As of tomorrow, we are 13 weeks out from the Women’s Barbell Classic. I want to take this opportunity to go over several items that would be good to begin considering as we approach April 20.

For those of you following my programming and training at my gym, I have enjoyed getting each of you prepped up thus far. All of you are on great pace to have a successful day at the WBC Meet. 

We are all excited to be expanding our team by 9 lifters this year, so welcome, everyone, to team Drew Murphy Strength!!

Mock Meet

To allow our first-time lifters to get a feel for some of the procedures on meet day, I will be hosting a mock meet at my gym. I am tentatively looking at doing this in early March. If any of you who wish to participate have dates that would present a conflict, please let me know. This will help me narrow down a date that will work for all of us. 

The mock meet will be for fun and at a light intensity, and most importantly will give us the chance to practice rotating through a “flight” of lifters and to practice commands for meet day. 

Commands

Speaking of commands, it is never too early to drill them. We will continue to ramp up on practicing them in training, but it doesn’t hurt to go over them in your head from time to time outside of the gym.

Bench Commands

(the bar is un-racked either on your own or with the help of a spotter)

START (this is permission to lower the bar and begin the lift)

PRESS (this comes once the bar has been paused/stopped)

RACK (this comes once the bar is back up, controlled, and your arms are “locked out,” and is permission to re-rack the bar)

Deadlift Commands

(you begin the lift when ready)

DOWN (permission to lower the bar to the ground, this comes once the bar is determined to be “locked out”)

Training at the Gym

For those of you training at my gym, let’s begin to set up fewer stations to bench and deadlift on, requiring us to “work in” on a lesser number of bars. This is in no way a punishment, but rather an attempt to get us familiar with how the warm-up area will be on meet day. 

Those of you who have competed in a powerlifting meet before know how chaotic and rushed things can seem when warm-ups begin. Practicing sharing a bar with other lifters as well as changing weights between each set will closely resemble the warm-up process on meet day. Practicing this beforehand in training will help settle down the nerves created by the hustle and bustle. 

When benching, work in with others using a similar rack height as you. Even if you are working in with someone lifting a vastly different weight than you, this still makes the most sense. Weight can quickly be added to or removed from the bar, whereas setting the rack to a different height for the next lifter is more time-consuming. If you need to work in on a bar that is racked lower than you prefer, it should not be a problem. Always defer to the person who requires a lower rack height. A lifter who uses a higher rack height can still get the bar un-racked from a lower height (especially with a lift-off), but the opposite is not true. Keep in mind that on the platform (where your lifts count), your rack height will be set to your pre-determined and preferred height.

When deadlifting, try to “graduate” to the next base weight bar as soon as you can. 

For example, let’s say you start on a 95lb. bar. Once you are ready to load more than 130, move to a different bar that is already loaded with a base weight of 135, rather than making 135 on the 95 bar. If you are moving to a 135 bar and need to take 160 but someone has it loaded to 205, it is still proper etiquette to move to that bar and strip it from 205 to 160, rather than creating 160 from the 95 bar. There are of course times that this practice will have to be disrupted, and it’s not the end of the world if you need to create 135+ on a 95 bar, but it is still good to exercise the concept of “graduating up” bars. 

Being Intentional

Every single rep you do should be done with intent and maximal effort. It’s easy to fall into “going through the motions” on your lighter sets, but doing so is a missed opportunity to train your body to generate force quickly and maximally - precisely what will be needed on your higher weights. Being crisp and snappy on your lighter weights will leave you better prepared to take your heavy attempts. 

Recovery

It may seem that the closer we get to meet day, the more important recovery becomes. My stance is that recovery is almost as important this far out as it is right before the meet. This is because to continue to ramp up training intensity we must be in a condition to do so.  Simply put, if we are chronically under-rested, underfed, or fighting sickness or injury, we won’t be able to train as hard. This ultimately makes it harder to build and peak our strength. 

Start practicing good recovery strategies now to help stay healthy as we work toward meet day. Make sure we are getting enough sleep, eating enough to fuel training, and staying hydrated. It is also important to notify me if you are battling an injury or illness so that I can decide whether or not adjusting your training is needed. Those of you training with me will have a taper built in during the final 2-3 weeks leading up to April 20. 

Cutting Weight

I do not care what weight class you aim to be in, and I pay zero attention to what you weigh on meet day. I won’t be asking what you weighed in at, I will be asking if you made the weight you wanted. I want you to feel comfortable in the weight class you target. 

Having said this, if you do plan to cut a significant amount of weight, now is a good time to consider getting started on it. Waiting too close to the meet to start cutting means you will have to take on a greater caloric deficit, which will negatively affect your training. It would be preferred to factor in a smaller reduction in food intake and do that over a longer time, than to try to drop a bunch of weight the final 4-6 weeks.

We can also adjust your workouts to encourage some weight loss if needed. Please notify me if you would like any help with cutting.

Nerves

No matter how experienced of a lifter you are, you WILL be nervous on meet day. So will every other lifter. Accept that fact now, but know that we have a lot of time to practice strategies that will help you cope with meet-day nerves.  

It can certainly be uncomfortable to do a lift in the gym with everyone watching you, but this is great exposure therapy for meet day. You already do this in the gym, so continue to embrace taking high-pressure lifts while there are many eyes on you in training. Do not forget that we are all on the same team and that everyone is rooting for you! 

Visualization is also a powerful tool that you can utilize. Visualize yourself warming up in a disorganized environment. Visualize lining up for your flight, watching the lifters in front of you taking their attempts, continuing to wait until finally you are on deck. Visualize yourself being called to the platform with a yell of “BAR IS LOADED!” Visualize going through your pre-lift rituals and setups. Visualize receiving your commands. Most importantly, visualize yourself making lifts. Visualization can help calm you and can help build a tremendous amount of confidence.

Closing Thoughts

Remember that the hardest part of this meet is happening right now. Once we get to meet day, all of the work is behind you. Adrenaline and excitement will carry you and I will be nearby for support. At that point, the pressure is on me to help you have a successful day on the platform.

As always, contact me with any questions or concerns you have.

Keep up the great work. Let’s keep lifting heavy and having fun.