So You Bombed…

By Dain Soppelsa

It’s comes with the territory. You always go into a meet knowing that anything can happen, including things that could be out of your control. Whether you make it through squats or you make it through squats and bench, a bomb is a really awful feeling. It definitely takes all the wind out of your sails. It is a very real possibility, especially if you lift using equipment. Things just happen, especially if you’ve competed for a long time. Obviously the more meets you do the greater the chance of failing. Sure, you would like to avoid it altogether, but if it does happen, there is a grieving process.

[wa-wps]

More than likely the first thoughts that go through your head when it happens it will be dramatic, severe thoughts. You will probably think about all the hours you spent in the gym preparing for this competition. You will think about the money you spent to compete on that day, including entry fee, gas, hotel, food, etc. You will probably question why you even do this crazy sport of powerlifting at all. You may think of picking up a completely different hobby. You may think of switching to raw if you use equipment. You may think of changing to equipment if you lift raw. You’re going to need to resist these thoughts and just give it time. You’re entitled to a day or two to pout about what happened, but after that you need to take strides to move on and take something positive away from the day.

You need to think about what contributed to your bomb-out. Sometimes it’s easy to put your finger on what may have caused it and sometimes you’ll have absolutely no idea what happened. Sometimes on meet day, things just don’t click. It happens. Concentrate on the things you have some control over and leave the rest alone. It’s a waste of time to obsess over things that you can’t control or what might have been. So, if you can put your finger on it, address it and if you can’t, you’re going to have to move onto the next contest.

Photo Credit: Ken Richardson

Sometimes people get too aggressive and too fixated on their plan for their meet. Sometimes you just have to repeat lifts if you miss, even if it puts a dent in your plans. When you miss a lift, all bets are off. I can tell you from experience, finishing a meet, even if you didn’t do as well as you wanted, is much better than no total at all. This is where if something doesn’t feel right, you have to ditch your plan and take what’s there that day. I know plenty of people that say they if they don’t PR then they won’t be happy. I used to be one of them…well you’re not going to have PRs every time you hit the platform. That is just a fact. Things happen. You need to figure out if it’s your personality that’s contributing to you bombing out as well. You have to train for chaos and be able to react when things change.

Another thing you need to address when you’re coming off a bomb-out is when you want to do your next meet. If you know what happened and they are quick fixes, you may want to find a meet that’s within a few weeks or a month and try to put it together without wasting your meet prep. Sometimes if you were just a little off that day, it’s worth it to give it another go quickly. However, if the reasons you bombed are things that take time to fix, like weaknesses in certain areas or technique flaws, you may want to put in a good off-season and address these things before you do another competition. The last thing you want is to pick out another meet right after you’ve bombed and have it go poorly again.

Photo Credit: Ken Richardson

The next item on your agenda should be addressing things that need to be fixed or changed in order to give yourself the best opportunity to have a better performance at your next competition. Does your technique need work? A good way to address a form issue is to watch video of yourself. It’s hard to fix something based on how it feels. You need to be able to see it with your own eyes. If you have sticking point that needs to be addressed, then you’re going to need to figure out what exercises you should be doing in your off-season to bring up your weak points. If it was a mental error that caused you to bomb then you need to examine how to get your head dialed in for meet day. No matter what caused your issue, you need a solid plan to make sure it doesn’t happen the next time.

Photo Credit: Ken Richardson

You should take something away of any meet where you bomb or do poorly. Whether it’s a weakness that you need to address, or that you need to change your mentality on the platform, you need to identify something that needs work. Take your next off-season and address your weak points. That’s what the off-season is there to do. It’s not just for giving your body a rest from heavy loads. Don’t just keep pressing forward without changing something, or you can expect to continue to fail. Take a step back and really be honest with yourself about what happened. If you can’t identify the problem then talk to one of your handlers that you trust and expect them to be honest with you about what happened. If you address the weaknesses you identified and perform well at the next contest you will soon forget about that bomb.

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Dain Soppelsa

Dain comes to the PowerRackStrength Team with many years of competitive experience. He started competing in southwest Michigan in 2001 and has primarily lifted multi-ply since then. He has totaled pro in 3 weight classes; 2304@275, 2435@308 and 2500@SHW. His best lifts include a 1060 squat, 800 bench and 715 deadlift.
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