 3rd attempt on bench?? If so how close?? Keep up the hard work.

I just finished my 6th week on the critical bench program and my bench day went like this:

warm up @ 205 x12
275 x 5 T&go
300 x 3 T&go
325 x 1 T&go
After 300 I though about going higher to 330. It took me 10 minutes to decide not too. After 325 I was shocked, because I would have gotten 330.
315 x 1 Paused (Tough after all the other sets)
175 x 18 (green bands on each side, adds 40 lbs tension each side, feels like 255 at the top)

In three weeks I will have to attempt 335. This seems to be at my finger tips. The final 11th week is April 8. My goal was 340-355 T&go and 330-345 Paused. I think this is possible since I have been eating 180-220 grams of protein a day and also every day I invision the lift going up good all week long. No negative thoughts at all. I finally feel like I am pushing through my plateau that I have been at for over two years. My max going into the grogam was 310-315 (only got 315 one time before this program). You might want to give this program a try. It is worth the $35.

God Bless,

Dominic

[dopar66]

Awesome results, Dom! You're right, I may have to give it a whirl. My T&G is so far out in front of my pause it's ridiculous. I'm good for 350-355 T&G, but at the meet my third attempt (310) stuck to me like an old friend. :')

Your results are incredible. My protein intake hovers around 180 grams, so I don't think additional supplementation will get it. I've really been blasting the triceps lately. I think I might just glue a picture of Will Lynch's triceps to mine, the additional mass must be good for something. :')

I'll go another 6-8 weeks and if I don't see any gains I'll get the info from you.

Thanks for the awesome report!

God Bless.
Doug

[dominic]

I have been doing lots of triceps, back and shoulders. I have been hitting hard since I started the critical bench program. I have seen bigger gains in these three areas that my bench. I think it is starting to carry over to my bench. I have done alot of research on different tricep exercises on the internet. Some of these work pretty good like: incline, decline close grip, tricep extensions, elbows out extensions, half press.

Good idea with the tricep picture. I told my nephew at the last meet to look at the big time benchers triceps. He became an instant beliver in heavy tricep work!!!!!!

Take care and God Bless,

Dom

[dominic]

Doug,

Here are my results from the Tiger Inv. this past weekend. All lifts were RAW of course. I was the only one without a squat suit and only one of three people without a bench press shirt.

Squat 353 lbs
Bench Press 309 lbs
Deadlift 474 lbs
Total 1136 lbs

I almost had 314 on my third attempt for bench press. I opened with 303 and did not get credit for it because I started before the start signal. I was planning to go from 303 straight to 314. They make you hold the weight for about 2 seconds before you start, I thought this was too long and so did a couple of other people. If I would have not missed the first attempt I think I would have got the 314. I was very close to locking it out. In this area I usually never have a problem.

On dead lift I was hoping to give 500 lbs a try, but 474 lbs drained me.

I think my next meet will be the Raw Alabama Bench press Championships in early May. I am trying to get a couple of people to go to this meet and support Raw. I am even trying to get my dad to do the meet also. I dont think he will wear the singlelet . lol.

I will let you know how the critical bench program goes when I finish it in early April.

God Bless

Dom

[dopar66]

Awesome numbers, Dom! Bummer about the long pause, that 314 would have been incredible. I can relate to the deadlift. At my last 2 meets I passed on my 3rd deadlift. I figure I'll get it next time. :')

I appreciate you sharing those numbers, way impressive! I'm grinning ear to ear thinking about how all that hard work showed up this past weekend! I'm sure a RAW lifter had things buzzing, especially when you come out and total 1136 with NO GEAR!

Thanks again, Dom.

God Bless.
Doug

[dominic]

Doug,

Thanks alot, Doug. I had the same grin when they announced my name for a medal. I got a loud applause from the LSU powerlifting team. It made me feel pretty good. Well, I will start back at it again tommorrow. I really need to have my squat catch up to my deadlift. Any suggestions?? I usually skip fours days between squat workouts and do 5x5, then do either box squats on squats with green bands.

God Bless,

Dom

[dopar66]

Hey, Dom.
With the improvement you've made already, I wouldn't change anything until you get to a plateau. Obviously what you're doing is working for you!

God Bless.
Doug

[dominic]

Doug,

Sorry I did not reply earlier, I was in Houston 3 times in the past 8 days. You are right about the squat. I will keep it the same until I get stuck and can not go up anymore. Also I finished the critical bench program on saturday and these are my gains:

310 (T&go) going in, I was able to get 335 (T&go) saturday. This weekend I will try my pause max, then take a break from going heavy for a couple of weeks. On my best rep day I was able to get 275 (T&Go) x9, 300 (T&go) x4. My incline has gone up to 260 x2, 275 x1.
To sum it up I gained 25 lbs in 10 weeks.
I first got 300 lbs in May 2002, then 310 in December of 2004.
I am pretty happy with the results. I am hoping to gt 320 this weekend for the pause max. I will let you know.
My next meet will be the 100% Raw Alabama bench press in Moblie in May and I though about going to the nationals in August in Orlando, BUT that is when my son (aka next powerlifter) is due to enter this world.

God Bless,

Dominic

[dopar66]

Wow! 25 pounds in 10 weeks! Count me in. I'm going to have to give that a try. My bench has been pretty stagnant for quite some time now.....I may have mentioned that a time or two.... :')

I'm looking for a serious praise report come May! And I hope to meet you in Orlando. If you're like me, family comes before lifting, so if you can't make it rest assured I understand! But should you be able to make it..... :') We'll have a blast!

Thanks for that awesome post, Dom!

God Bless.
Doug

[dominic]

Doug,

I will most likley not be in orlando since this is my sons due date. I will though, be in either NC November 18 for the world bench press championships or the meet in Connecticut. My wife has already approved either one. This depends on what one will be cheaper for me to travel to. Connecticut in december might be tough traveling to there in winter since will be bringing my wife, daugher, and new son. Thats why I am leaning toward NC in november. It would be great to meet you and some of the other Raw guys.

Myself and my nephew and maybe my brother will be at the meet in May in Mobile. I will be by my self in November or december. My nephew joined the Marine Reserve. Talk at you later.

Dom