Before I was a weightlifter, or even a coach, I practiced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. At the time the sport was not that popular and tournaments were few and far between. The first tournament I did I actually drove 6 hours, stayed in a hotel room, and I finished the tournament second to last in my division. Despite my poor finish, I was excited. I discovered facts about myself and learned things about the sport I never knew. It was worth every minute in the car. Shortly after this tournament, I moved to a different state and a new gym. The instructor of the new gym shed some light on my discoveries in competition with a simple phrase that has stuck with me through other sports, “One tournament is worth 6 months of training”.
What I believe he meant was that the confidence garnered by participating in one day of competition is equivalent to the confidence gained in 6 months in the gym. I believe this holds true for other sports as well, but especially true for Weightlifting. I feel that the experience of competing is not easily replicated in a gym setting. The adrenaline of being on a platform, the sights and sounds, and the pressure of making weight are just a few factors that an athlete must deal with when competing. Some individuals embrace this, and thrive in this environment. Others are rattled and have difficulty performing. Both types of individual can benefit from competing often.
I am an athlete that tends to thrive in the competition environment. In my own career, all of my breakthroughs and personal records (PRs) in the Snatch and Clean & Jerk have been made in competition. This is a frequent occurrence for the athletes under my coaching as well. I, and athletes like me who embrace the competition atmosphere, benefit from frequent competition for a variety of reasons. Competition acts as a progress marker for this group. Athletes who perform better in competition than in the gym need frequent competitions to advance their numbers and check their progress. Competition also gives these athletes a sense of success in their training, especially if they rarely or never make new PRs in the gym. When they PR on the competition platform they begin to see the fruits of their labor.
The group of athletes that is rattled by competition also benefits from high competition frequency for many reasons. Often the idea of making weight is the scariest part of the competition for this group, and competing often allows these athletes to become accustomed to holding a weight instead of trying to cut weight to compete. The other main obstacle for this group of athletes revolves around having an audience (other than their coach or teammates) while they lift. Gaining more exposure to this environment can prepare the athlete for the “big show” meets such as State Championship meets or National events.
Frequent competition also exposes athletes to Murphy’s law: What can go wrong, will go wrong. In a meet setting, for both of the aforementioned types of athlete, Murphy’s law will arise. Forgetting/missing equipment, limited warm-up space, running behind or ahead of schedule, multiple competition platforms running at once, even power outages and fire alarms are all things that can go wrong or take place. Creating exposure to these circumstances can condition an athlete for when they arrive at a big meet and Murphy rears his ugly head.
All of this to say that you should compete as often as possible! Enjoy the experience, or learn to do so if you do not already. Embrace Murphy’s law. Play to the audience (even if it’s only your team and your parents). Embrace the fight for the podium. Have a beer with your competitors afterwards and then find the next meet to do. At the end of the day, this is a sport and meant to be played and played often!
-Stephen Butcher
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