How to pick your attempts at competition:

At powerlifting competitions, you get 3 attempts at each lift to get a score on the board. Before a competition starts you have to hand in your opener (first attempt) for each lift. You have to hand in your second attempt for a lift within 1 minute after doing your opener. And your third attempt within 1 minute after your second attempt. This means having a plan before the competition starts, makes things a lot less stressful. In this post I am going to go through how to pick what weight to do for each attempt.

Opening weights:

If you fail a lift, you can’t go down a weight. So, for most successful powerlifters they choose a very light opening weight. This is to guarantee they get some sort of score on the board. It is also good for building confidence in your meet. If your opener on squats flies up, it sets a positive and confident vibe for the rest of the competition. If your opener on squat is too heavy, doesn’t move well, or even fails, then it can ruin someone’s entire meet. I’ve seen it happen. People fail their opener because they’ve gone too heavy. Or they fail it because they missed a command or didn’t hit depth. And then they look scared the whole rest of the competition and end up only getting 4 or 5 successful attempts out of 9. The number you pick for your opener doesn’t matter. By this I mean, it doesn’t matter if your opener is not a weight you would consider impressive. It doesn’t have to be impressive. What your opener does have to be, is a confidence builder and a number on the board so you don’t bomb out.

When it comes to actually picking an opener, I would say a good rule of thumb is something you could confidently do 3 reps of on any given training day. This isn’t your 3 rep max. This is something that you could do 3 reps of on an average day. This is a very feelings-based approach, which I think is the best way to pick your numbers.

Another way to pick is by percentages. However, I personally have issues with percentage-based training and attempt selection. While it does have its positives, it has drawbacks. For instance, let’s say I said 90% of your 1RM is what your opener should be. 90% can feel very different for each lift. For some people 90% on their bench is very, very easy, whereas for their squat 90% might be a lot more daunting. The other issue is if someone’s “1RM” that they did in training isn’t to comp standard. If their squat wasn’t to depth, bench wasn’t paused, or deadlift was hitched, then 90% of that lift might actually be closer to 95-100% of what they could do to competition standard. Of course, 1 way around this is for someone to make their training all to competition standard. Which is what you should aim for. But we are human, stuff happens. Percentage based selection also doesn’t really account for how someone feels mentally and physically on the day.

This is why I prefer to go for a feelings-based approach for picking an opening weight. Picking something that is not an intimidating weight. The plan isn’t for your opener to be your only weight on the board, so don’t stress about it being too low. For an example, at my first competition I chose 145kg as my first attempt on squat, my third attempt ended up being 170kg, a 25kg difference, and I felt great, I had loads of confidence going into my second and third attempts. At this same competition I saw people that had heavier openers than me, at 150-160kg, but they either failed their next attempts or ended up doing less than 170kg anyway. So even though they might’ve opened heavier than me, they didn’t get a better score on squats.

I might be in the extreme of having a very light opener, but generally I think if you’ve planned your 3 attempts and there’s only 5kg difference between them, then your selections are wrong. Of course, if you’re very much a novice then you will have smaller weight gaps. But I would say if you’re planning on lifting more than 85kg on your third attempt then there’s no reason to have as small as a 5kg planned jump between attempts.

You might try this and find you actually benefit from having slightly heavier openers. Whether this is on all your lifts or just some of them. Powerlifting is a lot of “individually, what works for you?” So don’t take what I say as the 10 commandments, but I think for most people, light openers work well. Especially as a beginner.

Second Attempts:

Second attempts are a tricky one. Too light and you run the risk of having a low score if you miss your third attempt. As well as not being able to accurately judge what you should do as a third attempt. Too heavy and you might use too much energy and fatigue yourself, causing you to miss your third attempt. I would say your second attempt is the hardest one to choose, for this reason. This also means it will probably be the one that differs most from person to person.

Generally, I would say to choose something you’ve done in training before, going for a PR as your second attempt would be an interesting choice. Of course, depending on how long since your last or best competition you might find your second attempt is a competition PR, but if it’s a weight that you haven’t even done in training before, then I’d be hard pressed to find a good reason for that. It should be a weight that you are again, pretty sure you could do and should have confidence at being able to do. But at the same time, I think it’s a good idea to make sure it is heavy enough that you would be okay with that being your score if you miss your third attempt.

If the most you have done in your prep on a deadlift is 200kg (without hitching and properly locked out) then I would say somewhere around 190-195kg would be a good choice. So, 5-10kg lighter. However, it will also depend on how strong you are. If you’re in the 300kg-400kg range, then you’ll probably want more of a gap than 10kg. But if you’re benching around 40kg, then you will probably want less than a 10kg gap. Overall, a weight you’ve done before, but is still a challenging and heavy weight for you.

