[quote]tom63 wrote:
I wouldn’t open higher than 245 for your bench. If that us your current triple I think you’re overestimating your bench. Not to be negative , but no one hits their goal weights in their first meet.[/quote]
245 was an easy triple as that’s what I was supposed to do. I’ll be doing a triple for 255 this week, and prior to the meet planning on doing 275 for a triple.[/quote]
Planning is nice but remember you need to know that pause. A friend was planning on a 400 or so bench in his first meet. He bombed on 360. No pause training was the culprit. I you hit 275 for an easy triple, you still might only hit it for a single with the pause.
Weight loss will affect bench the most, squat the second, and deadlift the least.
Keep asking the questions, the first meet is chaotic and an incredible eye opener. My 16 year old son will be doing his first this Saturday. I’ll be calling every single shot all day, mainly because he has no idea what he’s in for.
It’s like a true freshmen starting in the biggest game of the year.
I’ve got a bench day tomorrow so I’ll see how it goes with the pause.
I am definitely looking at this as a learning experience and definitely not going to let it be my last meet. I definitely wish I had someone with meet experience going with me. I need to find a fricken training partner just to go with me first and foremost though I suppose, even one without any experience.
When you get to the meet, if you don’t know anybody, find whoever is running the thing and tell them its your first meet. Ask if there is anyone in your class who they know who might be willing to show you the ropes or share a handler or just let you hang out with them. Don’t be shy, almost everyone is willing to help. I found someone in my class who was more than willing to let me tag along and who basically held my hand the whole time and it made the experience a lot less painful and I am 100% sure I was much more successful than I would have been without the help.
I like the my Inzer lever 13mm, but some prefer 10mm or single prong, its a matter of preference and hard to tell which one you will like without trying each a few times. I like the click-and-go of the lever, personally, but some people don’t like having to use a screwdriver to adjust it (takes about 1 min., and I rarely ever need to adjust mine).
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
USAPL is 10 mm max so I’ll be going with that. I’ll probably go with the lever as my waist doesn’t ever fluctuate enough to warrant changing it often.
I’ll definitely be lookin for help at the meet and I’m not afraid to ask for it by any means. [/quote]
You can go 13 mm with USAPL. I prefer the 10 mm as there is much less breaking in.
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
I’ve got a bench day tomorrow so I’ll see how it goes with the pause.
I am definitely looking at this as a learning experience and definitely not going to let it be my last meet. I definitely wish I had someone with meet experience going with me. I need to find a fricken training partner just to go with me first and foremost though I suppose, even one without any experience. [/quote]
It would help tremendously if you could. As I said,my 16 year old son is in his first this Saturday. He had to lose a little weight and we’re going to have to see how his warm ups go for his seconds and thirds. His last squat workout found him slightly struggling with a weight 20 lbs under his last triple.
At a meet you’re hoping for three prs. In the real world maybe unrealistic. In a lifter’s mind, oh yeah it’s going to happen. This is where a lifting buddy or friend with experience is invaluable.
It also helps if dad is a level three ART guy with lifting and meet experience. I wish I was in his position 28 years ago.
Go conservative on openers and make attempts. Take a pr shot on a third. Shoot for nine for nine. the do one again in four months.
If you are in North GA (I’m assuming somewhere outside of Atlanta) then you have no excuse for training in a shitty commercial gym. Check out Coffee’s gym (I think it’s still around), North Georgia Barbell, and Quest Gym. If you are wanting to continue competing in USAPL, Quest is the place to go for you.
I’m in North suburbs of Atlanta. My excuse for training in a shitty commercial gym (and as far as commercial gyms go it’s not that bad, they let me use chalk and they have a solid power rack), is that I just moved out of the parentals house and am barely making ends meet. The gym I’m at now is all of 10 bucks a month. Is it ideal? No. But they generally let me do what I want there and although there’s no one to train with and I don’t get that atmosphere that I’m sure would be great at Quest, I can’t afford something nicer or the gas money it’d take to drive there often. Once I get a bit more settled with the finances I’ll definitely check it out, Quest is only about 40 minutes from me.
[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
I’m in North suburbs of Atlanta. My excuse for training in a shitty commercial gym (and as far as commercial gyms go it’s not that bad, they let me use chalk and they have a solid power rack), is that I just moved out of the parentals house and am barely making ends meet. The gym I’m at now is all of 10 bucks a month. Is it ideal? No. But they generally let me do what I want there and although there’s no one to train with and I don’t get that atmosphere that I’m sure would be great at Quest, I can’t afford something nicer or the gas money it’d take to drive there often. Once I get a bit more settled with the finances I’ll definitely check it out, Quest is only about 40 minutes from me.[/quote]
I keep forgetting how stupid massive the ATL metro is.
North Georgia Barbell might be even closer, I think it’s in Kennessaw? There is a guy who posts here under the name “Pinto” who trains there (or at least he did last I heard). Might try getting in touch with him.
Most of these places are pretty inexpensive to train at and having the experienced lifters around is definitely worth whatever extra costs you might incur. I know Quest has got a couple of guys who wen to IPF Worlds (and one who won his weight class I think?) and NGBB has a 1,000 lb squatter at 220 lbs.
Kennessaw is about 40 minutes or so too. While these places may not be more then 10 miles, traffic, sucks. I may wait a few months to do this since during the winter months I have more time since I’m not coaching 30 hours a week and hopefully by then I’ll have my finances under control. I definitely know the benefits of training with stronger guys. All throughout college I had the benefit of training with someone my height, weighing in at a solid 309 that was just beastly strong. And those were some of the best gains I ever had.