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By: Richard Yun
Should you cut weight for your first meet?
This is a question that I always get from many of my athletes looking forward to their first powerlifting meet and the type of question that can sort of go both ways. I am going to offer my opinion first about this question and then offer reasons why you could cut weight for your first meet. Especially for beginner-level athletes that have never experienced cutting down to a weight class before, I would say that cutting weight for your first meet would NOT be ideal. Most of the times, I tell my athletes that you should go in with the weight that you’re at comfortably and compete for the experience. When I mean experience, I’m talking about the meet conditions, how everything runs, what it feels like to be on the platform, what it feels like to lift along other lifters, warming up, choosing attempts, etc.
You need to realize that there are many meets. There always will be an opportunity for you to get better and be competitive, but I think most coaches would agree with me that athletes looking into competing their first meet should stay at the weight they are at and just ENJOY the experience. I remember when I first competed in my first powerlifting meet, I wanted to stay where I was at. I really didn’t care about anyone else, but myself. I just wanted to prove myself that I can compete and perform on the platform. Since then, I’ve competed many meets and I still think that my first meet was the best because it was my FIRST meet. I had a fun time lifting, hitting PRs, and meeting new people. I did not have to worry about cutting or anything. After my first meet, then my mentality was to get better and compete at a lower weight class.
Here is the other side of the question. I would suggest that lifters looking into cutting down to their first meet should have experience in previous weight loss and maybe have experience in doing water cuts. Most powerlifters usually follow the water cut approach because it’s easier to lose weight in a short period of time and can be effective if one knows how to replenish after weigh ins. I should also bring up that if you believe you can REALISTICALLY break records at a specific weight class, then cutting weight would obviously be worth it.
Let’s say you’re 23 years old and this could be your first and last meet as a Junior and you want to place and break records before you enter the Open division, then this would be more reasonable, but if you’re not looking forward to breaking any records, I would stay at the weight you are comfortable at for your first meet. I’ll also offer another situation. What if you decided to cut down your first meet, but you did not make weight for your weight class, then what happens? You could end up performing bad because of the weight you lost and end up having a terrible first meet experience. You should see your first meet as like “testing the waters”. It should be like the beginning stages for you to be more competitive. It’s like a game where you level up. You gradually get better every meet you do because you understand the meet conditions and have more experience. That’s how you should see it as.
You need to realize that there are many meets. There always will be an opportunity for you to get better and be competitive, but I think most coaches would agree with me that athletes looking into competing their first meet should stay at the weight they are at and just ENJOY the experience. I remember when I first competed in my first powerlifting meet, I wanted to stay where I was at. I really didn’t care about anyone else, but myself. I just wanted to prove myself that I can compete and perform on the platform. Since then, I’ve competed many meets and I still think that my first meet was the best because it was my FIRST meet. I had a fun time lifting, hitting PRs, and meeting new people. I did not have to worry about cutting or anything. After my first meet, then my mentality was to get better and compete at a lower weight class.
Here is the other side of the question. I would suggest that lifters looking into cutting down to their first meet should have experience in previous weight loss and maybe have experience in doing water cuts. Most powerlifters usually follow the water cut approach because it’s easier to lose weight in a short period of time and can be effective if one knows how to replenish after weigh ins. I should also bring up that if you believe you can REALISTICALLY break records at a specific weight class, then cutting weight would obviously be worth it.
Let’s say you’re 23 years old and this could be your first and last meet as a Junior and you want to place and break records before you enter the Open division, then this would be more reasonable, but if you’re not looking forward to breaking any records, I would stay at the weight you are comfortable at for your first meet. I’ll also offer another situation. What if you decided to cut down your first meet, but you did not make weight for your weight class, then what happens? You could end up performing bad because of the weight you lost and end up having a terrible first meet experience. You should see your first meet as like “testing the waters”. It should be like the beginning stages for you to be more competitive. It’s like a game where you level up. You gradually get better every meet you do because you understand the meet conditions and have more experience. That’s how you should see it as.
