Attempt Selection in Powerlifting for Non-Powerlifters

A lot of people in powerlifting screw up their attempt selection.  Attempt selection, in powerlifting, is literally which weights you or your coach decide to have the volunteer bar loaders put on the bar for each of your attempts for each of your lifts.  So, the way it usually and ideally works is, for each lift, you have your first and lightest attempt, second and slightly heavier attempt, and then your third and heaviest attempt. Like I said, usually and ideally this is how your attempt selection works, and it seems really simple, but a lot of lifters, even those at the top of their game, screw this up.

First Attempt (The Opener)

The first, and probably most common, place where lifters screw their attempt selection up is their opener (first attempt).  They open way too heavy, which is never good. If that excessively heavy opener doesn’t physically wear you out, it’ll totally psyche you out going into your second attempt.  Your opener is supposed to be easy. It should make you feel good about your subsequent attempts. It’s something you should be able to comfortably hit, casually, in the gym, on a bad day.  If you don’t think you can do that with your opener, then your opener is too heavy.

Second Attempt

The next place where they screw up is their second attempt.  They add way too much weight from their opener. After hitting an opener, your second attempt should serve as a bridge to your third attempt.  It’s supposed to secure a higher number than your opener while preparing you for your third attempt, which will inevitably be really heavy and really hard to complete.  So, going into your second attempt, you want to select a weight that’s heavier than your first attempt, but not so heavy that you’re baffled by how much heavier it is. If you jump too much, you’ll be caught off guard by how much the weight increased.  You don’t yet have a feel for that heavy of a weight yet. And then all the same things happen here that happen with an excessively heavy first attempt - you get thrown off, you wear yourself out, etc. - but now you’re REALLY sabotaging your third attempt, which is supposed to be the best number that you hit for that lift, because you now only have a handful of minutes to recover from that dreadful second attempt and get yourself ready for an even HEAVIER weight, assuming you even hit your second attempt.

3rd Attempt

And lastly, we have the third attempt.  Honestly, this is the hardest one to screw up.  If you’re fighting to place on the podium, your coach should do the math and see if there’s an exact third attempt that you can hit to edge out your competition.  But in general, this is either where you either get to make up for your mistakes from the first 2 attempts, or it’s where you get to have some fun. Throw some weight on there, don’t be afraid to try something ballsy if it doesn’t cost you anything major like a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place finish.  And if you missed any of your previous lifts, just take this carefully and pick up the sticks that you’ve dropped so far. This is your chance to regain your confidence. Your third attempt, ideally, should be hard.  Like, really hard.  As in, you’re almost certain that you won’t complete the lift as you’re doing it, but something in you just makes you keep pushing.

Putting it all together

So, in an ideal situation, your opener should move (relatively) easily, like it’s something you could take for a hard 3 reps.  Your second attempt should be a little bit harder, maybe something you could take for 2 reps. And your third attempt should be close to an all out, maximum effort, where you leave absolutely no stone unturned with your effort to complete the lift.

So control your attempt selection.  For your opener, you’ve got nothing to prove.  Take it with control. Make it move well so you instill some confidence going into your subsequent attempts.  For your second, pick a weight that you think will transition you into a perfect third attempt. It should feel heavy, but not dreadfully heavy.  And for your third, put a weight on the bar that you think will take everything out of you to complete. Just make sure that you reserve that weight, though, for specifically the third attempt.

Here’s a sample Meet Card (planned attempts) for an upcoming lifter of mine. Notice that there is room for adjustment within this basic framework

As simple as this seems, like I said, a lot of powerlifters, even at the top of the game, screw this up.  And with nationals coming up next week, you now know more about attempt selection than a lot of the strongest people in this country.

Want me to get even more nitty gritty?  Read my “Attempt Selection in Powerlifting (for Powerlifters)” coming soon!