Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 22:46:00 -0400 From: "MD" Subject: 1997 Junior Worlds IPF Competition ------------------------------------------- Well, I'm back from the Junior Worlds and I wanted to share the experience with everyone. First, I totalled 475kg at 67.5, a big disappointment, it being my lowest total since my first couple of meets (when I did 457.5kg) But part of that was due to a risky strategy I employed. On bench and dead, I jumped from low weight to a high weight that was slightly above my previous best personal best in competition. Instead of going for a safer weight,(where I would've totalled about 500), I tried to total 517.5. But I was also very tired, as I was up all night before the meet, because my roommate was snoring! I had almost benched 145kg in training(3/4 way up when a spotter touched it early perhaps) without a shirt, paused, at about 155lbs. But at contest weight of 148lbs, WITH a shirt, I only got 140kg 3/4 the way up. Amazing what a few pounds can do. That, combined with being off creatine a while to lose the weight, affected me deeply. Surprising news: leading up to the meet, I started using smith machine squats to force myself to keep my back straight and emphasize my quads. My legs got stronger, but I was worried that I might sacrifice the strength in my stabilizers while using the smith. And wouldn't you know it, the last session before the meet, I tried a free weight squat, and had some trouble. At the meet, my first squat was lowered very shakily, something that has never happened before, but I blew it up for reds. But the point is, on my third squat I tied a PB squat, and I pushed it up way easier than the other times I had done them, and I squatted about 2 inches deep! So maybe the smith machine did help? In Canada the judging very strictly follows the rules...a squat is a squat only if the hip-leg joint dips just below the kneecap. I was shocked to see several sets of refs, over several days, white light squats that were either parallel or perhaps slightly above parallel. This was a complete shock! Some lifters might be happy about this, thinking that they can take advantage of this to squat more. Not me. When you are used to squatting low, it's hard to let up. This is upsetting because I was hoping some other lifters might bomb out because of inadequate depth. The poor reffing blasted these hopes. Because of this, I will take news of heavy European lifts with a grain of salt. I know many of the refs were European, so I think that some of them probably made some of the bad calls, although some Asian countries and others may be to blame as well. Canada did not have any refs, the US did, but I don't recall how strict the US refereeing was. In fact, I was talking to a competitor who set a national record that was passed, and this competitor said the lift would not have been passed back home! Because this standard of refereeing was consistent over the several days, I can only conclude that several European countries have refs that interpret the rules differently than the rulebook states. Has anyone found this to be the case in any other IPF competitions? I was surprised to see Ed Coan there, helping out the American team as well. And Dave Jeffrey was there, as a member of the Jury and possibly as a ref as well. I don't blame him. Considering the potential trouble he as a President, and the USPF as a federation seem to be in, I can see why he'd want to participate and help out the IPF in this Junior Worlds. Anyway, it was a great experience, and I am planning next to go to the Bench Worlds. I plan to move up to the 165's, and break the Junior Canadian bench record(in the 3 lifts) of 150kg, at a bodyweight of about 70 kg. Hopefully I can do it by December, my last month of Junior eligibility.