Hello guys I am competing in my first benchpress competition tomorrow. It is an unsanctioned event, but I figure good experience. I need help determining my weight scheme for the 3 lifts. I am in the 181 lbs class and weighed in at 175.25 actual on the day before the competition. I actually competing in the RAW catagory in the 25 years old bracket.
I set my opening lift at 142.5 Kg or 314.16lbs. I can do that weight comfortably 5 reps on a very bad day in my regular gym with a slow controlled tempo, but not a 2 sec pause. I figure thats should be fairly easy since my maximum was 365 for two reps using a touch and go technique not a bouncing technique if you can call that one.
So what should be my next two sets? How should I warm up? Thanks to those who reply.
In most PL associations, the required pause is less than a second. If I’m the head referee, it’s about a half-second, assuming that the bar is under control when it hits your chest. It’s just long enough to be sure that you didn’t bounce the bar off your chest. Be aware that the side referees are positioned to see if your butt lifts one-twentieth of an inch off the bench: keep it tight! Also, ya gotta remember to hold the bar at the top of the lift, until the head referee says “Rack!” For these reasons and the fact that it’s your first contest, don’t bet that your paused single will be much heavier than your touch-&-go double.
I’m assuming that the weights in the warmup room are in pounds and that the competition plates are in kilo’s. (That’s usually the case in the USA.)
Warmups (every rep paused): 135X8, 185X6, 235X4, 275X2//1st Attempt: 142.5kg/314#. 2nd Attempt: 155kg/342#. 3rd Attempt: 167.5kg/369#. The first attempt will be an easy last warmup, which is what first attempts should be. The second attempt will be easy enough that it won’t take any strength away from your third attempt. Think about your form for those two attempts; save the “premeditated insanity” psych-up for the 3rd attempt.
If you haven’t read the rulebook for the association you’re lifting in, get there early and study it.
When the chalk dust settles, tell us how it went!
Strength & courage,
“Coach Joe”
hanks for your responses I am 3 hours away from the meet and I am feeling a little tired since I had a hard time sleeping more than 8hrs due to the nervousness/excitment/lack of experience/fear of making an ass out of myself.
I don’t know what people do in my weight range since I don’t work out at a powerhous gym, but I will try to attempt my personal best of 369.27 on the third.
BTW in case you guys are wondering its in Hawaii and its called the Sonny Ronolo’s 4th annual bench press competition. Sonny currently holds the world record for the 80 year old age bracket…the dude presses over 300 at that age!!! I hope to even live past 80.
Thanks Coach! I have a little time before the reporting time of the meet and am trying to relax my mind by posting on this board. I agree with your analysis in that I won’t be able to do much more since they will be watching me to see if the butt moves. I don’t pay attention in the gym to see if my butt moves, but I am sure to keep my feet planted so that should result in a stablization of the lower half of my body, plus I don’t use a belt to because I was taught that way from a strength coach in college (he says it weakens you lower back). So I will be using only chalk. Maybe in a sanctioned event I will use my belt, but I will not enter unless I can get my raw 1 rep maximum to 400+. I say that because my buddy who will be spoting me held the world record at one time, at 148lbs he did 435lbs (assisted of course) Taylor Tom and supposedly Darin Matsumoto (seated world record) will be benching in this competition and going for 500lbs(assisted) in the 148lb catagory.
As for pumping myself up I don’t really do that…I have faced so much adversity in my life that I just make that my focus and it pushes the weight up everytime. Thanks for the input and I will let you know how it goes.
I am going to state that your opener seems a little low given it is a bench only meet. I would advise you to open closer to 330. If you can double 365 touch and go, without lifting your ass or bouncing, 330 should be a cake walk. I would then go 350-55, then probably 370. (or equivalent if meet is in kilos.)
Warmups like this. Barx10x2, 95x3, 135x3, 185x3, 235x3, 295 single with pause, and repeat if you think you need to. (I always get feedback on how that last rep looks from someone I trust. If I have a technical problem, I take it again. If everything looks OK, I go sit down and try to relax to conserve energy.)
IMHO, doing all your warm-ups paused is unnecessary and way too taxing. Save it for a single at the end.
Remember, they are warm-ups, not a workout. Try to pace yourself and keep your adrenaline under control. Conserve as much energy as possible for the platform.
[quote]apwsearch wrote:
I am going to state that your opener seems a little low given it is a bench only meet. I would advise you to open closer to 330. If you can double 365 touch and go, without lifting your ass or bouncing, 330 should be a cake walk. I would then go 350-55, then probably 370. (or equivalent if meet is in kilos.)
Warmups like this. Barx10x2, 95x3, 135x3, 185x3, 235x3, 295 single with pause, and repeat if you think you need to. (I always get feedback on how that last rep looks from someone I trust. If I have a technical problem, I take it again. If everything looks OK, I go sit down and try to relax to conserve energy.)
IMHO, doing all your warm-ups paused is unnecessary and way too taxing. Save it for a single at the end.
Remember, they are warm-ups, not a workout. Try to pace yourself and keep your adrenaline under control. Conserve as much energy as possible for the platform.
