This is just a quick run through how the weekend in Folkestone went. Apologies if anyone reading this feels there is needless detail but I like to read how other guys go about their final comp prep and weigh in etc as there can be lots to learn from others. Some of the details may be a little off as I am writing this a couple of weeks later but I've done my best.
We had an early start and flew from Belfast International to Gatwick. Up to then things seemed to be going smoothly. Then we had to try and rent a car for the weekend. Dear oh dear. This put us way behind schedule. Most of the rental desks were looking for ridiculous deposits. Mike and I had Maestro which none of them accepted. Andy doesn't use cards and Justin had his money split across two accounts. We ended up having money sent to Justin's account and finally we got a good deal on a Fiesta. The guy at the desk was seriously helpful. Unfortunately Andy was getting more angry and purple by the minute as he was having a tough weight cut. All his own fault though! :p
We then took a wrong turn on the way to Folkestone (my fault); which actually worked pretty well because by the time we got to the weigh in we were just short of the later weigh in time. Had we been well in advance of this and caught between the two weigh in times Andy had decided he was gonna throw the head up and go up a weight class.
I stopped water 18 hours out and just kept an eye on my salt a the day before. I came in at 120.2kg. This was ridiculously light for me. Most evenings that week I had been 126.4-128.7-ish. I know anyway that I'm very salt sensitive and throughout the day my weight can vary by as much as 7-10lbs anyways. This weigh in told me a lot. Recently I had toyed with the idea of going 140kg but now it's pretty clear to me I could get my weight up to 133-135kg, make an easy cut to 125 and then easily regain most of this lost weight in the next 24 hours.
Immediately after weigh in I had two McVities cereal bars, around 1 litre of tropical fruit juice, 1.5 litres of water and about half a box of grapes. I was eating to the point where I was feeling comfortable regaining some glycogen and fluids. I have binged after weigh ins before and felt terrible. I find it's best to get some sugars in with a decent amount of fluid, be careful with salt and then wait and see where you are after that. An hour or two later we went for lunch. I had continued with some water and juice during this time. For lunch I had a bowl of nachos with cheese, sour cream etc then a plate of chips, two racks of ribs, a portion of coleslaw and a portion of chicken goujons. Things got a little tight towards the end of this so I slowed down and enjoyed the food. This was no doubt due to the salt. By the end of this I had close to another litre of water in and I was beginning to feel a lot heavier. After lunch I had a bit of a nap and the few times I woke I took in 250-500ml of water or juice at a time.
That night we headed out for some pizza at a nice Italian place. I felt great and I had definitely regained a few kg. Again, a few more glasses of water with a ham pizza and a portion of garlic bread. After this it was back to where we were staying where I had a yarn with a few people and put away 2 pints of Pepsi. Before bed another litre or so of water went in and by this stage my 2 litre bottle of tropical juice was long gone.
The next day we were up and had a cooked breakfast. I made sure to get a good amount of water in as that stuff can be salty. Then it was off to the venue. I bought another 4 litres of water when we got there. At this stage it was about 9 in the morning. I didn't start my squats until about 1230/1300.
As I started my warm ups I took 50mg of diclofenac to slow my renal function a little. Being in 4-6 plys of equipment and bursting for a wee for a couple of hours is no fun at all. Throughout this time I maintained a steady-ish water intake and also ate some cereal bars and grapes. I lose so much appetite when I'm competing it can be very hard to keep any sort of calories going in. I'm happy to eat whatever I feel I can stomach. I know that nutritional "gurus" will melt down over this but try putting in 13 hours at a multi-ply meet and see how much you feel like eating.
After squats I had two sachets of Dioralyte in 400ml of water. For half an hour I then stopped fluids so as not to dilute this solution too much. After that I restarted fluids and took 4mg of loperamide. Weigh ins, Dioralyte, lots of fluids and not a lot of food can be a terrible combination. I've never had any issues myself but I'd rather be safe than sorry!
Attempts were as follows:
Squat
400kg X
415kg X
415kg X
Bench
290kg Good
310kg Good
317.5kg X
Deadlift
335kg Good
350kg Good
365kg Good
So obviously I bombed on the squat. Tremendously disappointing. I even had my first one called up. Just not to be. My other numbers are reassuring though. The next total I get in should definitely be a personal best.
I know I've said it before but bombouts are definitely the most motivating thing in powerlifting. After bombing my squat I sat down with such a stinking head on me and though **** the lot of this. I was in proper meltdown mode and for about 30 seconds I could think of nothing worse than a barbell. I was miserable thinking about how much valuable time and money I thought I had wasted on it over 6 years. HAHA! 6/7 hours later I was hobbling off the deadlift platform with a PB bench and DL, an aching back and a bit of a sense of achievement. lol
Powerlifting will make me happy but never satisfied; this is both the best and worst thing about it
Some positives from this competition:
- Most of us hit personal bests
- All of us were fitter and coped with a full day of competition far better
- I have got my weigh in routine down much better
- Likewise my competition day routine is much better. I'm avoiding cramps and at the end of the day I feel like I could almost tackle another 3 lifts
- I made some new friends - another great thing about powerlifting
Things to improve
- Squat depth
- Bench lockout
I've made the decision that I'm gonna drop the Overkill poly/canvas hybrid that I have. It feels great once you get down to a certain point and then it just seems to fold you up. I certainly felt this when I tried to take 415kg that extra inch or two and it flattened me (after just blowing away 400kg a little higher). I have an old Boss suit in the house that I'm gonna go back to and see if I can do some damage with it. Realistically I should easily be a 1000lb+ squatter. What I'm doing right now just isn't cutting it. Especially since I have become so much stronger raw the last few months
Bench lockout is already being addressed with working more singles with accommodating resistance. I am also wearing a shirt which is very big on me and very loose in the arms. I'm gonna persevere with it until later in the year/next year when I can afford to order a tight SDP. Then I should do a little more damage
To finish I'd like to say a few thank yous
To my training partners Andy, Mike, Justin and Alan. A special thanks to Mike who wrote our bench program which got me a 10kg PB.
To Alan Collins for organizing a great competition.
To all the spotters and loaders for keeping us safe and making sure the day ran smoothly. It's a miserable job and you can never be thanked enough for it!
To all the referees and officials who put the time in to run the competition.
To big D who did a great job DJing.
To the BPC, the spectators and anyone else who contributed to the event in any way. I really enjoyed this weekend. Everyone was really positive, unlike other feds and competitions I have been to where there are some people who you never know where you stand with. This is a great asset to have as a group of lifters. There are too many egos in powerlifting and people who love to talk rather than lift. Hopefully I haven't missed anyone out
Next up is Bodypar! I'm recovering from a wild dose of man flu so I'm trying to regain a few kg and get switched on again. I forgot how much competitions ruin you. Well worth it though
Thanks for reading
