Powerlifting Meet

[djukac]

Hey guys, on 11 December I'm going to participate in my first powerlifting meet. There aren't powerlifters in my country to take advice from, so any tips from you will be appreciated. The meet will be in Serbia, my neighbour country. Gear is allowed, but I'm not going to use cause I believe in RAW lifting. I plan to hit these numbers: 200 kg squat, 120 kg bench press, 210 kg deadlift. I'm 80ish kilos. I think that at the meet there won't be plenty of competitors.

[Buccos1]

Meets are a great time and a great place to learn. What are you looking for advise on?

[djukac]

Well, on nutrition, training and rest these final weeks, eating during the meet lasts, stuff like that.

[The Natural]

Well, on nutrition, training and rest these final weeks, eating during the meet lasts, stuff like that.

During the week before the meet, do some very light training, even if it's just with a barbell, in order to stay 'tuned up' and keep the jitters away.

During the meet, drink sports drinks, protein powder with water, and eat crackers or something like that. Nothing heavy. Nothing fancy. The more boring the food, the better.

Don't use all your adrenaline on the first event. Remember that it's the total that matters. Learn how to calm down between events and relax.

Since it is your first meet, pick easy openers. A good rule of thumb is to pick a weight you can triple on a bad day.

Double check your equipment/travel bag the night before. Triple check it. Get everything in order the day before.

Have fun!

[djukac]

Thanks a lot Rex, I'll keep what you've said in mind.

[Buccos1]

Well, on nutrition, training and rest these final weeks, eating during the meet lasts, stuff like that.

Good info above. I've found that eating beef jerky throughout the meet keeps me going strong. I drink a ton of Gatorade too. Don't make the mistake of opening too heavy. Just get your first lifts in. I make a checklist a week before the meet and double check to make sure I have everything I need on the list. Then, when I'm getting my stuff together, I just check everything off - this has made it a lot less stressfull worrying about forgetting something.

[djukac]

Well, on nutrition, training and rest these final weeks, eating during the meet lasts, stuff like that.

Good info above. I've found that eating beef jerky throughout the meet keeps me going strong. I drink a ton of Gatorade too. Don't make the mistake of opening too heavy. Just get your first lifts in. I make a checklist a week before the meet and double check to make sure I have everything I need on the list. Then, when I'm getting my stuff together, I just check everything off - this has made it a lot less stressfull worrying about forgetting something.

Thanks man, I intend not to open heavy.

[MANTHOS]

Hey guys, on 11 December I'm going to participate in my first powerlifting meet. There aren't powerlifters in my country to take advice from, so any tips from you will be appreciated. The meet will be in Serbia, my neighbour country. Gear is allowed, but I'm not going to use cause I believe in RAW lifting. I plan to hit these numbers: 200 kg squat, 120 kg bench press, 210 kg deadlift. I'm 80ish kilos. I think that at the meet there won't be plenty of competitors.

Hey djukac this is really good man, first powerlifting meet...Great!!

Except the weights, the attempts, the records and all this, BTW your target weights are very good for your bodyweight I believe and you'll do fine, try to get experience, try to have all the fun you can get and don't forget your camera!

I wish for the best results and don't forget to report when it's done!

[djukac]

Hey guys, on 11 December I'm going to participate in my first powerlifting meet. There aren't powerlifters in my country to take advice from, so any tips from you will be appreciated. The meet will be in Serbia, my neighbour country. Gear is allowed, but I'm not going to use cause I believe in RAW lifting. I plan to hit these numbers: 200 kg squat, 120 kg bench press, 210 kg deadlift. I'm 80ish kilos. I think that at the meet there won't be plenty of competitors.

Hey djukac this is really good man, first powerlifting meet...Great!!

Except the weights, the attempts, the records and all this, BTW your target weights are very good for your bodyweight I believe and you'll do fine, try to get experience, try to have all the fun you can get and don't forget your camera!

I wish for the best results and don't forget to report when it's done!

Thanks Manthos, I can't wait for the meet, and I surely will get a camera. I'll report back, hopefully with my goals achieved for this meet.

[raymo]

Good luck in your first meet, you will come out of it with quite the natural high. Just remember to have very conservative openers.

[climber511]

Have fun and Good Luck!!

[djukac]

Thanks guys

[AP]

Practice the commands in training before the meet and during warmups, you don't want to lose an attempt because you didn't wait for a command to squat or to rack.

Since it's your first meet every lift you hit is a meet pr! Don't bomb out!

[djukac]

Yes I've been practicing the commands, I know it's very important. And I'll make sure that I won't bomb out. Thanks

[djukac]

And I forgot to ask you guys on tips on sleeping, cause I always, no matter how tired I am, have trouble falling asleep, and I have to get up early for the meet.

[The Natural]

And I forgot to ask you guys on tips on sleeping, cause I always, no matter how tired I am, have trouble falling asleep, and I have to get up early for the meet.

Some light dosages of prescription meds are good. Ambien or Xanax before bed. Ear plugs and some white noise help too. Make sure you set an alarm.

