#357 – Online Meets & PR Attempts: Preparation & Preferences

Peaking for an online meet provides more choices and thus greater room for strategy (and mistakes) for how lifters peak and complete their attempts.  Niki Sims and Andrew Jackson explore how to peak for an online meet (or simply complete PR attempts).

United States Strengthlifting is putting on an online event.  Whereas in an in-person meet, all lifts need to be peaked on the same day and many factors are simply out of the coaches and lifters’ control (rest between attempts, equipment, etc.) for this online meet, the lifters have two weeks and three submittals for the squat, bench press, and deadlift.  This allows for more control and choice, but with greater choice comes, well, more choices to make.  More choices to make means more ways to increase performance but also more ways to screw up.

Some lifters may mimic a powerlifting meet and attempt all their attempts at their favorite gym with friends and other lifters present to cheer them on.  Others may complete their lifts by themselves, in private, with total control over the atmosphere.

Some lifters may take the entirety of the time to peak, making their attempts later on in the 2 weeks.  Others may make safer attempts that first weak and then reattempt 1, 2, or 3 of the lifts that second week.

Many of these decisions come down to personal preference.  Some lifters care more about one lift than another.  Some lifters may have a poor performance on one lift tank all their other attempts.  Some lifters may want to get things done with, whereas others enjoy only having to go for one lift at a time.  Some lifters may have an awesome gym with great lifters who they want to compete with, while others may want to not have to deal with other people.

Regardless of how you compete, or whether you even sign up for an online meet, this podcast investigates the mental and physiological aspects of attempting PRs.