Weightlifting Meet

😎 Get ready for the Fall Meet on Saturday October 25 at RCF Barbell SODO! Athletes in the first session will be introduced at 10:00am. Registration will be opening soon.

🍬 This meet will also be a snack swap! It's like a potluck on easy mode. Bring a snack on meet day to share and enjoy with the other athletes. Snacks are great for fueling up before lifting, refueling afterward, and having a tasty treat with gym friends.

🎁 Prizes will be awarded to athletes who participate in their first weightlifting meet or make all of their lifts!

Spectators welcome! Seating will be on gym equipment, such as wood blocks and padded benches, with plenty of standing room as well.

Quarterly Meets

2025 schedule:

Weightlifting meets happen quarterly at RCF Barbell SODO. These meets are not sanctioned USAW competitions, but rather informal opportunities for athletes to participate in some aspects of the meet format. They are occasions to train for and cheer each other on. Perfect for beginners to the sport or just having a structured test day for fun.

✅ YES

❌ NO

Not Ready Yet? (Yes You Are)

💭 "But I'm not ready to compete yet..." 💭 Weightlifters can have this feeling no matter how long they've been lifting, so you can train for 10 weeks or 10 years and may never feel ready even though you most certainly are. This meet isn't a "competition" and if you can snatch or clean & jerk at least 12.5kg/27.5lb then you're ready for this meet! You don't have to be at your best, lift heavy, or pressure yourself to set PRs. It's good to practice the skill of lifting on the platform regardless of the weight. Maybe do 6 lifts at weights you're confident in, have a low pressure good time with lots of support, feel proud of yourself for doing it, and set yourself up to look forward to the next one. That's it. We just want to see you lift! You would cheer for someone else on the platform. Let us cheer for you! 🥳 You're capable of doing this amazing thing and we want to celebrate that.

(If you're actually not ready because you don't know know how to snatch or clean & jerk, there's no better time to learn! Sign up for a coaching session to give it a try in a safe and carefully guided progression tailored to you, no barbell experience or strength training background necessary.)

Meet Details

This weightlifting meet format is unconventional. It is intended to be easier to participate in and manage than a sanctioned weightlifting meet. Read more about this meet’s format below. New athletes may need to familiarize themselves with the rules and procedures of a sanctioned IWF/USAW weightlifting meet to better understand any unstated or unclear aspects of this meet’s format.

Session Format

Up to 6 athletes will lift in a session. There are no gender or bodyweight categories, and no weigh-ins. Athletes will be introduced at the start of the session. Athletes will first take 3 attempts in the snatch, and then 3 attempts in the clean & jerk. There will be a 10-minute clock after athlete introductions before the first snatch attempt, and a 15-minute clock after the last snatch attempt and before the first clean & jerk attempt. Attempts will be taken in rounds. Athletes will be assigned a lifting order within their session, and in that order each athlete will take turns making their first attempts. After all first attempts are completed everyone will take their second attempts in the same order. Third attempts will follow the same process. This predictable lifting order allows athletes to plan their own warm-ups without the aid of a personal coach/handler during the session.

Attempts & Warm-ups

When an athlete is called to the platform they have 1 minute to make their attempt. Between every platform attempt there will be an opportunity for any athlete to take a warm-up lift if they wish. The meet official will call out between attempts asking if any athletes want to take warm-up lifts. If any athletes respond, they will have a shared 1-minute clock to complete their warm-up lifts. When the warm-up lifts are complete or the clock expires the next athlete is called to the platform.

If no athletes use to the warm-up lift opportunity, the next athlete called to the platform may instead request the 1-minute clock be added to their attempt clock, effectively giving them a 2-minute clock to complete their attempt. This may be helpful for athletes where the session pace has not allowed for enough rest between their platform attempts.

No warm-up lifts will be allowed during an athlete’s platform attempt clock. This pattern of alternating warm-up lift opportunities and platform attempts allows athletes to fully spectate each others’ platform attempts and allows the warm-up platforms and attempt platform to safely share the same space.

Weight Declarations

Athletes will not separately put in any weight declarations or changes for their platform attempts to a marshal. When an athlete is called to the platform for their attempt the weight they have currently loaded on their bar will serve as their final declared attempt weight spoken by the announcer. (Thus athletes may independently decide to change their attempt weights an unlimited number of times before and between their platform attempts.) An athlete’s second or third attempt weight cannot be lower than their own previous attempt. After an athlete completes a successful attempt (judged a "good lift") any of their own subsequent attempt weights must be at least 1kg higher than their last successful weight. The attempt weights of other athletes in the session have no bearing on the attempt weights selected or allowed by an athlete. This implicit weight declaration allows athletes to focus on their own lifting rather than paperwork and other athletes' weights.

Weight Loading

Athletes will perform their platform attempts with the same bar and weights they use for warming up. Athletes are responsible for loading all their own weights since there are no volunteer loaders. There are no specialized competition collars weighing 2.5kg so all weight loading must be met with bumper and change plates. Plates should still be loaded as close to competition loading as possible, using the fewest and heaviest first. Platform attempt weights must be secured with collars, and the incidental collar weight will not be counted.

Attempt Platform

The attempt platform will be the front and center of the lifting area and marked with tape. When an athlete is called to the platform for an attempt they will roll their loaded bar to the taped platform area if they are not already there. Other athletes will move themselves and their equipment a safe distance away from the attempt platform.

