Today I did my first powerlifting competition (raw). It was a beginners' competition, so the federation affiliation (Koninklijke Nederlandse Krachtsport & Fitnessfederatie = Royal Dutch Strength Sport and Fitness Federation) is not entirely accurate as there was no federation membership requirement for competing (although I am a member).

I weighed in at 58.6 kg, which led me to believe that my home scales are rather inaccurate - I had weighed myself a couple of hours prior and they showed 56.7 kg, and I hadn't eaten or drunk anything between the two weighing sessions. There were no weight categories for the women, since there were only 4 of us.

Background and training

I started lifting a few years ago (with Starting Strength), but I was horribly inconsistent about it and one year ago my training maxes were 85/52.5/90 (squat/bench/deadlift). I took a long break from training due to work, but at the beginning of this year I made a resolution (yes, yes) to get proper serious about it and signed up for online coaching (Greg Nuckols, he is a wizzard). 16 weeks of Greg's program and eating all the things skyrocketed my lifts. The program was 4/week and combined the main lifts (squat, bench, deadlift OHP) with bodybuilding-style accessory lifts and paused variants of the main lifts (except for bench, where I did close grip instead of paused).

Competition Prep

4 weeks before the competition I started a cut because I wanted to make the <57kg category (without knowing that there will be no weight categories). I started at 59kg, dropped my calorie intake from 2000-2200 per day to 1600-1800. For the first couple of weeks my weight fluctuated wildly. The week before the competition I was still at 58kg, after further dropping my calories to 1400-1600. My performance in the gym also suffered and I was struggling to complete my workouts. I did a water cut for 4 days and that helped me drop about 0.5 kg.

Diet-wise I focused on getting at least 2g/kg of bodyweight in protein, 120-160g carbs and the rest fats. Lots of lean meats, eggs, tons of veggies, some fruit, some beans/lentils and limited amounts of bread. Protein bars on training days, because Quest bars are so delicious.

Training-wise, I completed Greg's 16-weeks program a week before the competition and afterwards I had a couple of light training sessions - working on form and doing some conservative max testing on all lifts. I did no cardio whatsoever at any point, unless you count lots of walking in Paris during my 1-week holiday.

The Lifts

Only one of my lifts was red-lighted by the judge, for obvious reasons (I derped and couldn't get up from the bottom squat position).

Squat:

• I opened with 95kg, since that was a weight I could do triples in training a week before the meet.
• 100kg on the second attempt, made.
• 110kg on the third attempt, could not get out of the hole (got greedy)

Bench:

• 55kg opener, easy
• 60kg second attempt, made (previous training PR)
• 62.5 kg third attempt, struggled a bit but made it (PR)

Deadlift:

• 110kg opener, easy
• 120kg second attempt, no issues (previous PR)
• 125kg third attempt, dragged it up kicking and screaming (PR)

Results:

I placed second in the women's category. There was a close race between me and the girl who placed first - 7.5 kg difference. Total: 287.5kg and Wilks score 326.5.

Other stuff:

I learned that my second attempt should be my current PR. I could have gotten 5 more kilos on my total if I had followed this for the squat.

Before my first squat attempt the announcer called the rack height for the loaders. Half the audience went "What?! Really?" - Netherlands has the highest average height in the world (for the population) and I'm 1.50m tall.

Eleiko bars have awesome grip. Much better than the stuff I have at my hipster commercial gym.

Future plans:

I'll compete again in mid-June, aiming for the <57kg category (again). The time is a bit too short for great improvements, especially considering that I need to step up my cutting game. However, December has the biggest raw competition in the Netherlands and for that I plan to drop a weight class and smash some national records.