The First Meet Primer

by Wade Johnson

First, congratulations. What you are about to do is the culmination of weeks of hard training. It’s a ton of work and everything is still relatively new. But not to worry, you will be fine. Follow these tips and relax. Remember, this is fun! This is what you train for. Don’t freak yourself or psyche yourself out. Do the best YOU can do, not the best someone else can do. Now for some tips.

The week of the meet, be sure to eat plenty of carbs. Yes, if you are close on weight, pay extra attention. However, this being your first meet, worry more about energy/fuel stores rather than weight. Remember, this competition is against only yourself. I'm not discouraging competition, but let’s have realistic expectations for the first time out. The goal should be to break all your prs in a meet setting and get past being in front of a crowd and judges.

A day or two before the meet, get yourself plenty of water and sports drinks to take to the meet. Keep fluids in your system all meet long. After each lift, get some water and some type of sport drink. This will prevent cramping and the like. Yes, you will use the bathroom quite a bit. Deal with it, it will aid you greatly. Also, pack some food. Pasta, fruit and pretzels are good to eat during the meet. Avoid hamburgers, etc. It is typical that there is a thirty minute break between each lift, i.e. between squat and bench. That is a good time to get a little food on your stomach. The morning of the meet, eat what you typically eat. Do not eat anything odd or something you’ve never had. Consistency in diet is as important as training. You can’t lift on an upset stomach.

A good idea is to make a check list of things you must have for the meet. http://www.deepsquatter.com is a great place to find a meet checklist and also an attempt list [note: go to links page to get to the site --ed.]. Print these for your use. The night before, when you have all that nervous energy, pack your bag making sure you have everything you need. You should already be thinking about what your openers will be. Go conservative! I’ve seen several lifters bomb out, or ruin psyche due to too heavy of an opener. Get an easy lift in to get you on the board and to push you past being nervous or jittery.

Now that you are a few weeks out, get your head together by thinking your way through the meet. See how you will make your attempts, psyche yourself up, chalking your hands. See all those things in your mind. Execute it in your mind. Do this over and over and over! This is an extremely important process. Positive reinforcement is key. See yourself approach the platform. See yourself set up. See yourself execute the lift perfectly. Positive, positive, positive. Again, over and over and over.

At the meet, use the same warm up routine that you use for training. Again, be consistent. Also, don’t warm up too soon. This is a big mistake that lifters make. They get pumped up and because of the nervous energy, push a little too hard and use too much energy. Use a moderate pace to warm up. It’s going to be a fairly long day. Use this to your advantage.

Hopefully, this will help you get past the first meet, keep you from getting nervous and mentally prepare you for what is to come. It is just the beginning. There are more factors to consider as your meet experience grows, however; these are great things to focus on initially in your lifting career. I hope this has steadied some nerves and helped you to get organized. As always, I’m available for any questions. Now get that game face on. And remember, have fun! That’s what this is truly all about.


Your First Meet- A Primer by Wade Johnson First, congratulations. What you are about to do is the culmination of weeks of hard training. It’s a ton of work and everything is still relatively new. But not to worry, you will be fine. Follow these tips and relax. Remember, this is fun! This is what you train for. Don’t freak yourself or psyche yourself out. Do the best YOU can do, not the best someone else can do. Now for some tips. The week of the meet, be sure to eat plenty of carbs. Yes, if you are close on weight, pay extra attention. However, this being your first meet, worry more about energy/fuel stores rather than weight. Remember, this competition is against only yourself. I'm not discouraging competition, but let’s have realistic expectations for the first time out. The goal should be to break all your prs in a meet setting and get past being in front of a crowd and judges. A day or two before the meet, get yourself plenty of water and sports drinks to take to the meet. Keep fluids in your system all meet long. After each lift, get some water and some type of sport drink. This will prevent cramping and the like. Yes, you will use the bathroom quite a bit. Deal with it, it will aid you greatly. Also, pack some food. Pasta, fruit and pretzels are good to eat during the meet. Avoid hamburgers, etc. It is typical that there is a thirty minute break between each lift, i.e. between squat and bench. That is a good time to get a little food on your stomach. The morning of the meet, eat what you typically eat. Do not eat anything odd or something you’ve never had. Consistency in diet is as important as training. You can’t lift on an upset stomach. A good idea is to make a check list of things you must have for the meet. http://www.deepsquatter.com is a great place to find a meet checklist and also an attempt list [note: go to links page to get to the site --ed.]. Print these for your use. The night before, when you have all that nervous energy, pack your bag making sure you have everything you need. You should already be thinking about what your openers will be. Go conservative! I’ve seen several lifters bomb out, or ruin psyche due to too heavy of an opener. Get an easy lift in to get you on the board and to push you past being nervous or jittery. Now that you are a few weeks out, get your head together by thinking your way through the meet. See how you will make your attempts, psyche yourself up, chalking your hands. See all those things in your mind. Execute it in your mind. Do this over and over and over! This is an extremely important process. Positive reinforcement is key. See yourself approach the platform. See yourself set up. See yourself execute the lift perfectly. Positive, positive, positive. Again, over and over and over. At the meet, use the same warm up routine that you use for training. Again, be consistent. Also, don’t warm up too soon. This is a big mistake that lifters make. They get pumped up and because of the nervous energy, push a little too hard and use too much energy. Use a moderate pace to warm up. It’s going to be a fairly long day. Use this to your advantage. Hopefully, this will help you get past the first meet, keep you from getting nervous and mentally prepare you for what is to come. It is just the beginning. There are more factors to consider as your meet experience grows, however; these are great things to focus on initially in your lifting career. I hope this has steadied some nerves and helped you to get organized. As always, I’m available for any questions. Now get that game face on. And remember, have fun! That’s what this is truly all about.