Normal rates of strength loss in a meet setting

[Faera]

Hello all,

I just finished my first "mock meet" (best i could do due to pandemic) and it was a real learning experience even though it was not the same as the real thing. It started out great! Squat felt great. Hit all my three attempts, last attempt was probably @9.5 so could of done 5 lbs more but i was happy. Bench also went well. I hit my planned pr on the third attempt but it was a real grinder. That's when I got to deadlift. They felt heavy, like really heavy. In fact my last warm up felt like what my openers felt like for the other two lifts. I did not adjust and just figured things would work themselves out. My opener got up but it was all out. I tried going up 5lbs but I could not even get it up off the floor. I had lost about 10% of my usual strength thoughout the "meet".

My question is in regards to this loss of strength. Is a 10% drop by the end normal? Any tips to help reduce this amount?

Would love to know your opinions!

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Faera,

Nice job on completing a mock meet given the pandemic. Shows your dedication to hard work!

In general, people lift more in meets than they do in training, though sometimes the technical standards of a judged competition compromise their performance. In any case, it is not typical that people lift less in a meet setting. A few possible contributing factors:

1) Rest periods, usually 5-15 min is advisable
2) Nutrition should look similar to a normal workout unless the testing period/meet takes a long time and you need to eat again
3) Technical error, e.g. form is off for whatever reason or lack of chalk
4) Environmental inputs, e.g. heat, cold, etc.
5) Social inputs, e.g. supportive crowd, all alone, etc.
6) Mood
7) Appropriate attempt selection given level of training

In any case, I would chalk this up as a learning experience and would probably take a closer look at attempt selection, if I had to guess.

-Jordan

[Faera]

Will do!

By reading your comments I think my biggest problem may have been the pace of the day, I probably would have had more success if the event would have taken an extra 30-40 minutes. Anyways, thank you for the continued support.