British Single Lifts ‘06
Saturday, July 29th, 2006On July 15th 2006 i competed in my first powerlifting competition, the British Single Lifts, what follows is a small summerisation of the events on that day.
My preperation for these championships wasn’t the best by any means, I currently stand at an off-season bodyweight of 16st 8lbs, however i felt i could perform best in the under 100kg category in the Single lifts. This gave me a great oppertunity to practise alternative dieting strategies and dehydration techniques, for further natural bodybuilding shows, however i lost more weight than i intended, mainly due to a stomach upset. I weighed in at 14st 4lbs contest day losing 2st 4lbs in around 2 weeks!!
As with any powerlifting contest, Squatters lift first, then came my event,- the Bench Press. I qualified earlier in the year (20th May 2006) in a qualification show i only intended on spectating, but having an oppertunity to lift, i did so, qualifying me to lift in the British Championships with my openning press. At the British Championships things again didnt go as planned, my openning lift was classed a ‘no lift’, reason being that i flexed my glutes before my chest in the press off the chest phase of the lift, although remaining in contact with the bench, a rule states the movement must start with the chest flexing first. The second lift was more successful, breaking British, European and world Junior records, puting me in first place. However it wasn’t to last, as again i hit a contreversial ‘no lift’ on my final lift. This time due to me again missunderstanding rule technicalities in the bench press. I locked one arm a split second before the other one on completing the rep (another rule states that both arms must lock in synchronisation), therefore classing me a 2 to 1 decision of no lift, this inturn resulted in me placing second overall.
Due to my will to win and competitive nature that i have, i was very dissapointed with the result, but on the plus side i learned such alot in that days contest and it has instilled a hunger to regain the World Junior Bench Press Record at the next oppertunity. Although i qualified to compete in the world Championships in Australia later this year, i will have to bypass this event due to lack on current funds and so the next event in Britain will be early next year where if things go to plan i may also lift in the other events aswell. Untill then, i guess its back to the gym, and memorising the rule book!!
