2nd Last Heavy Events

The title of this post refers to the fact that I only have 1 heavy Events session and then a deload leading into the Arnold's.

Saturday Feb 12th 2011
Events

Axle- worked up to 300X4. A bit outside the time limit here. But I think I've got my process ironed out.

Car DL- 6 holes X5, 4 holes X5, 3 holes X8 (holes showing on the handles)
Toyota Matrix, Suit and straps

Yoke- worked up to 860X60', nice and controled, felt fast and ready to go. (Drop turn at 30')

Stones- tried out "spider tack", it was a bit of a disaster. The tacky is super sticky and is great for a heavy single (tricky to let go of the stone after its loaded) but sucked it pretty bad on all attempted runs. After 1-2 stones the tacky picked up any and all dirt and was useless. It actually was pulling off old tacky from the stones. Very disappointed.
285-300-320-350-385 to 60-56-54-51-51 (I was never able to complete the run without stopping to rest and retacky. Even the light stones were slipping and dropping.) Pretty much a waste of effort.
385X1 to 51, 385X1 to 51, 285X75 seconds (6 reps) to 54"

If anyone has any insider tips on how to make this "Spider Tack" work well, I'd love to hear from you.

I got asked why I use weights that are lighter than the actual weights that we will be using at the arnolds.
There are a couple of reasons:
1) Training close to (90-95%) of the actual contest weight has worked well for me in the past, it allows me to improve my technical execution, while still being heavy enough to present similar strain to the actual weights.

2) It sets me up for a positive mental state towards each event, and prevents what I call "a mind fuck" in the last couple weeks leading into the show.  I have handled the actual contest weights earlier in the training cycle, but now's not the time to get frustrated or fill your head with negative thoughts towards each event due to struggling through a training session.

3) I feel that I usually underperform in the training garage.  The mental arousal of competition is where my best performances occur.  There are some occasions that I get fired up and really smash a training session, but it still pales in comparison to where I take myself on game day.  (Basically, I save it for the big show)