BDFPA British Championships Powerlifting Competition

Last Saturday I took part in the British Drug Free Powerlifting Association British Champs held at Bournemouth University.

On the morning of the day before the competition I weighed myself and was 83.5kg. My weight category is 82.5kg so needed to lose 1kg by 7:30am the following day.

This was relatively easily achieved by restricting food intake after 14:00 the day before the competition and consuming minimal water after the same time.

I woke up on the Saturday morning at 6am and weighed myself at 82.4kg - perfect as my scales weigh slightly heavy anyway.

On the morning of the competition I weighed in and recorded just under 82kg and promptly began the rehydration/refeed process.

For me this consisted of consuming 1 litre of lucozade sport drink along with a further 2litres of water.

In addition I began eating flapjack, bananas and a panini to ensure my carbohydrates stores were as full as possible.

I knew that I wouldnt commence lifting until around 13:00 so had plenty of time.

The competition itself was extremely well run by Paul Rees and very enjoy able.

My goal for the weekend was to achieve a personal best overall total of 500kg, with last year seeing me hit 490kg.

My squatting on the build up to the competition hadnt been that great so decided to aim conservatively having missed a 170kg attempt a few weeks previous in training.

My 3 lifts were all passed and went as :-
Attempt 1 145kg
Attempt 2 155kg
Attempt 3 165kg

Next up was bench press.
Attempt 1 120kg
Attempt 2 127.5kg and equal PB from the qualifiers
Attempt 3 130kg and FAILED about 3" off the chest.

Deadlifting was the final lift of the day and I was in two minds how well it would go due to having back cramps from arching during the benching pressing.

My lifts went as follows:-
Attempt 1 190kg
Attempt 2 207.5kg and new PB.
Attempt 3 210kg and new PB.

I had done it - new deadlift total of 10kg more than last year and a new overall total of 502.5kg.

Unfortunately I was no where near the front runners - my squat was too weak and really need to be hitting 190+. So that is my goal for the next 12 months.

All in all a great day out and some amazing lifting - a new world record squat of 255kg in my weight category was quite something to behold!

Thanks for reading.