 Few things will breed life and add focus to your training like signing up for your first meet When you put that check in the mail, you put yourself out there making your commitment to lift in front of a bunch of people Here are some tips to help you show up prepared for your first meet When you put in all the hard work and you show up to meet day with a plan and ready for the competition Your first meet is a great experience First you have to find a meet Traditional powerlifting meets are great But with a number of federations out there It can be confusing to know which ones are friendly to new lifters and how the rules may vary with each federation Fortunately, the United States Strength Lifting Federation and Starting Strength both hold strength lifting meets These meets are very friendly to new lifters and include the squat, the press, not the bench press, and the deadlift as the competition lifts You can find more about these meets from those organizations Every federation has its own version of the rules for how their meets are conducted and how the lifts will progress Make sure you visit your federation's website Download the rules and read them carefully If you are lifting in a meet that uses commands, make sure to practice them in your training leading up to the meet You do not want to bomb out because you did not wait for or follow certain commands or procedures Powerlifting is a weight class sport But it is a mistake for new competitors to be concerned about what weight class they're competing in This is an unnecessary stress for your first meet This concern is best left for highly competitive power lifters looking to win meets or break records For your first meet you want to show up strong, not small Don't worry about your weight class this time Another mistake lifters often make is to start looking around for a powerlifting specific training program Remember that your goals of show up as strong as possible on meet day Most powerlifting programs are intended for advanced level power lifters and are designed to make them a little bit stronger Over the course of several weeks or even months If you're a novice or an intermediate lifter your programming will continue to get you stronger in a much shorter amount of time For most new lifters, there's no need to significantly alter your training to prepare for your first meet One change you will make as the meet approaches. However, it's to taper A taper is a period of reduced stress in your training that allows you to recover prior to the competition and show up well rested But not detrained Novice is well the very short taper maybe just one workout of reduced volume The more advanced the lifter the longer and more varied the taper, but the goal remains the same At some point you will have to weigh yourself in front of a judge. The Federation's rules will tell you when and how this takes place Strength lifting meets you weigh out after the meet after you finish your final deadlift attempt This is so that the officials can calculate your score and group you with lifters of equal size You should weigh without your clothes on or only in your underwear This is allowed by the rules and even though we don't want to cut weight for this meat You'll have a better overall score if your weight is not artificially too high a Professionally run meat will respect your privacy and modesty for the weigh-in process. It's not really a big deal The day before the meet you'll want to do an equipment check Pack a bag with your shoes belts any wrist straps or knee sleeves that you normally train with that is allowed at your meet Be familiar with the rules This is not the time to start adding new equipment to your lifts if you've never squatted in knee sleeves Do not start using them now You can try out new equipment later now is the time for focus and to perform exactly like you have practiced Lastly arrange for a friend or training partner that is not competing to handle you for the day Having another person available to keep you on track remind you to eat and assist in attempt selection is invaluable In summary be prepared show up strong and don't do anything new on meet day. Enjoy yourself This is supposed to be fun What other questions do you have about competing for the first time ask us down below and to learn more about power lifting click here