The First Time Powerlifting: Competing In Powerlifting | PowerliftingTechnique.com

Eliminate Mistakes At Your First Powerlifting Competition, Make More Attempts, & Set New PRs

The First-Time Powerlifter: A Video Course Taught By Avi Silverberg, Head Coach Team Canada Powerlifting

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Most People Don’t Lift As Much Weight In Their First Powerlifting Competition Than They Do In Training

No matter how good your training cycle is…
Most people competing for the first time won’t be able to achieve higher numbers in the competition than they did in training.
Training to be strong is one thing.
Training to transfer your strength into a competition environment is another.

Why Is That?

The 8 Reasons Why First-Time Lifters Fail To See Success At Their First Powerlifting Competition

1. A lack of knowing how to structure training leading up to the meet

I see a lot of lifters, lifting too hard, too close to competition. This is called over-peaking and you’ll essentially run out of gas by the time you get to meet day.

Conversely, I also see a lot of lifters not lifting heavy enough or frequently enough to gauge where their strength capabilities are before meet day.

It’s a tough balance to strike between lifting too heavy, and not lifting heavy enough, and most first-time powerlifters miss this balance.

2. A lack of understanding of the technical standards of the sport

By competing in powerlifting, you must now follow the technical standards of each of the movements.

You can be strong in the gym, but if you don’t follow the technique that the judges are looking for then your lifts will be disqualified.

So you need to know the rules.

3. Not understanding the weigh-in and equipment check process

A lot of lifters don’t see success because of some procedural error that trips them up during the weigh-in or equipment check process.

For example, missing their weigh-in, not having approved competition gear, or bringing the wrong paperwork.

Now even if you are allowed to compete despite these procedural errors, it can cause a lot of stress and lack of confidence before you’ve even touched a barbell.

4. Not knowing how to structure your warm-ups for peak performance

Most first-time lifters approach their meet-day warm-ups like they would their warm-ups for training.

However, there are some key differences that you need to know when structuring your warm-ups for competition.

Notwithstanding, the timing of the warm-ups is a skill in itself.

Knowing how to judge the pace of the meet and knowing when to take your warm-ups so that you don’t feel rushed, or worse, you have to cut warm-ups because you don’t have time.

5. Not knowing how to put together an attempt selection strategy

Having an effective game day strategy is where most first-time lifters will either make or break their success.

The biggest mistake I see is lifters not being able to evaluate their training evidence properly in order to select appropriate openers, seconds, and thirds.

This leads to lifters opening too heavy, not being able to adapt their game day plan on meet day, and ultimately, missing attempts.

6. Not knowing how a competition runs

A lot of lifters get confused by concepts like the ‘round system’, or how multiple flights are scheduled throughout the day.

All of this ties into meet day timing, and knowing where you’re supposed to be throughout the competition.

I see many first-time lifters taking downtime when they’re supposed to be getting ready to compete, or vice versa, they think they’re competing, when they should be taking down time.

7. Eating The Wrong Things

Meet day nutrition is a critical aspect to performing well.

Most lifters are eating the wrong types of food and either feel sluggish, or in some cases, get sick to their stomach.

You can prepare your training to a granular level, but if you haven’t done the same from a nutritional aspect, you’re going to lack performance.

8. Approaching the competition with the wrong mindset and expectation

Having the right goals and mindset for your first competition might seem a bit wishy-washy.

But often, the frustrating feelings you experience post-competition is because you haven’t structured your goals and expectations properly prior to the meet.

So having a mental framework is key for competing for the first-time.

Introducing The First Time Powerlifter: The Only Online Course For Powerlifters To How To Be Successful At Their First Powerlifting Meet

So who am I?
My name is Avi Silverbreg

I’ve coached over 150 National-level powerlifters and have served as Team Canada’s Head Powerlifting Coach through 8 World Championship cycles.

But my experience as a coach is not the most important part of my background. It’s my experience as an athlete.
I’m painfully aware of the demand for proper education for lifters competing for the first time.
Why?

Because when I competed for the first-time in 2007, I actually bombed in the bench press and was disqualified.
I showed up to the competition alone, didn’t have a clue on how to weigh-in, warm-up, or select my attempts.
I didn’t thoroughly practice the technical standards of the sport, and ultimately, I failed at my first powerlifting meet.

Lifters put in all of the hard work training for a competition, then fail to understand the variables within the competition that let them compete successfully.

