First Powerlifting Meet

Just wanted to share this with you guys. Tell me what you think.

Good experience overall. Made a lot of mistakes, but still felt I did well. I know I could have benched at least 215, and squatted 300… Failed attempts threw me off, so I didn’t want to risk going to a weight that I wasn’t sure I could get and risk not getting a score. I was really surprised by my deadlift. I was planning on pulling 385 at the most… Came out and did 380 really easily and said im going for over 400. Any critiques or questions just let me know. Hope you guys enjoy.
Bodyweight: 135.1 lbs
Squat: 292lbs
Bench: 203lbs
Deadlift: 407.5 lbs
USPA Southwest Open in Las Vegas
1st Place Mens 148lb Junior (18-19) Raw Division
3rd Place Mens 148lb Open Raw

I think you should be proud.

A x3 bw deadlift on your first meet? Respect!
Comments:
Learn how to bench like a lifter
EAT SOMETHING! Dude you weigh 135, dont know how tall you are but you dont look short enough to justify this. Go grab a sandwich.
You should at least go up to your weight class, but get bigger.
Everybody fucks up their first meet.
I squated 180kgx3 before my first meet and I could only get 180 because I went nearly ATG because I wasnt used to squating with no mirror… anyways go get bigger and stronger and total 1100 in your next meet :slight_smile:

im only about 5’5 and my bones are fairly light the doctor has told me… but the thing is with me i like to stay lean. and as soon as i try to bulk i put on bodyfat on my stomach which gets to me… especially since i was chubbier as a kid i have a fear of never going back to that. but thanks for the encouragement.

You have purged your demons. All should be well now.

Eat a little more, you don’t have to gorge. Just an extra sip of milk here and there, something big(gish) after workouts only, etc. Do not use the word “bulk.” You can do this at your own pace. If the gains slow to less than your liking, up the eating to fuel an upsurge. You won’t get fluffy this way. You will gain VERY slowly, but you seem to be okay with that and this is your life so do what you must. Pay attention, learn what is enough and not too much for you and the body weight will not get away from you.

Again, you should be proud.

Thanks, i qualified for nationals, so onto the next one i suppose.

It amazes me how you little guys pull so much damn weight for your size!

Well done!

Impressive. Especially considering you can gain 13 lbs and stay in the same division.

x3 on what emskee and the others said. I would spend some serious time on deadlift form. It’s your strongest lift, but your lower back flexion is troubling.

is my lower back in a bad position? i thought i stayed tight for the most part.

[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:
is my lower back in a bad position? i thought i stayed tight for the most part.[/quote]

I’ve see a lot, lot worse.

Your hips start a bit low and you put them up to where you want to start from at the initiation of the actual pull. On your last, you tried to crank the bar, being a dead mass its trip upward was out of pace with your hips going up, back rounded. Common thing. You can get over it.

Put more air in your chest such that you can sit your torso atop the belt. This should help put pressure internally onto your thoracic spine. Don’t know if you notice it but like many/most people, your chest is more proud when you put the bar to the floor after the attempt than when you initiate the pull. Get all tight when you go down to the bar, pretend it is your second rep not your first.

Imagine pulling from the point where your cervical spine hits your thoracic, not from where you are pulling which is from your lower thoracic spine just above the belt.

Find that hip height where you are pulling from and start from there rather than from below (you have videos so this should be easy to spot).

I know I am speaking contrary to scripture here, but consider a neutral head position. A head thrown back sometimes causes the upper chest to fall.

Anyway, big air, hips where you like 'em, pull from your mid traps.

In my humble opinion.

So you’re saying I should pull from the height I end up in? instead of trying to start lower?

I’m saying give it a try.

Your chest and upper back look better set as you put the bar back to the platform than they do just before you pull.

Also, Take a look at where your hips are when you set up vs. where they go just before the bar leaves the floor.

Dude that is a sick pull for your age and weight, once you add a bit more mass and strength you’ll be a monster!
Be damn proud of yourself.

Great job! Like everyone else said, everyone screws up their first meet and you came back from it beautifully!

Go get the next one!

Thanks to everyone for the support and positive feedback.

Great job for your first meet! Did you not want to do a water cut or did you have weigh ins the same day? I just did my first meet back in early march and had 24 hour weigh ins so I did a bit of a cut but was wondering what your situation was/ whether you liked it or not.

[quote]tylerkeen42 wrote:
Great job for your first meet! Did you not want to do a water cut or did you have weigh ins the same day? I just did my first meet back in early march and had 24 hour weigh ins so I did a bit of a cut but was wondering what your situation was/ whether you liked it or not.[/quote]
I had 24 hours but I had already cut weight for the meet. All week I cut carbs and was around 135 all week, then the morning of my meet I woke up at 139 which was even higher than what I started the week as… I must have at something with more sodium than I was used to. I hadn’t eaten since 6 the day before, and basically did a 24 hour fast, and ran with a trash bag… Still was 133.5 and it was 30 minutes before weigh ins and i knew I wouldn’t make the weight, I already felt like death because I had never cut water weight before. So I just decided to forget it and eat and drink and weighed in at 135.1… Bad planning on my part, but it turned out okay.

Awe sorry to hear about your weigh ins. Thanks for the insight though, one more question if you don’t mind. What do you normally weigh? Sorry about being so nosy but I’m trying to get an idea of how much weight people normally cut. I can’t find anything besides people like Kroc losing a million pounds.

[quote]tylerkeen42 wrote:
Awe sorry to hear about your weigh ins. Thanks for the insight though, one more question if you don’t mind. What do you normally weigh? Sorry about being so nosy but I’m trying to get an idea of how much weight people normally cut. I can’t find anything besides people like Kroc losing a million pounds.[/quote]

I stay between 138-140… But I don’t have much wait to cut seeing as though I don’t hold that much water weight to begin with. If I could do it again, I would slowly lose weight for the month leading up to the meet, actual bodyfat, so I wouldnt have to cut.