ANOM1K's First PL Meet Results

Training Powerlifting
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First Ever Meet results:

Squat: 365 10lb PR! Could’ve gotten more. (belt and knee wraps)
Bench: 190 → I decided to not go for a PR in favor of having a better total.
Deadlift: 375 → missed an attempt at 400. Bar did not leave the ground (belt)

Total: 930

Thoughts: (not a cohesive essay)

All in all this was a fun, exciting, and humbling experience. I didn’t really get to see the big dudes lift except for the deadlift, and no one was pulling over 700. I tried mainly to focus on preparing for each lift.

Prepping for the squat was the hardest, getting both the knee wraps on and the belt in time was sort of a pain in the ass. I imagine this is much worse when wearing actual gear.

I placed first in my division as a 198 lb junior raw lifter because I was competing against no one. Because of this I was forced to compare myself to other lifters, which was where the humbling part came into play. Sidenote: The WNPF is a natural powerlifting league.

Other lifters:
Equipped 220lb class junior: We squatted the same thing, but he blew me away with a 270 lb bench and a 415 DL

Equipped 198lb class 14 year old boy: I squatted more than him, but he benched and deadlifted significantly more than I did. He made 380 look like a piece of cake (first attempt). He’ll be going places in football if he makes the right choices.

Equipped Girl 150lb class either junior or open: I benched and squatted more than her but she deadlifted more than me! She had an 845lb total. I’m not sure about her age because she was with her parents but said she taught kids english.

Male 198lb senior citizen: outbenching me, but I’m outsquatting him. I didn’t see him deadlift.

All in all I got beaten by a girl, an old man, and a 14 year old boy. Ouch. Good times though, squat PR!

Sidenote: The meet itself was expensive as I dropped a total of $170 on entering, getting a year membership, and a singlet. The financial thing reminded me of paint-balling, and again, this is probably much worse with gear. There was also curling, which was silly.

I will try to post a link to the meet results, when they put them up.

Epilogue: I imagine that I will continue to train for powerlifting after I take a two week hiatus for some graduation summer fun. I’ve enjoyed my introduction to the sport, and I’d like to continue to do it, likely for 3-4 years since I have decent coaching, to see what kind of potential I have. After what I’ve seen today, it doesn’t seem unreasonable at all to think that within that span of time that I could hit around 3-4-5 or a 1200lb total. However, my short-er term goal would be to hit a 1000lb total, which would be a good goal for a meet in october, though I may move up a weight class to do it. There’s certainly plenty of room for improvement.

Disclaimer: I’m obviously excited because this is my first meet. I understand that In a sense that it was “nothing special” number-wise, but numbers are only part of the reason why I posted. I’d be interested in hearing about other people’s first meet experiences, as well as any input or questions regarding my own experience.

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dude if you dont have a good job, dont bother with gear. im just getting into equip PLing, and ive alreay spent around 250 and i havent even boutgh a bench shirt yet

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hey brauny,

Thanks for the reply. As a graduate student, I will be pretty close to the poverty line in terms of income, and the meets + food + protein powder would be more than expensive enough for my limited budget. It’s all well and good, because while I find equipped lifting interesting it is not my main concern.

By the way, your numbers are impressive, equipped or raw, for someone in high school.

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Nice work entering your first meet. You have to start somewhere.

Just work on getting stronger and don’t worry about “having to gain weight” to hit a PR. Your body will know what to do. Just eat train and rest properly and your body will do the rest.

I placed first in my first meet in high school when I was a sophomore lifting in the 132 lbs category. I believe I placed third w/ a 745 lbs total, behind two guys who had held state records. I was happy with the meet. That was 8 years and 60 lbs ago.

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Hey synthetickiller,
Thanks for the input.

Eating and training I don’t have problems with, but resting is sometimes difficult. This summer though I’ll have plenty of time for rest, and my stress levels will be lower from being outside of school.

My friend Jim who has been training for probably 20-30 years told me that he placed 3rd for his first meet as well. It would’ve been nice to beat someone in the same division, though I imagine when I turn 24, I’ll be competing against people in the open, where it will be much more competitive, and I will probably lose, haha.

I ran track in high-school, so my weightlifting program sucked, meaning, there was no program except 3x10 until you get bored. I wouldn’t have even understood powerlifting in high-school.