Unfortunately, the only way that you can currently learn about competing for the first time is through trial by fire.
You show up to your first competition, hope for the best, hope that you don’t make mistakes that disqualify you, and hope that you don’t embarrass yourself too much.

This is like being sent to war and then having to figure out how to use a gun when you’re already in battle.
With this online course, you’ll learn everything you need to know to be successful at your first competition.
I’ll walk you through step-by-step how to manage every aspect of the game day environment.

What You Get

49 Video Lessons across 13 modules going deep into the theory and practice of competing in powerlifting (8 hours of total content)

Step-by-step instruction on how to prepare your training, game day strategy, and nutrition

Analysis of different competition structures and how that impacts your competition day

Deep dive into the competition rules, from attempt selection, competition gear, and movement standards.

Instructions on how to control every aspect of your environment, from weighing in, warming up, and competing.

Coaching on how to structure your goals and expectations for the meet

Unlimited and instant lifetime access to all the course resources.

A Taste Of What You’ll Learn In The First Time Powerlifter

This is a tiny part of what we’ll cover in the course…

My tips for lifting in a 1, 2, or 3 flight session
How to understand what the referees are looking for when you’re competing
How you time warm-ups properly and how you modify them based on meet day factors
Why I believe the second attempt to be the most important attempt in any scenario
How to assess performance based on training evidence vs competition evidence
8 principles to follow when structuring your mindset for competition
A hack to understanding how much rest you’ll have between lifts
How missing an attempt should impact the rest of your game-day strategy
When to structure your last heavy lifts prior to the competition, and how that changes for squatting, benching, and deadlift
The equipment you should stay away from at all costs
The 1 type of food you should eat after your weigh-in, and the 1 type of food you should avoid throughout the day

What Other Powerlifters Are Saying

Avi removes the unknowns of competition day by providing clear guidance for every step of the process including the weigh-in, commands, warm-ups, and attempt selection. Everything is planned so that the only thing to worry about on game day is execution of the lifts. Attempt selection can make or break a competition so we work together so that not only do I learn on how to structure my attempts but am confident that I can perform the attempts I have selected. My best meets to date have been with Avi as my meet day handler.

Ashley Tymburski

First-Time Powerlifter

Avi Silverberg brings years of experience and expertise to the table. Weeks leading up to my first meet, he helped me build a game day spread sheet for all my attempts, including warmups and how they should be timed prior to stepping on the platform. One aspect that was critical prior to game day, was making sure I maintained the ideal body weight in order to stay competitive in the 93 Kilogram weight class. A few days before the meet I felt I was a bit heavy and Avi suggested how to watch my caloric intake without being in a deficit, as it may negatively impact my strength. I followed his instructions and made my weight class with no issues whatsoever.

Mike Dewald

Master Powerlifter

My experience with Avi successfully coaching me always begins prior to the meet day by him explaining what to expect on the day (weigh-ins, rules, proper attempt selection). Avi has a tremendous amount of competition experience and this helps in the success of the day for informing the lifter on the weigh-in process, timing of warm ups, flow of the day and altering planned attempt selections as needed.

Jody McPeak

World Level Powerlifter

Nerves can get the best of you, but not if you have everything prepared! Right from making sure the weigh-ins go smoothly, having a great spot to warm up, and being confident in your openers. If you get those little things right, you have nothing to worry about but lifting the most weight you can! Avi, because of what you have taught me, I am the strongest I have ever been in my life at 50 years of age.

Tim Nadeau

Money-back guarantee within 30 days if you’re not satisfied

If you know anything about me, you’re aware I don’t make silly claims.

So let me say this: The First Time Powerlifter can’t guarantee you won’t make any mistakes at your first powerlifting competition.

However, what you will get with this course is the confidence in knowing how to compete successfully, despite never being in a competitive powerlifting environment previously.

So I’m going to ask you to do one thing over the next 30 days:

Go through all of the videos and take notes on things that seem relevant to yourself.
Pick 1 or 2 pieces of advice that you’ve noted and then think about how you will implement them into your training leading up to game day.

If you try this and don’t believe it’s made an impact on you (or can’t make any difference in future competition), then return the course to me. I’ll give you every dollar back.

Everything here is what I’ve used to develop my own powerlifting athletes, but you need to feel comfortable that it will help you. So grab the course, learn the principles, and practice what I’m preaching. Then, let me know how it’s working for you (good or bad).

Eliminate mistakes at your first competition

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