[djukac]

And I forgot to ask you guys on tips on sleeping, cause I always, no matter how tired I am, have trouble falling asleep, and I have to get up early for the meet.

Some light dosages of prescription meds are good. Ambien or Xanax before bed. Ear plugs and some white noise help too. Make sure you set an alarm.

Tnx Rex, man you are helping me a lot with your tips . About the prescription meds, I thougth of that couple of days ago, but some folks told me that I would feel sluggish the other day. But the heck with them I'm gonna take your advice and take light dosages of those meds.

[The Natural]

And I forgot to ask you guys on tips on sleeping, cause I always, no matter how tired I am, have trouble falling asleep, and I have to get up early for the meet.

Some light dosages of prescription meds are good. Ambien or Xanax before bed. Ear plugs and some white noise help too. Make sure you set an alarm.

Tnx Rex, man you are helping me a lot with your tips . About the prescription meds, I thougth of that couple of days ago, but some folks told me that I would feel sluggish the other day. But the heck with them I'm gonna take your advice and take light dosages of those meds.

The half life of Ambien is only a 2-3 hours. It is longer for Xanax, but even then, your adrenaline will be through the roof the next day, so unless you take some rock-star dosage you probably won't feel any lingering effects. 200-400 mg of caffeine the morning of the contest should balance things out nicely even if you do have some lingering effects.

[barbe705]

I always try to use meds before hand just incase you do respond oddly. don't want to switch things up the night before.

[Sher]

I always try to use meds before hand just incase you do respond oddly. don't want to switch things up the night before.

I agree - test runs are always good.

I've only done two meets so far but had a blast at both. Good luck and we'll be waiting to hearing how it went!

[AP]

You'll be fine even if you don't sleep much tonight, a little coffee maybe but you're going to be ready to go!

Good luck tomorrow!

[djukac]

Meet report:

I left for Nish, the town in Serbia where the meet was held, on 10th december in the afternoon and arrived the evening. The hotel room where me and my cousin stayed it was good, except for one BIG fact, it was overheated, I complained but for nothing. It was so hot that it kept me awake till 4 am and I woke in 8am to prepare. Those 4 hours of sleep were shaky and it was not actually sleep more of a nap cause I woke up briefly couple of times. Also 3 days before that I slept 4-5 hours a night cause of college exams and preparation for leaving. I know I complain a lot. My bodyweight was 82kg, right on the edge of my category which was 82kg. My performance was subpar of my usual lifts, down about 15kg on squat and bench than usual. I wrote here what I expected to lift on this meet but that did not happened. The meet lasted very long, 10 hours exact. I opened on the squat with 175kg, not deep enough 2 red lights, second attempt 175kg 3 whites, third 185kg 3 whites, I have done 3 sets of 3 reps with 185 2 weeks before this meet. On the bench I opened with 100kg 3 whites, second 110kg and the most incredible muscle cramps in the back, thighs and hips occured so I missed the lift, the third was the same, I have done 110 for 3 reps in the gym with pause on chest just like on powerlifting meet, but it was not my day. On the deadlift I opened with 185kg 3 whites, than 200kg 3 whites, followed by 210kg 3 whites. The deadlift was fairly easy considering it was not my day, I guess that it was because of the bar height, which is higher than I normally train with cause in my gym the 20 kilo plates are not as big as olympic ones and chalk. I've never ever used chalk before and it helped a bit. My total was 495kg, I wanted to do over 500. I am dissapointed with my lifting performance cause I know I have done better on squat and bench and I could of do more on deadlift. The meet was not drug tested and powerlifting gear was used. I lifted only with regular bodybuilding belt borrowed from my gym and chalk. Enough for the lifting part. The people were very supportive. We made a lot of friends. They helped us with tips for the meet and training in general. There were 4 chicks lifting, 2 of them were around my age and we instantly made friends, the strongest girl outlifted 2 male competitors which was awesome. And because we were foreigners a local tv crew made an interview with me about the powerlifting meet and powerlifting in general. Then later came Milan Jovanovic Serbia's former most recognized and strongest powerlifter, and former strongman. Big fella. He helped some of the lifters that were his friends.

Conclusion:

Even though I did not lift as much as I could rested and fed, I'm pleased and happy that I've done this meet and met good, supportive people, learned a lot of stuff. Also I won third place in my class, I think that there were 4-5 competitors in my category. I did not make a lot photos cause me and my cousin were competing and there was not much of a crowd, and we did not wanted to disturb the competitors to take pictures or record us. Some of my lifts were recorded, as much as my cousin could. And finally I wanna thank you guys for your support and help.

Edited December 12, 2010 by djukac

[Sher]

Congratulations! I think you had a very successful meet. I'm glad you had a good time. About the only thing that's not fun about meets for me is the length of time they usually take. They always seem to last forever.

[AP]

Sounds like a rough meet but not terrible. The only good thing about hitting low totals is that they will be easy to beat. You have perfect, very beatable goals for next time!

[The Natural]

You did not bomb out. That is more than most first-timers can say.