700 lb raw deadlift falls!

As some of you may know, this past weekend I competed in the AAPF Illinois Raw Power Challenge in Willowbrook, IL. It drew a pretty good number of lifters for a raw only meet at well over 50 I believe and there was a lot of big raw lifts going down! I had a good day hitting a 567.5 lb squat, a 331 lb bench press, and a 700 lb deadlift! I went for 711 on my third attempt but I was just too gassed out and could not lock my hips through. I probably would have also gone for more on bench press but it was very cold in the building (probably in the 50s) and several people got injured that day so I decided not to chance it and did not take a third attempt on bench press. I ended up with a 1598 total which was good enough to win my weight class. My squat and deadlift were both the highest in the 220 lb class. I was extremely excited to accomplish my goal considering this time last year I had not even begun to deadlift again after my pec tear surgery! As cheezy as it sounds, it goes to show that when you write your goals down, work hard, and truly believe in yourself, it's amazing what is possible.



-Layne