Advice for First Powerlifting Meet

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

So I decided last week to do my first meet. It’s going to be next saturday (2/23) and it’s an APF meet. I just turned 21, I’m 5’11 and around 195 lbs. I’ll be competing in the 198 class. I’m going to compete raw (no gear or wraps) simply because I’ve never trained in anything other than a belt and I don’t have time to practice with anything else. I’m just doing this to get some experience anyways, I know I won’t be winning anything.

I’m not looking for training advice obviously because the meet is less than 2 weeks away, but I would like advice on how I should set up my attempts, etc. I’d been training really hard to walk on to my college football team up until about a month ago so I’ve been hitting the lifts hard and heavy for a while now.

Today I went heavy on all three lifts to try and see exactly where I stand. I limited myself to 3 heavy attempts so that I didn’t end up doing too much. I know it probably wasn’t the best idea to do this with the meet less than 2 weeks away, but I didn’t really have an idea of where my strength was at. This is what I ended up getting:

Squat
1x355 (easy)
1x375 (easy)
1x385 (was tough, but I went deep. I had a partner checking my depth and he said the crease of my hip was a good 2 inches below my knee. I should be good for around 400.)

Bench
1x285 (harder than I thought it would be)
1x295 (barely got this)
I didn’t do a third attempt because I felt like shit on bench and was pissed. I haven’t done any max work on bench in a while, but last time I did I was hitting 300 fairly easily.

Deadlift
1x475 (easy)
1x515 (pretty tough)
0x530 (set it down after stalling halfway up. I might have been able to muscle it up, but I’ll save that for the meet.)

So considering all this, what do you guys think my attempts should be? Obviously I’ll adjust the last two based on how my opener goes, but I want to go in with a general plan. I was thinking 375/395/400+ on squat, 275/295/300+ on bench, and 495/515/520+ on deadlift. Thoughts? The opener is the only number I’m really concerned with, the other two I’ll go by how easy my opener feels. My goal is to total 1200, so if I hit my planned second attempt on each lift I should get it.

Any other advice you might have for me is also appreciated. This was kind of a last minute thing, so I’m just trying to play it by ear and have fun with it.

2

every one says do your best triple for competion which is the safe way

but i prefer to do a solid double or a single i now i always get

first meet though i would go with the thumb of rule and say best triple man

3

I’d even say, go for what you could triple on your worst day. Then second attempt, go for something you’ve got recently in the gym and think you could hit. Then go for broke on the third. That’s just the way I’d do it.

I did my second PLing meet this past December at an APF meet, and I also did it raw. We are actually the same weight, height and have very similar lifts.

Anyway, I’d definitely open on the light side, like I said above, but I tend to be cautious. You never know if you’ll get redlighted for something like your ass coming up or missing the pause and you might have to take your opener a second time time with a “new technique”.

APF isn’t too strict on squat depth either, so you should be set.

Most importantly, have fun!

-Matt

4

don’t tap your feet during the bench press

don’t shift feet at all during the squat until after the weight is to be racked.

don’t rack to early

learn from my mistakes!!!1

5

Don’t try max singles again until your comp.

SQ try around 360 to 375 for your opener, 380-390 for your second and go 400 for the third.

BP try around 270 for your first, 285 then 295-300.

DL first: around 470, 510 then 520-530

Good luck! Let us know how you fare.

6

[quote]Boffin wrote:
Don’t try max singles again until your comp.
SQ try around 360 to 375 for your opener, 380-390 for your second and go 400 for the third.
BP try around 270 for your first, 285 then 295-300.
DL first: around 470, 510 then 520-530
Good luck! Let us know how you fare.[/quote]

This was my last meet:

The last workout before the meet was 545x3.
that was 2 saturdays before the meet.

I squatted the next tuesday as the last heavy squat before the meet.
Did nothing that saturday (rest)
did nothing following tuesday (rest)

saturday meet attempts

I opened with 519. second attempt was 551 (around my last workout) and my 3rd attempt was 601 which I got.I prolly had 10lbs at best leftover but It was my first 600 so I didnt want to take any chances.

Opening lighter gives confidance and enables you to jump in attepmts I usually 40-50 bewteen first and second and 30-40 between second and third attempts. That way you can gut out your 3rd attempt. This advice uses all 3 attempts. some people use their last warmup as their “first” attempt and pass on their 3rd.

7

Know the rules of your federation.

I’m not familiar with APF rules but if they have a “squat” command for squats and “rack” command for bench, practice these during your light week.

If you haven’t been pausing your benches, you may want to open lower than you planned.

Have fun and good luck!

8

Have your openers selected before the meet and have a general idea of what you’d like to hit for seconds and thirds, but you can’t know completely until you meet day and after you feel your openers.

9

I also have a meet coming up soon. Is there anything I should do night before and morning of?

Anything I should or shouldn’t eat?

10

[quote]bander87 wrote:
I also have a meet coming up soon. Is there anything I should do night before and morning of?

Anything I should or shouldn’t eat?[/quote]

It depends how close you are to making weight.I always went out for pizza after I weighed in. Just dont starve yourself and you’ll be ok.

11

So the meet was today and overall it went well. Here’s my little recap:

I weighed in friday morning at 195.5. After thinking about it I realized that I was an idiot and could have easily cut down to 181. I went out for beer and wings the night before weigh ins. I woke up a little hungover so I drank 3 bottles of water before weighing in. I also weighed in fully clothed. I probably would have had no problem making 181. Anyways, on to the meet.

