Your first powerlifting competition – do’s and don’ts

So, it’s your first powerlifting competition?
 
Not sure what to expect or what’s going to happen?

Here’s a short guide.

The Day Before

the day before the competition is often the most nervous time whether you are having to bust a gut to make weight or simply containing your nerves.

Making weight.

If you are busting a gut to make weight don’t go eating loads of carbs and water retaining foods.  Aim for dry, protein rich foods such as boiled eggs and avoid in taking too much sodium which can also retain water.  The reason we talk about water is that fluid in the body weighs heavier than food items and is easier to replenish (rehydration can take a couple of hours when moderately dehydrated whereas replenishment of glycogen stores – the body’s energy supplies – can take 6-8 hours).

This is now going into tricky technical territory that I’m sure many nutritionists/dieticians will be screaming at, but, aiming to boil it down to simplistic’s – if you have to lose a lot of weight (+1.5k) the day before, restricting your water rich or water retaining foods, removing your sodium intake and stopping fluid intake around 6 pm should do the trick. 

If you need more help on this, email us at lifter@swindonbarbell.com.

Check your kit

Make sure you have:

  • your membership card for your governing body
  • Raw powerlifting kit (singlet, squat shoes, deadlift shoes, deadlift socks, knee sleeves, weightlifting belt, wrist straps)
  • Equipped powerlifting kit (as above but also squat & deadlift suit, bench shirt, suit slip on’s/bags, knee wraps, bench belt.
  • Talc powder for deadlift
  • your own chalk – just in case the comp doesn’t provide any
  • smelling salts if you use them
  • Hydration supplies – rehydration sachets, plenty of water, any sports drinks you  might like
  • Nutrition supplies – don’t rely on the competition having a cafe.  If it is your first comp make sure you have enough protein and carb sources to get you through the day. Don’t rely on tangtastics to keep you strong for a 3-hour comp! BRING PROTEIN.  The amount of people I see guzzling caffeine drinks and eating sugary sweets.  Eat as you would when you train and if this is your training nutrition maybe you need to have a good look at this plan you’ve got going on.

Arriving at the competition

Aim to arrive at least 10  mins before weighing in starts – if you are trying to make weight and you run late, miss your weigh in slot and have to wait till the end it hurts your soul so deep.  Take my advice, avoid that ever happening.

Check the weigh in schedule – if people have allocated weigh in times/a list has been posted or if it is first come first serve

Check if you have to do kit check and if so, where.  Ask when kit check will start.  Officials are there to guide you as well as referee the competition and they are always willing to help.

Kit Check

Usually, if there is a kit check, it is started 30 mins before weigh in but continues until the end of weigh in.  You can get your kit checked anytime within this time frame.

They will be looking for any illegal items or items that have been amended from the original manufacturer’s design that is outside of the stated allowances.  If you are unsure, always check your federations rule book first.  You can find the IPF kit guidance here and is on page 11.  You can find the IPF approved kit list here.

Weigh in

Once you have been called in to weigh make sure you are happy with the gender of referee’s weighing you in – there must be at least 1 person of the same gender as you.  If you are not happy you have the right to ask for a chaperone of the same gender.

I always have to take all my clothes off – EVERYTHING – if I can remove it from my body, it’s coming off.  However, I am always busting a gut to make weight.  If you are not comfortable with this then you don’t have to, just bear in mind, if it comes down to a competition on body weight (i.e. your competitor is lifting the same as you but you are heavier than them) then you could lose out because you didn’t take your bra or your pants off.  Just something to bear in mind.

Make sure you read your weight and you double check when is written down – referees and officials are human too and we all make mistakes.

You will then provide the officials with your openers for the squat bench and deadlift.  If you are not sure about these don’t panic, put in something that is near that and you can amend them up until 3 minutes before each flight begins (3 mins before the squat round, 3 mins before the bench round and then 3 mins before the deadlift round).  You can change your openers only once though, so make sure you do this as close to that 3 minutes cut off point as you are comfortable with.

Post weigh in

Yay! you’ve weighed in! now it’s time to eat and drink…. sensibly.

Don’t:

  • stuff yourself so you can’t move
  • fill yourself with fizzy caffeinated drinks
  • over feed on one food source such as carbs or fats (such as sugary sweets, cakes, flapjacks or pastries), make sure your feed meals are balanced
  • don’t forget to eat protein… it’s such a simple thing to do and can be so effective later on in the competition for your energy and strength levels
  • keep eating until warm up
  • eat everything at once because you are hungry or nervous

Do:

  • Take your rehydration solution/sports drinks
  • drink suitable amounts of water – drinking mouthfuls regularly will allow the body to absorb it better than consuming large quantities at once
  • eat a balanced meal and lots of protein
  • Sit down! rest! you have a lot of work coming your way
  • check out the venue a little, see where the warm up area is and how to get to the platform
  • Say hello to any friends you have there and socialise as you wish just don’t let that drain you, try to retain as much energy as possible for the competition

Warm Up

You may be lucky enough to have a coach with you who can take care of your warm ups.

