First meet primer

First Meet Primer

Wanting to compete or attending your first couple of meets? Then this article is for you, as a referee I get to witness some fantastic lifting and the elation of the athlete who has done well, I also see the heart break when an athlete falls foul of a technicality due to inexperience.  I could just tell you all to read the rules and be done with it however some errors come up regularly so I’m going to try to put together my thoughts, as a lifter and a referee, to try to guide a novice or relative novice through the first few steps to competition.

Entering the competition.

First up, enter! The biggest single factor in success in the gym, at a meet or life is turning up. All competitions will have entry deadlines, this is to allow the promotor time to ensure they have the right amount of awards, certificates if ordering etc so get your entry in before that date. If it’s a meet where you have had to qualify (i.e. Nationals/Internationals) get your entry in as soon after the point you have qualified and are able as possible. If you are doing an online entry form be sure to pay once the form is submitted.  I’ve seen a couple of lifters fall foul of this, if you haven’t paid, you haven’t entered.  It is prudent to book accommodation and travel well in advance as you will get a considerably better deal this way.

The Week before

Rest is essential, you do not want to be in the gym the day before trying to decide on your openers. Generally I rest for at least 3-5 and sometimes up to 7 days before a meet. Other lifters like to scale back their lifting gradually, one I know does his last Deadlift meet 10 days before, Squats 7 days before and does his last Bench 4 days before. Others will rest slightly less but key is don’t train right up to the meet and then wonder why you didn’t perform as expected.  

During the last week ensure that all the kit you are going to use on the day conforms to the rules, the last thing you want on meet day is to be told you can't lift because your singlet has the wrong leg length or you’re wearing the wrong under garments.  This is the time, if you haven’t already, to figure out what you want to achieve on the day. “No plan survives contact with the enemy, but no one without a plan survives either” I like to arrive knowing what I want to achieve with the attempts fixed in my mind, if I feel bad warming up I might amend it, otherwise we stick to the plan.

The Night Before

To quote Louis Pasteur “chance favours the prepared mind”; Prep your personal effects the day before whilst you are calm, not in the morning in a blind panic. Do not be the one who gets to the meet and realises he's forgotten his socks, belt, t shirt or other item.

Following is a check-list of things that I would recommend as a lifter (unequipped) you have with you prep the bag the night before.

T shirt (Non supportive)

Singlet (Non supportive)

Briefs (not Boxers – not all organisations have this rule but you’re better not to chance it)

Socks (Knee length)*

Footwear (if you have separate footwear for deadlifting ensure you have that too).

Lifting belt

Wrist wraps (if using them)

Chalk balls/block x 2

Small bottle talc

Phone or whatever you listen to your music on with headphones

1 litre water bottle (full with water) x2

1 Litre flask (fill with coffee in the morning – optional but I recommend)

Small towel

Snacks**

Toilet Roll***

Feminine hygiene products****

*Doesn’t need to be fancy, football socks will serve equally well as deadlift socks.

** Competition can go on for a long time so ensuring you have some sort of food with you is essential. This should be something relatively light that can easily be snacked on – you will not want a full meal between lifts! Carbs are your friend on competition day; it is energy you need. My personal favourites are bananas and flapjacks, nuts are a good choice too - easy to nibble on, easy to store, unlikely to cause a GI upset.

***Many nervous competitors’ means nervous ablutions, with plenty of other things to worry about its best not to get caught short.

****Some ladies find the additional pressure can cause a little bit of urinary incontinence, especially during the deadlift. Whilst most experienced lifters will have seen this occur, and will be completely unphased this can seem embarrassing to the individual it happens to. Ladies may wish to consider sanitary or incontinence pad to mitigate this.

Order of Competition

Order of lifts

Powerlifting competitions always follow the same order. Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift. For Push Pull events, where the Squat is omitted, it is Bench Press then Deadlift. If a full power event allows for single lift competitors (i.e. athletes who only wish to join in the Bench press or the Deadlift) those competitors join in the lifting at the appropriate point in the competition.

The Weigh-in

When the weigh in takes place may vary depending on which organisation you lift with. For WDFPF competitions it is no later than 3 hours before the start of the competition.  Some organisations allow for day before whilst others will have multiple weigh ins depending on which session of lifting you are in. Key is that you know the timings and attend at the correct timing. I have seen lifters turned away for arriving late for weigh in, don’t be that person.   Athletes can weigh-in in their underwear or nude if they so desire, with an official of the same gender as the athlete.

Depending on organisation there may well be a kit check, again ensure you know what you are and aren’t permitted to wear, when you striding to the platform with 60 seconds counting down is a bad time to be told you have the wrong socks on!

As this is written primarily for the unequipped lifter the key items are a non-supportive T shirt in cotton or polyester, a non-supportive singlet or leotard, lifting belt, briefs, wrist wraps and knee length socks (for Deadlift). It is up to you as the lifter to ensure you have the correct kit. The rule books for all the organisations are available online, check and double check.

