James Fowler- Boss of Bosses V Meet Recap

gainz4dayz_- So finally getting around to meet recap post, I'll answer the first question that has been asked the most for my squats "Why no belt?". Well I trained all through my prep with no belt on, so it felt the most comfortable. I also knew that if I put it on I had an ace in the hole kind of strategy which means I was going to get whatever squat I put it on with. Go figure I came back and put up a pretty good 3rd squat, which was right on the number for the game plan that @too_hotti and me had talked about before hand. Also this is the first time I went 3/3 on squats since I did my very first meet, so I will definitely be going forward with this type of strategy for future meets. Video #2 Moving on to the bench, I decided an extra plane ticket for the bench witch was a little too expensive, so she had to stay in the haunted rack @elitestrengthandconditioning. Go figure with her not around I hit a huge PR. I am very proud of my bench though, I feel even more confident that 195-200kg is going to go down at Battle of the Bay. This is the best bench has ever felt and I definitely feel like I left a solid 5 to 10lbs on the bench, but I stuck with the gameplan that we needed for the goal. Video #3 Last but not least my baby, deadlifts. Even though yes I missed my last dead and the unicorn day, this was the lift I was the most proud of. This is the first time I have busted out the hookgrip master race card and man I cannot lie as I was warming up my doubts started creeping in. What if I'm not strong enough or if I rip everything apart? Did I open up too heavy? What do I do with my thumbs again? All the questions flooded in. Then to make it even better, I decided to do it at one of the biggest meets of the year. Then I took a step back and told myself I have pulled this same number 4 different times leading up to this peak, all with hook being easily held. I literally told myself go out and do what comes naturally and what we have trained for. Came out and smoked all three of my attempts, just had to hold that lockout for just a second longer. But just some motivation for BotB. Overall day PR total, bench, and dead for 1754 @ 209 bodyweight (the lightest 220 because 198 is master race) 495 wilks. Which put me in the top 100 lifter all time for 220's and top 20 in the world currently. So I couldn't be any happier with my performance at Boss of Bosses 5. Special shout out to @dangreenpowerlifter & @danandsparkle for the invite to this amazing meet and opportunity to compete with the best of the best. Thank you to all the spotters and loaders that helped keep all the athletes safe. Thank you to @the_traveling_warrior and @fitconfidenthappy for all their help over the weekend. Plus all the random adventures we went on enjoying Cali. Shout-out to @too_hotti, @kheycie, @elitestrengthandconditioning family for all the support all through meet prep and allowing me to represent everyone back home proudly. Special thanks to @turtz_mcgurtz and the @barbellbenders crew for the help designing the shirts. There are so many other people to thank for everything, from reaching out with little messages to supporting me in all other aspects in my life. I couldn't be more thankful for the support system that I have here. This weekend support showed me I am beyond blessed to have so many people looking out for me.