If you don’t, either ask your coach to prepare a warm up for you or follow this simple guide:

Firstly,  any mobility and dynamic stretching you normally do before your training.

Set 1: Bar x 5 reps

Set 2: 40% 1RM x 5 reps

Set 3: 60% 1RM x 3 reps

Set 4: 70% 1RM x 2 reps

Set 5: 80% 1RM x 1 rep

Set 6: 85% 1RM x 1 rep  *optional depending on how heavy you will be opening*

Opener: is generally around the 90% 1RM mark.

If you don’t know your 1RM then I suggest you talk to your coach or email us at lifter@swindonbarbell.com for further advice.

Make sure you are ready 5 minutes before the flight starts (this can vary for experienced lifters but this article is focusing on first-time competitors only).

Openers

As mentioned before, if you are not sure about your openers you are able to change them ONCE up to 3 minutes before the start of the round.

If warm ups feel heavy and you are worried about anything DROP YOUR OPENERS.  The competition is not riding on how heavy you opened, it is based on the heaviest successful attempt.  Start light, mentally warm up to having the crowd there and being on the platform, then go to something heavier on your second attempt.

There are so many nerves flying around for your first attempt, particularly squats, that you just want to get something on the board and then climb from there.

Don’t be risky with your openers.

Your First Attempt

Your name has been called! no going back now!

Make sure you remember these things:

  • take your time and allow yourself to set up correctly, you have a minute which can be a long time on that platform, don’t let the nerves get the better of you
  • Listen to the referees!  You have 2 commands: Squat and Racks.  Squat gives you the ‘go’ command to descend and Rack gives you the command to move the weight back to the racks.  For more information on failures and what not to do see here on page 8 and 9.
  • Remember your cues – if you have been working on them with your coach maybe get them to shout them out, or simply repeat them in your head.  Allow yourself time to think about what you are doing.
  • Once you have completed your lift step back out of the rack – don’t step forwards as some referees will fail you for that.
  • Give in your second attempt to the desk within 1 minute of your lift being completed and judged (the lights appearing).

Your Second and Third Attempts

Now you are in the swing of things you can calm down and enjoy yourself!

You got a number on the board, you want to have a go at a good number then prepare yourself for it.  If, for example, your opening squat was 90k and your best ever squat was 105, you might want to go 100k for your second.  However, what you want out of your competition and what your body will give are 2 VERY DIFFERENT things.  Judge your second attempt firstly on the ease of your first and secondly on what you would like your third to be.

If your first was easy, you can make a good jump.

If it wasn’t, don’t be silly, stay safe and pick a small number such as a 5k jump or so.

Nutrition and Hydration throughout the competition

Some people react differently to different nutrients: some people are carb dependent, others fat, some protein.

As this is your first comp my advice would be:

  • snack on balanced foods such as carb based protein bars, protein shakes, and carby snacks or carb/protein meals such as pasta and chicken.
  • Drink water, rehydration fluids or sports drinks.  Caffeinated drinks will give you a buzz, to begin with then send you crashing down 1-2 hours later, right in the middle of the bench or the deadlift.  They also tend to be full of sugar which has the same effect.  Try to keep your energy levels sustainable throughout the comp.
  • Blow your head off with food after the comp, eat whatever you like.  You’ve done it! It’s your prize!

Know the Rules

It is essential, as a competitor, that you understand what you are supposed to do.

If you have a coach guiding you then that’s great, however, be an independent human being and know what you are doing yourself!  you can find the IPF rule book here

Respect your competitors, the officials, and the competition.

We understand there will be emotions running high and that adrenaline and nerves will be racing around your body like Valentino Rossi around Mugello circuit, but so is everyone else who is competing.

Be respectful of your other competitors, we understand if you want to fire yourself up but be aware there are others around you.

Be respectful of the officials, they have taken time out of their lives to put this competition on for you to enjoy, thank them at the end.

Be very, very thankful to the spotting and loading team – they have one of the hardest jobs of the day and, often, they save people’s lives.  Thank them A LOT at the end.

Be respectful of the audience/spectators.  Try not to scare young children or swear too much.  Powerlifting competitions, particularly at grassroots or regional levels, are about making an enjoyable day for everyone.

Enjoy your competition!

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