People that are concerned about a certain strength level before competing is a myopic, ego driven mistake that most people make (myself included). As I’ve gotten older, I’m of the opinion that if someone wants to compete just go, the fact of the matter is that a very small percentage of people will reach the top of a division. The experience and the community is what it’s all about.
That’s the main factor for most. Some people are competitive athletes and want to reach the top wether that is decided by their ego or not it is what they do. But you are right, just go. My first comp I was 18 and not nearly strong enough to hang with most of the guys there but it was the experience in the environment that impacted me most. And it also concreted my want to be competitive watching the few other guys there that really were trying to be the best.
My first comp was compriced of weights that on their own was close to my absolute max. So in the comp I didnt anticipate the fatigue and I zeroed a lot of the events and ended up next to last. I was also about 50 pounds lighter than the next lightest guy. So, my tips for newbies echo what Bromley said, get your body weight up and make sure the comp weights are well within your limit
was not 100% ready for my first comp, zero'd the stones and made countless mistakes on the other events. But it was a great learning experience, got to talking with other competitors and one of them guided me to the gym I currently train at. I learned so much from regularly going to this gym and had a long offseason to work on my competitiveness, competed at my 2nd comp and actually won that one! Even if you aren't ready to challenge for the podium, just make that first step and you will learn so much from the experience.
I entered a local strongman just to see what it was like (the event was this last Saturday). I weighed 213lbs. I came in last (9th) but I completed all of the events and my lifts werre respectable. I even hit a deadlift PR at 465. What was awesome were the other guys. They were encouraging and I was proud ti be among them - even though I was 10 years older than the next oldest guy. I enjoyed the experience for sure.
I'm debating potentially entering one in August and I don't even train. I'm 5'10 185 at 34 but im able to cut to do -180 that they have. What events did they do for yours?
@@justinlast2lastharder749 Hercules hold (which was cool), atlas stone relay race thing, Deadlift contest, keg toss and then they lost the results for the atlas hold which I did great because the handles had great gnurling so they made us do farmers holds and the bar slipped through my fingers (I forgot to use chalk). The farmers hold fiasco dropped me from middle of the pack to dead last. My deadlift was 450 which at the time I was super happy to hit because previous 435 was the best I ever hit. They got up to 800 on deadlift though. I didn't expect to win and was happy to hang out with some great guys who also like lifting. I definitely recommend - I am not doing more though because it's an all day event and I have kids. My days are usually occupied. Maybe when I'm 60 I'll do some more.
Mere hours ago I did my first ever strongman comp - I was the youngest and smallest guy there, at 18 years old and 77 kg BW. I've been lifting seriously for less than two years and my PL gym total is about 1,000 lbs. Despite all that, I had an amazing time, I loved every minute of it. Didn't place well (8 out of 9) but I at least didn't come anywhere close to zeroing anything - 8 reps on axle press, 6 reps on deadlift, 23 sec loading medley, 55 sec farmer's hold and 9 reps on sandbag over yoke. So in short I think you can have an absolute blast at a strongman competition even if you're not that strong.
For me I first competed novice with about a month of touching a few implements. I had a decent base in strength and terrible conditioning. I did 7 shows my first year. Just to try new events. No expectations. This year I cut back to doing 4 shows with more focus on getting stronger. Im doing my first open class show in October. Goals are the same as my first novice competition. No zeroes and finish top half in the press. You gotta not focus on other people. Do your best, have fun, relax, and realize other competitors are worried about what they are doing and won't worry about what you do unless your killing it.
I gathered info on 30 competitions. For a novice male, to not zero most events you need: 180lbs Over head press, on axle or log bar 400lbs deadlift/farmers carry 220lbs sandbag/stone, load/carry
I have my first meet coming up in a few weeks. It's deadlift only which I think makes it easier - only one lift to think about. I'm 37, 200lbs and my goal is to pull 480lbs. My main reason for wanting to compete is that it really motivates me to be consistent in my training.
I'm 51 and 120kg (265lbs) So while I'm in the masters category I'm in a heavyweight class so I think my 200kg deadlift is not going to be competitive. But I guess it's good to experience how a meet works and get used to competition nerves.
Yeah, y'all need to be on his Patreon. It really is a steal. You might have a coach, but I seriously doubt very many coaches can explain things the way Bromley can. I've been there for over a year now, and it's been nothing but beneficial. You are years ahead of where you would be in terms of knowledge just from his TH-cam channel. Show the man some love.
