Great, another article about some dweebs first meet? Well, I’ve reviewed the other articles posted in the last year to make sure that I didn’t reiterate every point made. I think I’ve come up with a good list of what I learned and how new lifters can benefit from my experience.
The good
I purchased and practiced in my gear way ahead of time. One of my training partners got his in the mail about four weeks out from the meet. He came down from Ithaca to work his squat suit with me for the first time, and it was a disaster. We battled with it for half an hour and couldn’t get it all the way on. Finally, we decided that he should squat in it to see if that would work it in a bit more. As he fell over and I tried to catch him, Ron Burgondy’s voice came into my head and said, “I immediately regret this decision.”
Anyways, I lent him one of my kettlebells so hopefully that will stretch it out for him. The guy is still strong as shit. He put 570 lbs on his back and went rock bottom with it and then nearly pulled 650 lbs, both raw. Had he worked with his gear more, I’m sure he would have been squatting between 650–700 lbs. So here’s the take home point—if you’re even thinking of competing some day, buy your gear now and start working with it. It’s not going to hurt you one bit.
I somehow convinced my brother and gal pal to come to the meet with me. Now, that shouldn’t seem like a big deal, but both of them had to work at bars the night before and my brother had to do his beer delivery route after that. So neither got any sleep. (Although my gal pal had three hours of downtime, she still didn’t want to sleep for whatever reason.) It helps to take some of the stress off you and helps keep things as consistent as possible. My brother knows how I like my gear to be, he knows how to give me a bench handoff, and he has much more meet experience than I do. I feel those three things are worth their weight in gold at a meet. If you’re training partners tell you that they can’t make the meet and give you some bullshit excuse, they suck.
I went to an Elite seminar (actually three) and learned hands on how to squat, bench, and deadlift. I received many compliments throughout the day on my technique and how surprised everyone was that it was my first meet. If you’re even remotely serious about your training or you’re a strength coach who is passionate about your job, go to a seminar. There’s no better way to learn this stuff than having a bunch of experienced lifters including Dave and Jim watching over you.
I talked with many lifters there. Everyone was super friendly and helpful. I’m used to going to wrestling tournaments where every time you look at someone, you’re sizing them up and trying to intimidate them with a stare down. Not only that, but you have to watch your belongings like a hawk at wrestling tournaments. The USAPL meet that I went to was the exact opposite. I met many people who helped me out and said they’d continue to help me out when I needed it.
The bad
Know the rules of your federation inside and out. My training partners all have experience in the USAPL, and I printed out the rule book and set it near my toilet. However, I didn’t get the memo on where the bar had to touch when you bench. It turns out I was touching just a tad too low. What did this result in? Increased anxiety, attempts to rework the shirt to move the groove up a bit, and worst of all, two missed lifts at 385 lbs, a weight I hit numerous times in my training and felt very confident with.
Be mentally prepared to deal with anything. Usually, I’m pretty good about this. In my years of wrestling, I’ve dealt with it all, but this was a new stage and those missed benches really threw me off and out of contention for a 1400-lb total. My brother and I have both taken quite a few sports psychology classes and have a lot of real world experience to boot so he was able to help me refocus quickly and get ready for the deadlift.
Jim Wendler (The ugly)
I was in horrible shape. My interpretation of good GPP was that I was ok just as long as I wasn’t huffing and puffing after a flight of stairs. Wrong! I was gassed after my third bench attempt. It took me awhile to recover before I started to warm up for the deadlift. Because of this, I ended up taking my last warm-up set as they called the first lifter, and I was sixth to go in that flight. Don’t like doing cardio? Just cut down on your rest times on your supplemental and accessory work. Or do what I do. Wrestle or practice some MMA a couple times a week for half an hour or so. It beats the Prowler (which I make all my athletes do, but I’ve only pushed it twice), and it will help with your flexibility.
There…not too bad, right? I think I touched on some pretty important points, and I made fun of Wendler. What more could you want out of an article? All in all, I had a great time and would like to thank everyone who was there and helped me out. I’m looking forward to the next one.