So the Arnold didn't go quite as planned. I only went 6/9, and missed all my 3rd attempts. Not a great meet for me. So...what went wrong, and how am I going to do better going forward?
1) I felt depleted/fatigued. I had let my weight get too far from competition weight of 158, and had to diet hard to make weight for this meet.
Solution: stay closer to 158. I don't ever want to feel as though dieting is getting in the way of my training again. I'm where I need to be now, and the focus will be on slowly increasing food intake while staying right near competition weight. For accountability purposes, I'll be posting my BW with each training log/training session. Ideally I'd like to stay right around 160-163.
2) I didn't feel comfortable at my BW. This ties into #1, but this is more about the change in my leverages. I hadn't spent as much time training at my competition weight as I normally would like-- so the change in leverages wasn't "comfortable" yet.
3) Mindset/Mentality was off. I had had a rough training cycle throughout last semester because of life stressors/school/etc., and that combined with the weight cut resulted in me not feeling very confident in my training. I knew what I was capable of, but I went into the meet feeling "unsure". Mentality is everything-- and my mental game was just not there on meet day.
Solution: Don't put myself in that position again. Control the factors that I can (my weight, stressors outside of school/responsibilities, sleep, passive/active recovery) so that when it comes time for the meet-- there are minimal surprises. There's no way to control for every externality, but I should take advantage of the things that are within my control.
Upcoming Competitions:
While USAPL Raw Nationals is the "Big Meet" I'm getting ready for-- that's 31 weeks away. I will be doing 1 or 2 meets till then, the first of which will be May 09. Really looking forward for the chance to redeem myself on the platform, and to implement the lessons I learned from competing at the Arnold.
There are no such things as failures in my mind. Just successes, and opportunities for growth.
The Arnold more Generally
Meet performance aside, the Arnold was a really great weekend. I got to not only reunite with some of my best friends in powerlifting, but I also got to make a whole bunch of new ones. I got the opportunity to meet a number of EliteFTS teammates, and got to go out and visit the compound. While I wasn't able to train (since I had just competed), just getting the chance to chat with Dave and a bunch of other team athletes was an amazing experience. There's a family bond there as soon as you walk in the door. I can't wait to go back to visit again, and actually be able to get some lifts in!