A word on Belts, generally a Powerlifting belt ( ie a belt 10cm wide all the way round) from most reputable suppliers will conform to all the rules for most organisations, it is of little use to the manufacturer to make a belt that can’t be used on the platform. Weightlifting belts (narrow at the front wider at the back) were not made for powerlifting and don’t always conform (some come with additional padding which is not permitted) bear that in mind. 

Having weighed in lifters should check to see what rack height they will need for the Squat. Don’t leave this until they’re calling you to lift. The athletes should inform the organiser of their rack height prior to lifting commencing to ensure the smooth flow of competition.

The athlete's may only weigh in once, unless they are over the weight of the category in

which they had entered, ( i.e. an athlete declares he intends to lift in the 90kg class and weighs in as 90.2kg) in which case they may be able to return to the scales within a set time period to try to “make weight”. If they have not achieved the intended weight they may be permitted to lift in the next weight class up if that is permitted in that organisations rules, this is not always the case so you are better off being in your category to start off with than trying to cut weight to make it.

Intended starting weights for all three disciplines should be stated at the weigh in, so bring these to the scales with you, don’t be looking for your phone or worse your coach to find out.  Whether you can change these will depend on the specific rule of the organisation you lift with but generally changes of first attempts may occur before each flight of first attempts. Irrespective of which governing body you lift with once the initial attempt has been taken the weight cannot go down for subsequent attempts should the athlete fail. This is a key point for the novice lifter; the first attempt should be at a weight that you are confident you can manage, generally I would suggest a weight you have done for 3 in training or approximately 90% of your 1RM.

Having weighed in, had your kit checked and given your rack height take a moment to have something light to eat and drink, especially if you have had to reduce weight for the weigh in.

Commencement of lifting

Warming Up

Between twenty and thirty minutes before the commencement of lifting you will be given the warning to start warming up. If you are in the first flight of lifters you should start at this point. If you are not in the first flight then you should start your warm up process whilst the flight before yours is on the platform.

A warm up is exactly that, do not do to many reps or too many sets depending on your strength and age 4-8 progressively heavier sets should suffice, You do not want to leave your best effort in the warm up room.

Depending on the number of participants, lifters will be divided into groups or “flights”. The flights can be organised at the discretion of the officials but it is usual to divide the lifters either by gender (ladies first) and weight class (lightest lifters going first) Flights will be of roughly equal numbers so no lifter should be rushed from one attempt to the next. When your flight is called it is best to leave the warm up area and go to the platform. You have only 60 seconds to make your attempt after your name is called, if you don’t hear because you are in the warm up room (or have headphones in) it’s you who misses out.

Having been assigned flights, and on completion of weigh in and warming up lifting is commenced using the “rounds system”. For a full power event lifting will commence with the Squat. The first flight will start with their first attempt.  Regardless of success or failure of the first attempt all lifters in the assigned flight will then take their second attempt. Regardless of success or failure of the second attempt, all lifters in the flight will rotate through and take their third attempt. The first flight then vacate the platform and the next flight will begin utilising the exact same procedure. The remaining two disciplines, Bench Press and Deadlift, will follow the same routine.

Once you have taken your attempt you or your coach should go to the desk and declare your next intended attempt, again it is usual for there to be a time constraint on this, so do it straight off the platform.

In conducting the rounds system the bar will be loaded in a progressive nature during

each round, the lifter requiring the lightest weight lifting first. If an athlete fails an attempt he/she does not follow themselves but must wait until the next round for their next attempt.

If an athlete fails all three attempts of a given lift they are no longer permitted to continue in the competition, having “failed to total” (also known as “bombing out”). Novice lifters should take heed as it is an all too common error of the inexperienced to open too heavy and ‘bomb out’ (though experienced lifters occasionally fall foul of this too).

Try to remain calm between rounds and just focus your mind on the next attempt. This is a good time to break out your music and try to keep the chaos going on around you out. Keep an eye on the order of lifting or have a friend nudge you when you there are two lifters ahead of you on the platform. This gives you time to chalk up, belt up and psych up.

Mentally preparing yourself for your next attempt is very much an individual process but I will outline here what I have found beneficial, I simply think of this as “positive visualisation”. We'll take the Squat as the example. Having taken a few warm ups to prepare yourself clear your mind and shut your eyes. Breathe deeply and visualise yourself attempting the lift as if you’re watching from video. Keep in as much detail as you can, think about the feel of the knurling in your hands, the bar upon your back, the intake of breath, the downward gesture of the referees arm. Visualise yourself descending into the hole and boom! Powering back up to lock out, lift complete. Then open your eyes, take a deep breath and do it for real. I find with this approach, in my mind the lift is successful so my attempt is nearly always successful. “Conceive, Believe, and Achieve.”

Once all the lifts have been completed it will take a short time for the placings to be organised. Take the time to gather up your personal effects and have another snack whilst the organisers sort out the results.

Most of all, try and enjoy the experience, that’s what sport is supposed to be about after all!