Meet Recap - Cam Worster, USAPL Maine State Championship 3/23/2024

Eric Andrews
Apr 10, 2024
5 min read

Weigh-In, Goals and Performance

To set the stage, this is Cam’s first ever meet. Cam has a history of competitive sports, specifically football and is extremely athletic & competitive. Cam and I started working together in November of 2023 and we came out of the gate swinging. Cam started his powerlifting journey over the summer, but took a short break for the Fall season to focus on football. He had some very respectable numbers over the summer and was eager to get back to that baseline. We had four blocks together before Maine states and had a few things to work on - primarily bench, controlling his squat, and refining technique on deadlift. Overall we had an extremely productive prep, hitting PRs on all three lifts, different rep ranges, and improving technical efficiency dramatically especially on bench press. We had a breakout block at the end of February hitting 120kg on bench, blowing away his previous PR of 102.5kg. Diving into the meet, he was excited to get the first one under his belt & was cool, calm and collected throughout the day. If you have ever trained with or around Cam, you know he’s always got the biggest grin on his face (don’t ask me what he’s smiling about) and that was no different on meet day. I could tell he was focused, but was still there to hit big lifts and have fun, and we did just that!

A quick note on the weigh-in, Cam came in at 87.7kg, a little shy of 90kg. When we started together Cam was much closer to the 83kg class however we decided that it would be better long term to begin growing into the 90kg class and that started around February. So still a little room to grow there, but we were happy with the progress made so far.

Squat

Game plan for squats, and for the whole day really, was to go 3/3 to start the day off and build that confidence! In my experience, trying to go 9/9 and giving your all at your first meet is such an emotional experience that should be your primary goal. Experience the competitive environment, have fun, also hit big lifts and go for PRs, and learn about how you respond to being in that mindset. Coming from a competitive background like I mentioned, Cam was ready to take on the day. During training, we have been focusing on controlling the bottom of the squat and maintaining the tension needed for heavy weights. Cam can rock a 80% squat for reps with no issue, but needed to learn how to control the heavier weights. A few weeks out Cam hit a PR of 212.5kg and smoked it. Next week was similar but just took an opener on his primary day. We ran a pretty normal peak, taper, super compensation type strategy since it was his and I’s first meet together, and being a newer lifter I think this strategy works well. No need to complicate things if you don’t have the data to suggest otherwise!

We opened his squats at 200kg, a weight we were confident with and allowed us to make the jumps necessary to exceed the gym PR. Now when I say I am not sure I have seen a faster opener…I mean that. Cam absolutely juiced his opener. I typically go with the conventional wisdom of, start off strong, convince the judges you know the rules and blow away your opener but be smart to allow for the right jumps to the end number in mind. Looking back in this case, we could have opened another 5-10kg higher and he would have been fine. I think I was too cautious about this being a first meet and wanted to get the nerves out of the way so I made the lower end call. Lessons learned for next time. We made a 10kg jump to 210kg, 3 white lights here again. Lastly, another 10kg jump to 220kg and well, I’ll let the video do the talking here.

Watching this again fills me with great joy. A 7.5kg ATPR and the meet baseline is set. I think Cam probably had at least another 5kg on the day, but we were 3/3 and off to a very solid start for meet day.

Bench

Going into the bench we had a little hiccup during training. A few weeks out, after we had hit the 120kg single, Cam was having serious elbow pains. So much so that we didn’t even bench at all on a few of the normal training days. However, the tried and true Ibuprofen and some extra rest got us back on track. Bench still wasn’t feeling amazing but we were still able to hit a 110kg single opener that moved fine, but not quite to the speed I think we expected. Flash forward to meet day, we elected to open a just a bit lower at 107.5kg. I think especially on the bench where you really need to listen to the commands for your first time, the attempt selection is critical. First attempt did go well and we got a feel for the commands - the first takeaway is that the judges needed us to hold very still on the unrack, as well as a very firm pause. Given this we made a conservative jump to 115kg. Second attempt much of the same story, but the press was great - lots of power! We made a smaller jump on the third to 120kg to tie the training PR. This ended up being a very close call, great pause, getting it quite far off his chest, but ultimately unable to transition his left elbow through and missed the press. Just being his second time touching this weight though and it was still a great attempt.

Deadlift

Finally we’re onto deadlifts, just three lifts remaining. The last bench definitely was wearing on Cam though, as we could tell there was a bit of cramping and fatigue creeping in. Powering through it, we were warmed up for deadlifts. Again, training had gone very well for Cam on deadlifts as well. Cam hit his last big deadlift 2.5 weeks out at 240kg which moved at about an RPE9.5, the biggest deadlift he’s pulled. I was banking on the taper to really take us away here and lead to a great end to the meet. My goal was to finish 3/3 and come away with an ATPR, so we opened at 225kg, with absolutely no issues with this pull. Jumping 10kg on the second attempt, similar to squats, put us at 235kg. The second attempt was great overall, but I noticed the same sticking point at lockout as the 240kg from training which made me just a little hesitant on the third call. We put in 242.5kg to still come in with a PR but I told him he’s going to have to work for it. No hesitation from Cam and he went out and hit it, three white lights. I think he could have had 245kg but it would certainly have been a risk. If you have read my meet recaps so far…you know I am quite risk averse. Overall going 8/9 at your first meet and putting in 100% effort is commendable, even if you leave a few KGs on the platform for next time!

Closing Thoughts & The Future

Overall, we had a great first meet together and I am glad I could share the experience with him. I couldn’t be more proud of Cam’s composure & positive energy throughout the day. As our friend Sam put it:

I very much enjoy training with Cam and look forward to our future meets together! For the time being, Cam is back into track mode and getting ready for college next year. So for now we are in the powerbuilding phase - balancing track workouts and getting more jacked. This might have been Cam’s first meet but it will certainly not be his last. Be on the lookout for Cam as he continues to grow into this sport. #TheRisingTide