Bombing out of a meet sucks. It prevents a total, which is the basis of our sport. A powerlifter can go six for six, miss all his deadlifts, and lose to someone who makes one squat, one bench press, and one deadlift. But bombing can also yield benefits and even success.
I haven't bombed out of a meet, but I came close in March 2009 at the R.A.W. United South Florida Open. I opened way too heavy on the deadlift, and my first attempt looked like a third attempt. My warm ups foreshadowed this, but I didn't have the commonsense to lower my opener because that wasn’t “the plan.” This evasion from the reality of competition circumstances resulted in embarrassing second and third "attempts" that didn't budge. Perhaps Magneto had surreptitiously placed himself at the meet site and thwarted my efforts, but I doubt it.
I didn't bomb, but I finished stuck to the floor. My friend, Cathy Cox, did recently bomb, but she finished standing up. The last time I wrote about Cathy, she had deadlifted 275 lbs and finished third in the 148-lb weight class at the 2009 USAPL Raw Nationals. Since then, she has pulled 303 lbs and got a PR for her total at the 2010 Raw Unity Meet.
On June 20, Cathy competed at the R.A.W. United Mike Witmer Memorial Open. She had set major training PRs and felt confident about the meet. She got a PR on her squat on her third attempt, and her bench warm ups went well. She opened with the same weight that she pressed several times in training and easily at the Raw Unity Meet. This time she couldn’t lock it out after three attempts.
After such a baffling misfortune, many lifters would understandably pack up their stuff, leave the meet, or skip deadlifting. Cathy decided to stay, even though she knew her deadlifts wouldn’t count toward a total.
Cathy had deadlifted 300 X 4 in training and had 325 lbs in mind for her third attempt. (For comparison, her best training deadlift before the Raw Unity Meet was 300 lbs for a maximal single.) After an easy opener with 285 lbs, she pulled 305 lbs for a PR that was tougher than expected. Adapting to these circumstances with logic and courage, Cathy selected 310 lbs for her third attempt. This lift wouldn’t increase her placing and it wouldn’t build her total. This would be a personal record attempt in the deepest sense.
Cathy deadlifted 310 lbs and it required a degree of effort I haven’t seen since her third attempt at her first meet in March 2009.
She deadlifted 240 lbs at that first meet. Several barriers have been broken since then. Cathy never quits, and this is why future PRs are inevitable.