First meet

**jackfrost88** · 06-11-2015, 11:10 AM

So competed in my first meet recently. WAY different than expected haha.

The wait in between lifts, warm up period, judging and added pressure of an audience / 3 attempts makes it night and day different than working out in the gym. Long story short, my lifts were not anywhere near where I wanted them to be and fell well short of my gym PR's but was enough to place me. I won't post my numbers because I have said in the past where I'm from.

Weight cut was pretty brutal and definitely played into the fatigue factor (meet was 6+ hours).

Great motivation for hitting the gym harder than before and thinking of moving up a weight class if I do it again.

Any thoughts?

**Khazima** · 06-12-2015, 09:06 PM

Congrats man, it's a lot different than you'd expect hey! Especially spanning 3 lifts over the whole day.

It's never a good idea to do a weight cut leading into the first few meets unless you already know that you're going to win only if you compete in the lower class. I don't know anyone who's cut into a meet or done a water cut and not regret it the first few times.

It's a huge variable that only needs to be introduced if you're going to be competitive only if you do or you're at a higher level. For your first few local meets you should eat into them to perform as best as possible and get the hang of competing. I'll be doing my 4th meet in a couple weeks and I'll only be dieting into my 6th, even then I'll probably get below the weight then eat into it and lose some water the day before.

**jackfrost88** · 06-13-2015, 03:30 PM

Originally Posted by Khazima

Congrats man, it's a lot different than you'd expect hey! Especially spanning 3 lifts over the whole day.

It's never a good idea to do a weight cut leading into the first few meets unless you already know that you're going to win only if you compete in the lower class. I don't know anyone who's cut into a meet or done a water cut and not regret it the first few times.

It's a huge variable that only needs to be introduced if you're going to be competitive only if you do or you're at a higher level. For your first few local meets you should eat into them to perform as best as possible and get the hang of competing. I'll be doing my 4th meet in a couple weeks and I'll only be dieting into my 6th, even then I'll probably get below the weight then eat into it and lose some water the day before.

Honestly i didn't think the cut would be that hard, had to come down 10lbs from 193 over a couple month period. Ended up cutting like 4lbs too many because my scale at home is ****ed haha.

Good idea eating into it... won't lose much strength and keeps your head level. Only reason I moved down was because the field was like 1/3 the size of the higher weight class.

How do you do your water cut?

**Khazima** · 06-14-2015, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by jackfrost88

Honestly i didn't think the cut would be that hard, had to come down 10lbs from 193 over a couple month period. Ended up cutting like 4lbs too many because my scale at home is ****ed haha.

Good idea eating into it... won't lose much strength and keeps your head level. Only reason I moved down was because the field was like 1/3 the size of the higher weight class.

How do you do your water cut?

You'll gain strength by eating into it. Also allows for proper recovery and adaptation. It basically leaves your numbers a lot more predictable.

Unfortunate about the scale haha!

I haven't done it yet but i'll basically just water load, drink a shit load of water for 2-3 days from about 5 days out, then halve it and halve it again for the last two days.

**swolehead** · 06-19-2015, 09:07 AM

agree with khazima unless your going for records i wouldnt cut the first one im a week and 3 days out weighing 210 fr the 198s and am definatly not looking forwad to this cut but i guarentee you ill be the first one in line to be weigh with my girl standing next to me with a gallon of water and some food for when i get f that scale . ithink the major thng to get the hang of is properly warming up i warm up now to what i would normaly have my opener be so going for a 575 sqat ill be warming up to 525 in the back ten open with a 550 get 575 on the second so i can have anuther try if i mess up and then if i get it and im feeling strong cause of the rest/deload before the meet you can go for a pr or pass on the attempt and save energy

**jackfrost88** · 06-22-2015, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by swolehead

agree with khazima unless your going for records i wouldnt cut the first one im a week and 3 days out weighing 210 fr the 198s and am definatly not looking forwad to this cut but i guarentee you ill be the first one in line to be weigh with my girl standing next to me with a gallon of water and some food for when i get f that scale . ithink the major thng to get the hang of is properly warming up i warm up now to what i would normaly have my opener be so going for a 575 sqat ill be warming up to 525 in the back ten open with a 550 get 575 on the second so i can have anuther try if i mess up and then if i get it and im feeling strong cause of the rest/deload before the meet you can go for a pr or pass on the attempt and save energy

Yeah I see what your saying. Next time will just compete a weight class up even if im underweight 10lbs. Nice lifts by the way

**musclestack** · 06-25-2015, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by jackfrost88

So competed in my first meet recently. WAY different than expected haha.

The wait in between lifts, warm up period, judging and added pressure of an audience / 3 attempts makes it night and day different than working out in the gym. Long story short, my lifts were not anywhere near where I wanted them to be and fell well short of my gym PR's but was enough to place me. I won't post my numbers because I have said in the past where I'm from.

Weight cut was pretty brutal and definitely played into the fatigue factor (meet was 6+ hours).

Great motivation for hitting the gym harder than before and thinking of moving up a weight class if I do it again.

Any thoughts?

Congrats on the first meet! I'm actually the complete opposite when it comes to competing. The heaviest weights I've ever lifted were in competition. I should add that I've only done bench-only meets so far, but going for full PL at the end of this summer. I don't know, I just feel like I'm in my comfort zone when I grab onto that bar. And the audience, judges, and suspense just make me push harder. Can't wait to compete again! Going for a 1,400lb total for my next meet. Best of luck to you in your future competitions!