Help with choosing opening weights for upcoming meet

[zuspann]

This saturday will be my third full meet and im still not 100% sure im setting up each attempt where i should. what i have been doing is based on my first meet but ive been adding a little extra on third attempt. ive been told to open light so you get on the board. heres an example on deads: 1st attempt 440 at last two meets-successful, 2nd attempt 475 successful at both, 3rd- failed 490ish in october- 485 successful early january. i have pulled the 485 before and hit 490 not too long ago in the gym. my question i guess is should i be closer to my top end on 2nd attempts and going for PR's 3rd?? any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[53greystreet]

There are a couple of different ways to do it.

Opening light as you mentioned is highly recommended. It is not where you start the meet, it is where you finish. Also anything can happen on meet day for the good or for the bad. One must be prepared for this and be able to roll with it. Your opener should be something you can hit on zero sleep with a cold.

Then what I usually do with my lifters (I call all their numbers at each meet) is try to jump to a small PR on the second attempt as long as the jump is reasonable. For example, I am not going to jump 70 pounds on a raw bench attempt simply to try and hit a PR on the second. Sometimes we have to wait until the 3rd attempt to PR. So depending on how your training has been going, it may look something like this:

1st- Get in the game with something you can smash and build confidence with
2nd- 5-10 lb PR
3rd- Base it off how the second goes, if the second was a grinder, make a small jump, if the second was smashed, go nuts and pick a huge PR with a weight that you may have never even tried before. This is the time to do it and get crazy (unless you are in a high level cash competition or trying to secure a certain total like an Elite- then more strategy is needed)

Another option is something Wendler suggests and this may depend on how well you handle bigger jumps. Some of my lifters can handle 50-60 lb jumps where some need to stick with 20-30 lb jumps. He suggests something along these guidelines:

1st- 85% of your goal for the day
2nd- 92.5% of your goal
3rd- 100% of your goal

This takes a lifter who knows themselves well and can set attainable goals

[bbjeff86]

1st- Get in the game with something you can smash and build confidence with
2nd- 5-10 lb PR
3rd- Base it off how the second goes, if the second was a grinder, make a small jump, if the second was smashed, go nuts and pick a huge PR with a weight that you may have never even tried before. This is the time to do it and get crazy (unless you are in a high level cash competition or trying to secure a certain total like an Elite- then more strategy is needed)

This is what I was going to recommend and what i've done thus far when competing. My first meet resulted in me going 7 for 9 and all PR's, second meet went 6 for 9 all PR's.

[zuspann]

thanks, we will find out saturday

[DCBliever]

Openers 3-5RM
2nd A New PR usually 5-10lbs as GS suggested
3rds retake second or play by ear, but if I hit a PR I'm going balls out.

For Instance, Last Meet Squat 550-585-miss 600
This time 575-625-675 hopefully

[zuspann]

I went 8 for 9, getting a 5-15 lb meet pr in every lift. Finally got to 500 on deads, very excited.