On squat I opened with 365 and smoked it. My next attempt was 395 and I had to fight through it but I made it. After this lift, it seemed like everyone in the room made sure they came up and let me know that I was going about 3 inches deeper than I had to. My 3rd attempt was 405 and it was easier than the 2nd because I stopped a little higher. I was still told that I was 1-2 inches too deep so I could have probably been good for alot more.

On bench I did my 275 opener with ease. My 2nd was 295 and I got it literally within a 1/2 inch of lockout and for some reason just stalled there. I held it there trying to lock it out for about 10 seconds before the spotters finally just grabbed it. I don’t know what the deal was because I usually have trouble about 4-5 inches off the chest and once I get passed that sticking point the lockout is a breeze. I tried 295 again on my 3rd but was too gassed from putting so much effort into my 2nd attempt. Bench is definitely my weakpoint and needs some major work.

By the time deadlift rolled around I wasn’t expecting to do very good. My lower back was extremely tight and I had sat through 3 flights of bench so it had been about 3 hours since I had done anything. I felt horrible in warmups and 225 even felt heavy. I decided to just make sure I broke 500 and be happy with that, even though I needed 520 to get to my goal of 1200. My last warmup was 365 and I wasn’t too sure how I would end up doing.

My opener was 475 and I absolutely demolished that weight. It went up so fast it felt like I could have almost cleaned it. I didn’t know if it was just a fluke or if somehow my back miraculously felt better so I went with 505 on my 2nd. That went up just as easily as the first. I decided to just go with 520 on my 3rd to make sure I got 1200. This weight went up easily as well. I don’t know how I could feel so crappy in warmups and then do so well in my actual lifts. I’m happy with the results but I’m a little annoyed because after the 3rd attempt I felt like I left alot of weight on the platform. The state record for junior 198’s is 550 and the way that 520 went up makes me think I could have come very close to breaking that record.

Oh well, now I have my goal for my next meet. I don’t know exactly when my next one will be, but I want to do one again soon. My goals for that meet are to learn how to use a bench shirt and squat suit and put up respectable numbers in those lifts (I competed raw in this meet). I plan on competing at 181 and taking down the state record for deadlift, which is 545 in that weight class.

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice and I’ll be sure to update you guys again when I’m approaching my next meet.

12

Go have FUN its like the first time having sex, if your going to fuck up so you might as well have fun learn from it and come back and Kick ass

13

Congrats, man! That’s great. Don’t sweat the bench, feed off of your goals, and do better next time. You have plenty to be proud of here, and you learned a lot.

14

  1. Make sure that you know how to properly preform the lifts before going into the meet. I mean “powerlifting” wise…everyone can “bench press”, but meets are different ofc.

  2. Don’t lift the week of the meet like 5 - 7 days rest. Don’t deadlift within 10 days of the meet. Try not to be sore with in 2 weeks of the meet.

  3. Don’t over do warming up…meets are long and slow sometimes…warm up don’t work out

  4. Reread #1 then Reread it again!!!

15

[quote]k1t0r5 wrote:
So the meet was today and overall it went well. Here’s my little recap:

I weighed in friday morning at 195.5. After thinking about it I realized that I was an idiot and could have easily cut down to 181. I went out for beer and wings the night before weigh ins. I woke up a little hungover so I drank 3 bottles of water before weighing in. I also weighed in fully clothed. I probably would have had no problem making 181. Anyways, on to the meet.

On squat I opened with 365 and smoked it. My next attempt was 395 and I had to fight through it but I made it. After this lift, it seemed like everyone in the room made sure they came up and let me know that I was going about 3 inches deeper than I had to. My 3rd attempt was 405 and it was easier than the 2nd because I stopped a little higher. I was still told that I was 1-2 inches too deep so I could have probably been good for alot more.

On bench I did my 275 opener with ease. My 2nd was 295 and I got it literally within a 1/2 inch of lockout and for some reason just stalled there. I held it there trying to lock it out for about 10 seconds before the spotters finally just grabbed it. I don’t know what the deal was because I usually have trouble about 4-5 inches off the chest and once I get passed that sticking point the lockout is a breeze. I tried 295 again on my 3rd but was too gassed from putting so much effort into my 2nd attempt. Bench is definitely my weakpoint and needs some major work.

By the time deadlift rolled around I wasn’t expecting to do very good. My lower back was extremely tight and I had sat through 3 flights of bench so it had been about 3 hours since I had done anything. I felt horrible in warmups and 225 even felt heavy. I decided to just make sure I broke 500 and be happy with that, even though I needed 520 to get to my goal of 1200. My last warmup was 365 and I wasn’t too sure how I would end up doing.

My opener was 475 and I absolutely demolished that weight. It went up so fast it felt like I could have almost cleaned it. I didn’t know if it was just a fluke or if somehow my back miraculously felt better so I went with 505 on my 2nd. That went up just as easily as the first. I decided to just go with 520 on my 3rd to make sure I got 1200. This weight went up easily as well. I don’t know how I could feel so crappy in warmups and then do so well in my actual lifts. I’m happy with the results but I’m a little annoyed because after the 3rd attempt I felt like I left alot of weight on the platform. The state record for junior 198’s is 550 and the way that 520 went up makes me think I could have come very close to breaking that record.

Oh well, now I have my goal for my next meet. I don’t know exactly when my next one will be, but I want to do one again soon. My goals for that meet are to learn how to use a bench shirt and squat suit and put up respectable numbers in those lifts (I competed raw in this meet). I plan on competing at 181 and taking down the state record for deadlift, which is 545 in that weight class.

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice and I’ll be sure to update you guys again when I’m approaching my next meet.[/quote]

Good job man, sounds like it went pretty well