Judging Lifts

Athletes will strive to execute their attempts within the standard competition rules. There will be a single official serving as the meet’s announcer, timekeeper, referee, and scorekeeper. For each attempt the official will score and announce the athlete’s lift as either a "good lift" or "no lift." The "good/no lift" decision will also serve as the "down" signal for completed attempts held motionless overhead. For "no lift" scores a brief explanation may be given for the decision. (Athletes are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the rules and how even an attempt that finishes overhead may still be scored a "no lift" for an error during or after the lift.)

Attire

Athletes may lift in whatever attire they wish, and standard equipment is allowed. Singlets are welcome but not required. For the ease of scoring lifts it is helpful if the athlete’s outfit allows for a clear understanding of the positions of the athlete’s feet, knees, shoulders, and elbows throughout the lifts, but it is not required that skin be visible for there to be a clear understanding of positions.

Athlete Celebrations

At the conclusion of the session each athlete, in lifting order, will be celebrated for their meet participation and their result will be announced. An athlete’s result will be their number of successful attempts (such as "4 for 6") and their total, which is the sum of their heaviest successful snatch and clean & jerk. Special appreciation will be given to athletes who have just participated in their first meet or gone 6 for 6. If an athlete did not successfully complete either any snatches or any clean & jerks their result will not include a total. Athlete totals will not be ranked against each other and there will not be a podium or medals based on results. There will be no "best lifter" awards.

Example Session Order

An abbreviated session progression example for athletes ordered A through F:

Session Estimated Time Frames

After registration closes athletes will be notified of their session size, which they can use to make a rough session plan. The time frames are a range between a rapid session pace where all athletes use just a fraction of their clocks and a leisurely session pace where all athletes use their entire clocks.

6 Athletes

5 Athletes

4 Athletes

3 Athletes

2 Athletes (unlikely but possible)

1 Athlete (unlikely but possible)

Advice: Resting and Staying Warm Between Attempts

Ideally platform attempts or warm-up lifts are evenly spaced apart every 3 minutes. Taking a little longer rest is preferable to lifting more frequently than that, but resting too long risks athletes getting cold and possibly missing the next lift because they're no longer ready to lift that heavy. Making a plan for taking warm-up lifts between platform attempts will largely depend on the athlete's session size, because small sessions won't have long enough wait times but larger sessions might. Below is a rough guideline for athletes looking for advice.

Entry Total

When athletes register for the meet they will provide an entry total, which is the sum of their planned 1st snatch attempt weight and 1st clean & jerk attempt weight. For example, an athlete planning to open with a 40kg snatch attempt and 50kg clean & jerk attempt would have a 90kg entry total. The weights athletes choose for their 1st attempts in each lift should be numbers they are 100% confident they could successfully make even on a bad day. Actual 1st attempts on meet day may be changed. Entry totals will inform how athletes are grouped into sessions, but sessions will not necessarily be grouped by similar entry totals.

Minimum entry totals will depend on which barbell the athlete plans to use:

7.5kg barbell (25mm diameter)

15kg barbell (25mm diameter)

20kg barbell (28mm diameter)

Advice: Choosing Attempts and Planning Warming-ups

New athletes may want to read the Catalyst Athletics guide to Your First Weightlifting Competition, keeping in mind that this meet format is unconventional and some of the advice has to be adapted. (For example, since attempts in this meet are taken in fixed order rounds within very small session sizes, every athlete lifts both "early" and "late" in the session.)

For choosing attempts, a simple method if you have a recent 1 rep max and would like to set yourself up for the opportunity to surpass it on your third attempt is to open at 94% and progress to 98% and 102% if attempts are successful. For athletes not looking to lift as heavy, taking 4% jumps between successful attempts can be planned at lighter percentages, such as 72-76-80% or 87-91-95%. (Additional advice: How Do You Choose Openers & Attempts for Weightlifting Competition?)

For planning warm-ups, a simple method is taking 7-8 snatch warm-up sets and 5-7 clean & jerk warm-up sets prior to the opening attempt weights, taking lifts 3 minutes apart, with larger jumps initially and smaller jumps toward the end. This means athletes will need to complete their typical pre-bar and empty bar warm-up routine before the session even starts, and they may be partly through their warm-up progression already when the session officially begins with athlete introductions. (Additional advice: A Simple Guide to Weightlifting Competition Warm-ups)

🏅 Optional USAW Online Qualifier

Athletes may use this meet to also participate in the USAW Online Qualifier for other national events within 1 year of uploading their results if their performance meets the national event's qualifying total. There are additional requirements in this case. Athletes must:

The meet director will ensure a scale is provided and can serve as the cameraperson for weigh in and attempt recordings. Athletes are responsible for providing timestamp capabilities on their recording devices and submitting their results to USAW.

The timestamps on video submissions may be closer together, but must not be further apart, than:

The pace of sessions at this meet are expected to easily satisfy these timestamp requirements. However, athletes are responsible for notifying the meet director if the progress of the session is urgently off track, and that the session should be modified to ensure their timestamp requirements are met.

Registration & Meet Week

After registration has closed athletes will be emailed the start list for meet day, which will include their estimated session start time, the number of athletes in their session, and their lifting order within their session. Athletes should plan for their session accounting for the possibility that some other athletes may withdraw before or during the session for any reason.

On meet day the first session begins at 10:00am at RCF Barbell SODO. Additional sessions may be scheduled in back-to-back sequence depending on the number of athletes registered. Athletes should arrive before their session start time so they can check in and get mostly warmed up before being introduced at the start of their session.

Contact

💌 Email meet director Elsa Moluf

🫙 Tip jar