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Six days. Its the final days in my competition preparation for the 2025 Armlifting World Championships in Las Vegas.
This final week feels different from the intense preparation of previous months. The frantic energy of building strength and refining technique has given way to something calmer and more focused. The work is essentially done. Now it’s about preservation, fine-tuning, and mental preparation for execution.
Final Training Tests: Reality Check Time
This week’s training focused on confirmation rather than improvement—confirming my strength levels and setting realistic expectations for competition day.
The Anvil Medley Truth
I tested the actual competition weights for the anvil medley: 100 pounds, 120 pounds, and 140 pounds.
Results: The 100-pound pin felt easy. The 120-pound pin felt really good. The 140-pound pin? It wouldn’t budge off the ground.
To be honest, I don’t think I’m going to lift 140 pounds on competition day. And I’m okay with that.
My strategy: Attempt 100 lbs (should be easy), move to 120 lbs (confident), attempt 140 lbs (you never know), then return to 120 lbs for maximum repetitions.
This acceptance represents an important mindset shift—focusing on executing at my best level rather than hoping for miraculous improvements.
Saxon Deadlift: Maintaining Confidence
I focused entirely on maintaining feel and confidence rather than testing limits. Multiple sets at moderate weights, emphasizing smooth execution. This lift has been my strongest throughout preparation, and preserving that confidence is crucial.
Country Crush Surprise
The most exciting development: I nearly achieved 135 pounds on the 2-inch Country Crush deadlift—close to my personal record. The lift was ugly, but I moved the weight. Sometimes your best performances come when you’re not desperately chasing them.
Weight Management: Perfectly On Track
Weight has been sitting consistently at 150 pounds, drifting down to 149 the last couple days. This puts me comfortably below the 154-pound limit with no stress.
Nutrition remains exactly the same as previous weeks—same foods, same quantities. Consistency is more valuable than optimization at this point.
Sleep has been manageable despite caloric restriction. Energy levels remain surprisingly good. I can maintain this approach for the final six days without issues.
The Weigh-In Strategy: Removing Stress
Thursday’s Plan:
•Land in Vegas at 1:30 PM
•Fast all day (water, coffee, electrolytes only)
•Weigh in at 5:30 PM
•Buffet dinner afterward (finally eating without restrictions!)
Friday Morning: Breakfast at the hotel—eggs, potatoes, fruit, real food.
The beauty of weighing in Thursday night is removing a major stress source. I won’t spend Thursday night worrying about Friday morning weight.
The Mindset Shift: From Preparation to Execution
The most significant change this week has been psychological. For months, every session was about improvement. Now that phase is over. The strength has been built, techniques practiced, weight managed.
This shift is both liberating and confronting. Liberating because there’s no pressure to achieve breakthroughs. Confronting because I’m faced with the reality of my current capabilities.
The key is “confident acceptance”—accepting current abilities without resignation, feeling confident in those abilities without delusion.
Key Lessons from the Final Week
1. Honest Self-Assessment
My acceptance that I probably can’t lift 140 pounds isn’t defeatism—it’s realism that allows for better strategy and reduced anxiety. This applies to any goal: assess your current capabilities honestly to plan effectively.
2. The Final Phase Psychology
There’s a natural transition from building to preserving as deadlines approach. Recognizing this shift and embracing it reduces stress and improves performance.
3. Process Trust
After months of systematic preparation, I’m trusting the process rather than worrying about specific outcomes. This confidence comes from consistent experience with good preparation leading to good results.
4. Strategic Planning Under Constraints
My anvil strategy optimizes for realistic outcomes rather than hoping for ideal ones. This approach—working within current constraints rather than wishing they were different—applies to any challenging situation.
5. Energy Management
In the final phase, it’s better to preserve what you’ve built than try to add more. This means maintaining routines, avoiding major changes, and focusing on the details that actually matter.
Practical Applications
For Your Fitness Goals:
•Honestly assess current capabilities when setting short-term targets
•In final weeks before events, shift from building to preserving fitness
•Develop realistic strategies based on current abilities, not ideal scenarios
•Trust your preparation rather than constantly second-guessing
For Professional Challenges:
•Recognize when you’ve reached diminishing returns in preparation
•Plan for realistic scenarios rather than perfect conditions
•Focus on execution rather than last-minute improvements
•Manage stress through strategic planning of logistics and details
For Any Major Goal:
•Accept current reality while maintaining commitment to excellence
•Focus on factors you can control rather than outcomes you can’t predict
•Understand that meaningful results come from accumulated small decisions
•Develop systems that support consistent action over time
The Calm Before the Storm
As I write this, I’m experiencing a unique combination of excitement and calm. Excitement about testing months of preparation against world-level competition. Calm from knowing the work has been done and trusting the process.
This state—excited but calm, confident but realistic, prepared but flexible—can be developed through practice with systematic preparation and process-focused thinking.
The next time you hear from me, it will be from the other side of competition day. I’ll share the experience of competing at the world level and the lessons learned under ultimate pressure.
Until then, I’m focused on the simple but crucial final tasks: maintaining routines, managing travel logistics, and preserving the physical and mental state I’ve worked so hard to achieve.
The hard work is done. The preparation is complete. Now it’s time to trust the process and execute.
Whether you’re in the final phase of your own challenging goal or considering taking on a new challenge, remember: honest assessment of capabilities, strategic planning within constraints, trust in systematic preparation, and understanding that the journey often matters more than the destination.
The final chapter will be written on the competition platform in Las Vegas. I can’t predict exactly how it will unfold, but I know I’ll be ready to give my best effort with the capabilities I’ve developed.
Sometimes, that’s all you can ask for—and often, it’s enough.