A Quick Guide to Your First Weightlifting Competition

by BCB The Program 

Types of Competitions / Competition Tiers (UK) 

Before you start, it's important to understand the types of comps that are out there, as this defines the scale but also whether you can compete. 

Tier 3 – Ranking Events 

These events are open to all lifters to enter and achieve results that feature on our rankings list. This tier is suitable for both novice and experienced lifters and the ideal place to qualify for Tier 1 and 2 competitions.

Tier 2 – Home Nation Championship

Competitions hosted by the Home Nations. Each will have its own eligibility standards, so check these with the organiser before entering. For example, the English Championships is only open to lifters who live in England and have met the qualification standards.

Tier 1 - British Championship

This tier of competition is the highest standard of weightlifting in the UK. Lifters from anywhere in the UK are eligible to compete, however they must have met the qualification standard in a valid competition.

 

Bodyweight Categories & Weigh-in

Weightlifting competitions have bodyweight categories to make sure the competition is fair by competing against people of the same weight class.

Choosing Weight Class

Bodyweight can get to be a complicated topic within competitive weightlifting, but for your first competition, your weight class should be stress-free.

Register for the bodyweight category you’re naturally in, and do not consider cutting / bulking for your first competition. Your final weight class will be set on the morning of the competition during weigh-in, so don’t stress if you’re over or under what you’ve put down during registration.

The Weight Classes (BWL 2024) 

Women’s Senior Categories (kg)	Men’s Senior Categories
45	55
49	61
55	67
59	73
64	81
71	89
76	96
81	102
87	109
87+ (81+)	109+ (102+)
Note: Bolded denote the Olympics 2024 weight classes

 

Competition Weigh-in

On competition day, athletes have to weigh-in:

• The weigh-in usually takes place ~2 hours before athletes are due to lift
• Athletes need to bring photo-ID and need to be weighed in their lifting fit / singlet
• Footwear and watches must be removed

One thing you’ll need to be prepared for is stating your opening attempt snatch and clean & jerk weights during weigh-in. Whilst these can be changed later, these numbers will be used to create the initial lifting order for your group.

NOTE: I always recommend putting 3-5kg lower than what you plan on opening with, as this will allow you to see how warm-up goes and change these before you get called on the platform.

 

Choosing Attempts

Openers

The strategy is simple: select weights you’re totally confident in making.

As this is your first competition you will unlikely be trying to qualify for something, so use this as an opportunity to get experience, learn how the process works, find out how you do mentally with competition, and have fun.

There is no reason to set up yourself to miss lifts in your first competition, so choose openers that you know you can make even in less-than-ideal environments.

Second & Third Attempts 

Have some reasonable jumps in mind for your 2^nd and 3^rd attempts, but be willing to adjust these weights based on the previous attempt. Take weight increases similar to those you would have done in training.

This means pretty conservative jumps since this is your first competition, which are likely smaller in the snatch than the clean & jerk. 

 

Warming up & The Back Room

Competing athletes and their coaches are allowed in the back room. Prior to competing, when an athlete fills out their entry form, they will be asked to name their coach. 

Once you enter the back room, expect to see platforms, weights, and a crowd of coaches around the board / screen, estimating the time their athletes have before going out onto the platform.

Warming up

Warming up is the trickiest part of the competition because you need to time it so you can be ready to go open at the right – the timing though depends on the rest of the athletes’ attempts, which are not entirely predictable.

Before Presentations: Mobility and General Warm up

Before lifting starts there is presentations – where all athletes are called onto the platform and get announced. I would suggest getting all your mobility and general warm up (e.g., rolling on the floor, mobility drills, band drills, barbell warm up) before presentations and regardless if you have warm-up/platform space available. If the previous group is still running and there is no platform for you to do your general warm up, then find some space elsewhere to do this.

Spend extra time loosening up before you touch the bar, and some more time with the bar and your first weight to really get warm rather than adding more sets and reps at heavier weights—that just tires you out.

If you’re lifting early (i.e., within the first 1-3 lifts) AND need more than 10 mins to build to openers, you may need to do a few lifts before presentations, as soon as you have a spot in the back room. 

After Presentations

You typically have 10 min between presentations and the first lift, and 1 min per lift (unless someone is following themselves which adds an extra minute).

Make sure you know how long you have between presentation and your opener, and time your warm-up lifts accordingly. I would suggest taking 1 lift every ~90sec, so make sure you work backwards and ensure you have enough time to warm up.

Note: If you feel uneasy on the day, you can consider taking your opening weight as your last warm-up lift, at least in the snatch.

Example

If for example the board looks like this:

Name	Snatch Attempt 1	Snatch Attempt 2	Snatch Attempt 3	CJ Attempt 1 …
[Name Surname 1]	55			…
[Name Surname 2]	68			…
[Name Surname 3]	45
You	60
[Name Surname 4]	53
[Name Surname 5]	65

 

You can estimate that you will have ~9 min from the first lift to you, however this would depend on the jumps people make including any missed lifts. 

This is what I assumed:

Name	Snatch Att. 1	Snatch Att. 2	Snatch Att. 3	CJ Att.1 …
[Name Surname 1]	(1 min followed Lifter 4) 55	(1 min followed Lifter 4) 58		…
[Name Surname 2]	68			…
[Name Surname 3]	45	(2 min followed herself) 48	(2 min followed herself) 50-52
You	(1 min followed Lifter 1) 60
[Name Surname 4]	(1 min followed Lifter 3) 53	(1 min followed Lifter 1) 55-56	(1 min followed Lifter 1) 60
[Name Surname 5]	65

 

The scoreboard

The screen / scoreboard is usually color coordinated allowing to easily track what is happening: 

• Green squares indicate "good" lifts, once an athlete secures a “good” lift, they will have to increase the weight by at least 1kg for their next attempt
• Red squares show "no" lifts. If an athlete misses a lift, they can repeat the weight or increase the weight
• Yellow indicates which lifter is currently competing

The athlete will receive a total when they have recorded at least one successful attempt in both the Snatch and Clean & Jerk. If an athlete fails to record at least one successful attempt in either the snatch or clean & jerk a DSQ symbol will appear.

The total is made by adding the lifters highest successful Snatch and Clean & Jerk attempts together. 

 

Lifting Rules & Protocols

Remember that you have 1 minute to start the lift once your name is called and the weight is loaded (and loaders are off the platform and the presenter says “bar is loaded”).

There is usually a visible clock for you to rely on, however make sure you check this during presentations as some competitions don’t have one. If you’re ready as you should be when you’re called, this is plenty of time—don’t rush. Get chalk, walk to the bar, take some calming breaths, find a good focal point, then get started lifting.

Competition Judging

After a lift, 3 technical officials vote the lift as a ‘good lift’ (white light) or a ‘no lift’ (red light).

Here are some common reasons you may get a no lift:

• Finishing with a press-out, i.e., continuing the extension of the arms after the lifter has reached the lowest point of their position in the squat or split for both the snatch and the jerk
• Lowering the barbell before the referees’ signal: Once you make a lift make sure you hold your lift overhead, totally securely and with clear control, until the referees tell you to put it down
• In the clean: resting or placing the barbell on the chest at an intermediate point before its final position  
• Feet not in line when you stand up: Your feet need to me in line when you stand up a lift (whether they are together or separate it doesn’t matter) so make sure you bring your fit in after you stand up (esp. in the split jerk)

Have Fun with It 

The most important thing for a first time comp is to have fun with it! Don't put too much pressure on yourself and enjoy the process and spotlight!