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It takes years to get decent at powerlifting or some. Others are lucky.

I started training about 8 years ago (24 now). In that time, I went from 132 lbs to 190 lbs. I think that first meet I squatted 235, benched 180 and pulled 330. I think now my best lifts at home that should be legit are 573 squat (almost to 600 though), bench 315 (sucks for a raw lift) and deadlifting about 460+. By most standards, thats not a very good increase in 8 years, but it’s better than nothing.

Just get out there and bust your ass. It’ll pay off.

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OP…nice on getting your feet wet!!..your first total beat my first. I remember it…a solid 16 year old 148. Ahh a 285 squat, 200 BP, and a 345 dead…placed 4th. tons of fun, but hey man,with first meets can go nowhere but up!

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re: synthetic killer

I think that increase is impressive, and what you said about improvement still applies in your case.

re: pipes

Thanks dude, room for improvement seems to be the recurring theme in this thread, but it was definitely fun to get my feet wet. I appreciate the encouragement.

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today: woke up with a headache and aches all over. Never had a headache from weight training before.

Synthetic, your squat went from being worse than your deadlift to better than your deadlift. How did that happen?

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congrats for stepping on the platform.

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Congratulations on doing your first meet. Breaking
the ice is huge. Don’t worry about your numbers or
being unopposed in your age / weight class. Just get
out there and do your best.

Time to start planning for the next one.

Rick

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RE: blade

Thanks very much

RE: RickC

After a bit of a vacation, I will be happy to get back into the gym. As fun as the meet was, I’m really looking forward to training again.

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Congratulations on competing and hitting a squat PR! I’ve decided to take the plunge and enter my first meet in August. Pound for pound you are a just a little stronger than I am right now, so I’ll be watching your progress with interest. Good luck on chasing that 1000lb total!

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Congrats on your first meet!

I’ve won my fair share of meets by being the only competitor in my weight class as well. Now I just go into meets and try to break my PR’s. If someone else shows up to compete, that’s great, I don’t mind beating them. :wink:

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Re: element

Thanks! Feel free to follow my log as you like, just know that it may not be active for the next two weeks. Good luck also in your august competition. I’m not sure what you mean by pound for pound, are you actually stronger than I am, but I just weigh less than you? Also, you should probably start a log of your own!

Re: Modi

Thanks for the congrats. I have been lurking these forums for a year or so; I have seen some of your videos, and they are very impressive. You would have definitely been competitive at the top level for the meet in which I competed. When they post the results for the meet I will be interested to see how those compare with your total.

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congrats dude .

I always enjoy the "1st meet " threads . I say it takes hella-balls to get up there , regardless of the outcome .

I agree on the expense issue . thats pretty much what keeps me from doing more meets .

and you’re correct in the assumption that competing un-equip’d is less stressful than equip’d . huge difference .

hell , after 3 meets I have yet to encounter another lifter in my age-bracket/division . but thats cool though ; thats the last thing I need to be thinking about . seeing as how I havent lifted in a Nationals Meet yet , I could still technically lift as a Novice . that would make me a 181/Master 1/Novice…hahahaha.

but anyway , now you got your baseline numbers .

go smash 'em

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[quote]anom1k wrote:
Re: element

Thanks! Feel free to follow my log as you like, just know that it may not be active for the next two weeks. Good luck also in your august competition. I’m not sure what you mean by pound for pound, are you actually stronger than I am, but I just weigh less than you? Also, you should probably start a log of your own!

[/quote]

Yeah, I’m a little over 100kg (220lb) and have set myself a target of getting a 485kg (1067lb) total in that first competition. Even that is pretty ambitious, and means I’ll have to find about 10-15kg on all three lifts by then. With the motivation of the meet, I think I can get there, but it’ll be hard work!

I’ll be following your log, and will start one of my own tonight.

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Re: Marlboro man

Thanks for the encouragement. I hope you find someone to compete with.

Re: element 26

Glad to hear that you’ll be starting a log. I won’t be following it for a couple weeks, but when I get back from florida, I’ll be sure to check on your progress. By that time I imagine I will be weaker! Though I might do a week of bodybuilding (GASP) with my friend while I’m in florida.