Third Attempts:

 

I see a lot of people butcher their third attempts. But not for the reason you might think. You’ve done all this work preparing for a competition. If you’ve been following a program or have a coach, then your competition day should be where you are at peak strength. So why on earth would your third attempt be anything less than a PR? You should want to get PRs at competition, that is your time to shine and show off all your hard work.

There are of course lots of different situations someone might be in where you don’t choose a PR attempt. If it’s your first competition then it’s about having a positive experience, that might mean going 9 for 9 is more positive than going for a pr and potentially failing.

If you have had a lot of time away from powerlifting and strength training then you might not get an all-time PR or competition PR, but I think here you should still go for more than you did in prep for this competition.

If you don’t need to PR to win a competition. If you find that you can solidify the win with your third attempt and you only need less than your PR to win, then you might choose to go for the minimum weight you need to win over a PR. This will depend on what you would find more joy in.

If you had a very bad prep or have been or are ill. If your prep has just not gone to plan and/or you feel horrendous on the day, then it might not be best to go for a PR. I will go into more detail of what to do if you don’t feel good on the day later in this blog.

Overall, most people should be aiming for an all-time PR as their third attempts. Sidenote, if you consistently have your all-time PRs be in training and not competition then something is seriously wrong with your prep for competition, or your gym lifts aren’t to comp standard and you’re lying to yourself.

Changing the plan on the day:

You might have made a plan which on paper would look like a solid plan. But things happen. Being able to be flexible and adapt is part of succeeding in powerlifting. You might find that your opener or second attempt just didn’t move as well as you were hoping for. This may mean slightly dropping your planned second and/or third attempts. Alternatively, you might find your opener, or second attempt moved easier than you thought, so you might want to go heavier than your initial plan. You only have to hand in your openers before the competition. You hand in your second attempt weight after your first attempt. And your third attempt after your second attempt. So, you can choose your second and third attempts based on how your previous attempt felt. You only have 1 minute to give the officials your number though, so it is good to have a rough plan.

Another thing to consider when it comes to your second and third attempts is watching your previous attempt quickly before you hand in your next attempt. At my first competition I had never used competition style equipment before. So, when I un-racked 145kg on my squat my first thought was “this feels stupidly heavy”. The actual squat felt like I was near my max. I told my meet handler this, and he quickly showed me a video of my lift. It absolutely flew in the video and looked easy. If I didn’t watch that video, I probably would have changed my attempts to be a lot lower. Instead, I stuck to my plan and did 170kg for my third attempt, which was a PR at the time. So having someone nearby record the video and show you as you are deciding can be really helpful. Just make sure you don’t run out of time.

Have a backup plan for if you feel weak on the day:

This leads off from the previous section. Having a backup plan already made for if you feel super weak on the day can help a lot. Anything can happen, you might not sleep well, you might become ill, or your nerves might take over on the day. Having a plan for if things don’t feel good is a good idea. There’s no reason not to. Hopefully you don’t have to use the back up plan, but if you do, then already having a plan written down can save you stress.

Have a coach/meet handler pick your attempts:

I touched on having a meet handler previously. But having a coach who will come with you to the competition will help so much. They are responsible for when you start your warmups, loading up your weights in the warmup room, making sure you are ready when it is time for your attempts as well as more. A meet handler is there to make things as smooth as possible for you. But they can also help you pick attempts. This can be based off how the lift looked (which is why it is useful to record your attempts), or what they think you can do. This can be helpful as you yourself will have an emotional attachment to the weights you pick. You might really want to hit a certain milestone, but your coach might see that that just isn’t possible on the day. Alternatively, you might be doubting yourself whereas your coach can see that you can definitely do more. Your meet handler doesn’t have to be your coach, that’s just what is most ideal. At the very least your meet handler should be someone who has seen you lift and so knows roughly what you are capable of and what different weights should move like for you

 I know some powerlifters that prefer having absolutely no say in their attempts. Their coach picks the weight for them with no input from the athlete. They go to do their attempt without actually knowing what’s on the bar.

Conclusion:

Your opener should be something you can do 3 reps of on most days. Your second should be a weight you’ve done in your prep that is heavy enough for you to judge what your max on the day is. Your third attempt should almost always be a PR.

If you have a competition coming up that you would like help preparing for, then send me a message on the contact form and I will get back to you.