Giving It A Go.

[LiamB]

After a month or so of just cruising the site, not making myself known to anyone, I thought that a couple of days after the CD Novice lifting comp would be a good time for me to start a journal/report on how I thought I went at the comp. The competition was a bit of a learning curve for me, and not listening to the judges instructions cost me a good bit of weight, especially on the bench :oops: however all part of a first time, and I learnt a hell of a lot, hopefully come back next time with a much better total. Weighed in at 89kg on the day, so competed in novice U93kg. Decided about 5 days before hand that we were gona enter, so had pretty terrible prep, but not to worry! Results for me were as follows:

Squat:

140kg: Red Red Red

150kg: White White White

160kg: White White White

Bench Press:

100kg: White White White

110kg: Red Red Red

115kg: Red Red Red

Deadlift:

170kg: White White White

180kg: White White White

195kg: White White White.

Total Lift: 455kg.

Comments/Ponderings.

Came into the day feeling reasonably confident, have a national age group background in throwing Discus, so thought I would be used to the pressure of individual competition. This soon changed after my first squat :pfft: I waited for the judges command to squat, did my squat, felt great, good depth etc weight came up fast, and then purely out of instinct racked the bar :shock: without waiting on the judges call. Knew exactly what I had done as soon as I did it, kicked myself as the judges raised three red flags. Made the decision to move up to 150kg anyway, after feeling comfortable at the lift of 140. Again had a good clean squat, and came up quickly. Waited for judges this time, 3 whites. Moved to 160, which I'd had a little bit of trouble with in training after a mild hip strain. TrapFat told me that the adrenalin would get me there easy, and he was dead right. Weight came up like a charm, and felt that with the added pressure and excitement of competition, I could thrive and add a few kilos to the bar for next time.

Next came an absolute shocker for me, the Bench Press. I knew this was probably going to be my weakest lift, and I was anxious to see how I was feeling with the pause at the bottom of the bench, a new concept to me. I opened at 100kg, waited on all commands, did my press and felt awesome, 3 white flags. From here, it all turned to shit a little bit. I moved the weight to 110, something I felt that I had comfortably in training, with the goal for third lift being 120. I lowered the weight to my chest, paused, and for some unexplicable reason did a little half press before the judges command, just an inch or so. I lowered it back to my chest but by then the damage had been done. I pressed it up with ease but recieved the dreaded 3 red flags. Moved up to 115 as I felt that 110 was comfortable. Had good strength and drive off the chest, but triceps just didn't fire when they were supposed to. I ground the weight up for what seemed like an eternity, eventually making the top but recieving reds after having the weight drop slightly mid-lift. I definately don't want to sound like a whingeing dickhead, but I was disappointed with my lifts. However it was all a learning experience for me, and I will definately know for next time. Want to quickly thank OB for letting me know exactly where I went wrong and what to work on for next time. Was feeling good in deadlift warm-up, trained up to 170kg, my starting weight, despite people telling me to only warm up to around 10kg before starting weight :shifty: , just really wanted to know in my head that I had it all under control. First two lifts at 170 and 180 came up problem free. My last lift I went a little heavier than I had planned to 195, as my goal was to make a 1000lb total from my three lifts, and after failed bench I was in jeopardy of missing that. Was absolutely stoked when 195 came up reasonably hassle free, possibly even felt like I had a little more in the tank.

Overall had a really great time, was pleasantly surprised at how hugely friendly, helpful and supportive everyone was. A big thanks to Brendan who ran me and Sam's next lift cards to the table, and to OB, Nick, PT, Costa and the other judges etc involved in helping. Finished 2nd in the novice under 93kg section, a good 100kg or so behind Drizzt who was pretty farking awesome, so congrats to you bro.

All in all had a bloody good time, big thanks to OB and everyone else who helped put it together, and will now start training with an eye to CDs

[drizzt]

Nice writeup bro, good to see you on here and hope you stick around. Pretty cool to hear the event from another lifter's point of view :nod: With 5 days buildup that's a pretty awesome first total :clap:

I actually feel a little guilty for coming first ahead of ya after having to cut weight on the day to make the grade! :oops:

Either way, nice to meet you, and look forward to your buildup to the CDs

[samuelNZ]

Thanks mate, bloody good to meet you too bro, have enjoyed reading your journals, good to put a face to it all. Some VERY impressive lifting from you on the day. Look forward to reading a bit more and coming up against ya at CDs, I'm sure both of us will be hitting some bigger totals once that comes round \:D/

[LiamB]

Thanks mate, bloody good to meet you too bro, have enjoyed reading your journals, good to put a face to it all. Some VERY impressive lifting from you on the day. Look forward to reading a bit more and coming up against ya at CDs, I'm sure both of us will be hitting some bigger totals once that comes round \:D/