Meet day is stressful. You're nervous and anxious. You're ready to hit the platform. You feel like you've done everything to have a great day. You trained hard for the last few months. And no matter how chill you stay, it's an all-around nerve-wracking day.
After 20 years of competing, I've seen pretty much everything on meet day. I've watched lifters stand on their heads to make weight, bloat up past their normal weight just to be bigger, and wear bench shirts under their t-shirts. While we all have our own quirks come meet day, there are a few things I would suggest NOT doing.
1. DON'T warm up to your opener in the warm-up room. I've seen it too many times where someone is warming up with a weight and when I watch their first attempt, they are taking the same weight as they just did in the back room! You only have so many 90%+ attempts in you for the day. Save them for the platform.
2. DON'T take anything above 70% for more than a single during warm ups. Sure, someone could argue that exact percentage to be higher or lower, but generally speaking, anything around 70% and higher should only be 1 rep in the warm up room. The last meet we attended, I was watching a guy warm-up for deadlifts. Granted he had a strong pull, but he was doing 315 for sets of 10, and 405 for sets of 5! This isn't a training session. If you feel a warm-up attempt felt waaaaaay off, rack it and reset and take it again for another single. Meet day only singles matter so "practicing" with reps won't do you any good anyway.
3. DON'T think you can run the joint because of who you are. Most meets have a 1 minute clock, timing the lifter to get under the bar. If you're at a meet that follows those rules, the judges should be sticking to it. Even if they are giving some leeway, don't be the person that thinks that just because the head judge knows you, you can take all the time in the world. There are lifters behind you getting wrapped and ready. Be respectful of the rules and the time you are given.
4. DON'T assume you know what will happen on meet day. While most meet directors do their best to inform lifters of any changes, things happen. Start times gets changed, break times get added or taken away. The judges won't care that you ran out to get lunch when they announced loud and clear they were starting deadlifts in 15 minutes. Be in the know the entire day. Ask questions if you're unsure. Have your team/coach/handler be in the know as well. If your flight is about to start and you're nowhere to be found, your handler should be able to hunt you down to let you know things are rolling.
5. DON'T leave the meet early if you back out or bomb, especially if you have training partners there competing. Bombing out sucks. It's one of the worst feelings in the sport. But if you have training partners and other team members there, they need you the rest of the day as well. So unless you're injured and need to get to a hospital, stay the rest of the meet to support everyone else. It's poor taste to leave your people hanging. You wouldn't want that to happen to you.
When it comes to meets, many people want to know the X's and O's of warmups, attempts and how to total big. Don't forget that these things are just as important!
