10.27.2014

Kinross Correctional Powerlifting Meet
On October 25, I went to prison for the first time. My punishment was a day of heavy manual labor. By manual labor I obviously mean lifting heavy weights.
Every year the Kinross Powerlifting Club holds an invitational meet open to all the inmates within the penitentiary. Chris Cooper; Author, Gym owner, Blogger, Business Mentor, and all around good guy, invited me. Along with the two of us were Mike, Mike, and Rob, all friends of Chris. We were the only outsiders to compete alongside the inmates.
I showed up late to the party because get this; there are TWO prisons in the same town, literally a half mile from each other. When I finally found where I needed to be I met up with the other guys and we walked inside. It took a long time for us to get checked in. There are a lot of security protocols to get through to get inside a prison, weird right?? After I was patted down, turned in my phone, wallet, watch, got my hand marked with invisible ink we walked through the final check point of the good ‘ol metal detector and in we were. We had to walk through the yard to get to the gymnasium where the meet was being held. That walk was incredibly eye opening. There were double rowed fences 20 feet high with miles and miles and miles of ribbon razor wire EVERYWHERE. As we neared the Gym, the inmates where lined up on either side of the sidewalk just staring at us: intimidating to say the least. But as we walked up we were greeted with hellos and handshakes. These guys were legitimately grateful for us to come lift with them. The good thing about this meet and the Powerlifting club in general is that in order to participate, prisoners have to be clear of drugs, gangs and other infractions up to a year beforehand. So even though we were in a room and a prison full of guys with some pretty intensive rap sheets like multiple murders, we were rather safe.
We got going very quickly after we stepped inside the gym. I was in the second flight of lifters, so I had about an hour before I had to start warming up and actually lifted. I opened with an easy 350# squat. I took all my lifts as easy openers due to this week of training. Hell, I just did 350 for a 10-rep max the day before, so I wasn’t really sure where my lifts would be at on this day. To be honest, I felt great. My lifts [squat and deadlift specifically] were there. Bench was another story due to my still slightly wonky shoulder and not benching in quite awhile. All in all I ended up with a 420# squat with more in the tank [15# under my max], a 245# bench [best I’ve hit in about a year, it’s weak but I’ll take it], and a 500# deadlift [20# under my max] for a 1,165# Total. Again, not great, but great for just coming off this week of training and not anywhere near peaked to hit maxes, and the prisoners all seemed to be astounded that I did this all without a belt on.
The inmates were great lifters. Not really the best-looking lifters, I swear I almost saw at least 3 spines rip out of their backs, but some were STUPID STRONG. We saw a 220# lifter OPEN with a 555# squat and deadlift, a 60+ year old guy hit a 365# bench and an attempt at a 600#+ squat and a 700#+ deadlift. INCREDIBLE. The other incredible thing about this group of guys was how intense and hyped they get for each other! The inmates actually had an enviable community of support for one another. They hype each other up, they push each other, and they pick each other up if they miss an attempt. They didn’t even know us, and yet they rooted the hardest when we were up to lift. It was pretty awesome.
All in all it was a great experience! It didn’t even phase me until we were all done and walking back out that I had just spent the day talking with, lifting with, shaking hands with, and rooting for some pretty bad criminals. They did an awesome job organizing, running, and lifting in the meet. It was an awesome experience, which I hope to experience again. Thanks Kinross.
Warm-up
3x
3 Goblet Squats W/ Blue Band
3/3/3 Snatch Press W/ PVC
Then with an empty bar:
5 Snatch Deadlift [Pull]
5 Dude Pull
5 High Hang Snatch
5 Snatch

Weightlifting

A) Take strictly 5:00 to warm up to 70% of your Snatch or as close to it as you can and still comfortably make lifts with the complex.
B) Take 6:00 after the Snatch complex to warm up to your Back Squat weight.

A): Snatch Deadlift + Dude Pull + High Hang Snatch + Snatch (2 x [1+1+1+1] @ 70%; 3 x [1+1+1+1] @ 75%; E2M)

B): Back Squat (10×4; @ 67.5%; E:80)

Metcon

C): Metcon (Weight)

EMOM x 8
5 Single Arm KB Front Squats
60 yd Sprint

Accessory

Metcon (Weight)

3x
A) Reverse Hyper – 15
B) Romanian Deadlift – 8
No more than +90# on A, and use the same weight as last week on B.

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