Good luck. [/quote]
Being that its my first meet I wanted to set the opener at a easy level. The next two will be determined on how well my form and judging go on the first. If they are instituting a
sec pause I don’t want to get stuck at my opener and blow my confidence. Anyway going to leave for the meet now. Thanks for you input I will keep the warm up comments in mind when I get down there. I do feel paused warm ups will take strength. However, the warm up sets you list have 6 sets in there? My regular “bench day” when going heavy is as follows
135 - 10-15
225 - 10
275 - 5
315 - 3
sometimes 335
365 or better 1-3
315 - for max reps
Again thanks and I will let you know how i do
For my first meet I am satisfied with the results, but I am pissed that I missed my PR. The sets went like this
1st 314.16lbs
2nd 336.20lbs
3rd 369.27lbs
I did both the first and second with ease. As expected, it was a non santioned meet and the judges were juicing toward their friends and being hard on those that were not their friends. On all my sets I had at least a 1.5 - 2 sec pause. I don’t blame this for not beating my PR, but I attribute it to a lack of experience/having too much nerves. I missed the last set only by a hair. I got it up over the 4 inch mark and held it there, but it would not move up and I timed out of the lift before it came back down. (I need more triceps) In retrospect I should have opened higher and tried my PR at the second set. That way I would have done better.
No other entries in the raw catagory at 181 so I took first place. My weight was 175 on the day before and if I had planned on doing this meet I would have competed in the 165. I decided to do the meet two days before the event because I wanted to see how I stacked up against the competition. My question is still unanswered so could you guys give me feedback on what people are doing raw? I have never trained using a shirt or wraps, so I don’t know what that can add to my bench.
Thanks to those of you that replied to my thread, I appreciated your input. BTW, Taylor Tom set a personal best at 166lbs he did 457lbs and it looked like it came up easy.
Anyone know where to get a shirt at? I might do the state competition in august. That will be a sanctioned event and WABDL will be there to make sure that happens.
For my first meet I am satisfied with the results, but I am pissed that I missed my PR. The sets went like this
1st 314.16lbs
2nd 336.20lbs
3rd 369.27lbs
I did both the first and second with ease. As expected, it was a non santioned meet and the judges were juicing toward their friends and being hard on those that were not their friends. On all my sets I had at least a 1.5 - 2 sec pause. I don’t blame this for not beating my PR, but I attribute it to a lack of experience/having too much nerves. I missed the last set only by a hair. I got it up over the 4 inch mark and held it there, but it would not move up and I timed out of the lift before it came back down. (I need more triceps) In retrospect I should have opened higher and tried my PR at the second set. That way I would have done better.
No other entries in the raw catagory at 181 so I took first place. My weight was 175 on the day before and if I had planned on doing this meet I would have competed in the 165. I decided to do the meet two days before the event because I wanted to see how I stacked up against the competition. My question is still unanswered so could you guys give me feedback on what people are doing raw? I have never trained using a shirt or wraps, so I don’t know what that can add to my bench.
Thanks to those of you that replied to my thread, I appreciated your input. BTW, Taylor Tom set a personal best at 166lbs he did 457lbs and it looked like it came up easy.
Anyone know where to get a shirt at? I might do the state competition in august. That will be a sanctioned event and WABDL will be there to make sure that happens.
[/quote]
In looking at the video of my first lift and the second I can say that the pause was not as long as I thought it was? The third lift was about 1.5 but the first two were maybe .5 sec. I stand corrected…maybe it was just in my mind about my sets, but the others in the competition did notice how the judges how judging.
At 181 and up a double your weight lift is normally pretty competitive. Once you go down though it tends to be a bit more. Bench press meets bring out the specialist though so some smuck you’d destroy in a normal powerlifting meet will tear ya up at a bench meet, (that’s the guy who benches more than he squats)
Your lift was very respectable, good job on your first go, Have the bug now??
quote]Basso wrote:
At 181 and up a double your weight lift is normally pretty competitive. Once you go down though it tends to be a bit more. Bench press meets bring out the specialist though so some smuck you’d destroy in a normal powerlifting meet will tear ya up at a bench meet, (that’s the guy who benches more than he squats)
Your lift was very respectable, good job on your first go, Have the bug now??[/quote]
I always had the bug man! Ever since college I’ve been in the 300’s, but I was much lighter. Thats when I signed up with T-mag. yeah you know whats the difference between meets and sanctioned competition? ROIDS nuf said. By the way I saw a pretty funny shirt at the competition…it said on the front…
NO ROIDS, NO SHIRT
And on the back it said
NO PROBLEM
The guy did like 500+ pounds and repped 402 for 30…I think his name was Doug Gerona. He was doing an exhibition.
My buddy at the same weight(181lbs), but in the assisted catagory did 457lbs. He was the world record holder for 148lbs at one time…his name is Taylor Tom. I think he’s going to move up to the 165lbs weight class now…because this guy Darren Matsumoto beat his record (457.20lbs @148lbs) and they are both friends. I might go to the 165 or 181 depends on how much weight I can carry. Check the trophy pic in the pictures forum.