In powerlifting you can compete any time. It takes practice to compete, don't let arbitrary numbers stop you from competing. I mean sure, don't go from the first week of starting strength into competing next week, but competing earlier is generally better. The cons you mention for starting early is more a matter of mindset than anything. There's a difference between competing 6 times per year and like 1-2x a year. If you're weak, you don't need a long peak to taper, it might just come down to ending you base phase (;-)) with heavy 5-6 reps, then taking the next week to train some singles. Peaking for a few competitions a year won't meaningfully hold you back achieving better numbers.
Duality of social media. Many more eyes on our strength sports, however, we typically only see the top athletes and assume we need to be close to that in order to be competitive at local level meets.
My first meet there was no frame of reference except WSM. Terrifying to go in blind but the uncertainty left a gamblers chance that I was ready . If the exposure today existed back then, I probably would never have signed up lol.
This is really good advice. Thank you. I've been considering competing in my first strongman event in the novice class, but am still a bit uncertain. Planning on talking to the owner of my gym this week and reviewing the events with him as well to get his opinion. This video is very helpful in my decision making process. Thanks!
I think a good analogy is someone asking when they should run their first marathon. Probably not just after you get into running. If you are gonna throw up and pass out at mile 15, you probably shouldn't start the race. Do a half first (novice level). But if you are fairly confident that you can finish, get out there and do it.
At my local competitions the novice weights are pretty accessible. I have convinced a couple of friends to compete and have found a 405 deadlift, 315 squat, 225 bench, and putting 135 overhead a few times means you probably won’t zero anything. Life is unfair this could take a month or a few years.
Am a Uni student, and my Powerlifting comp has every ability. Girl with a missing hand benching just 30kg despite her disability, to hulks deadlifting 650lbs at 19. Everyone hypes everyone as we all push up on our limits (in short term) About to go for my first Powerlifting comp. Am only a 140kg deadlifter, 120kg squatter, and 90kg Bencher, but the competition helps keep me focussed on periodisation and programming well (Base and Peak Phases)
The good thing about Powerlifting is the competition AND weight jumps are all on you. Whatever you pull is good for you. In other sports, there's set weights/weight jumps, and you are competing against others, giving a skewed perspective on how good you did. Not bashing either concept, but Powerlifting is the easiest and most inviting sport because your grandma can do a peaking block and do a few barbell lifts. Can't do that in let's say, Strongman.
My first ever strongman meet I couldn’t even squat the set weight for the first event I was a buck fifty (650 ish total) zeroed a lot of events but the energy was amazing I respected it and the competitors for learning the skill of strongman. I had absolute blast so I’d always recommend doing a meet
I did spartan races back in college and after the last one I said I was done and looked to getting into strength instead. I always had my eye on doing a meet at some point and eventually got to the point where I signed up for one that got cancelled because of Covid. I realized after that it really didn't change how i felt about training much and never got around to doing a meet. I guess i'm in that bracket of people that just will never see the day. I keep it as a maybe, but I have too many other hobbies to really make lifting that high on my priority list.
I was toying with the idea of doing strongman one day, and this dissuaded me, at least for now. I’m 5’6” and I’m 153 pounds. It took such hard work to get down here from 211 pounds. I like the idea of strongman competition, but with how hard it was to lose all of that weight, I don’t want to put it back on. I love watching strongman and think it’s super cool. I’ll just stick with my weighted calisthenics for now.
Bromely, I would be curious for some more specifics on what would be a decent starting point for people interested in strongman competition, as many people don't have regular access to these implements. I am luck enough to live two hours away from Untamed Strength and train their on occasion, which means I might have more access to strongman equipment than a large portion of your viewers. Still, I am not using these tools on a regular basis. I have a 1650 total and a 620 pound deadlift is part of that, yet I find many strong implements kick my ass (though I think some of this lack of Proficiency and experience with the implements). As an example of this, even lapping a 250 pound sandbag is kicking my ass which seems pathetic when considering my deadlift is 620.
You are plenty strong enough to hang with the weights, its just a matter of getting enough practice with the implements to be effective with them. People in your position should be jumping into meets regularly
In a national meet here (small country: switzerland) if you hit around 120 kg on the bench, 180 on squat and maybe 220 on the deadlift (93 kg weight class) you were not standing out at all. So I figure it is probably quite similar in a local meet in the US.
It also depends on the standard I think. I just competed as a novice at great lakes strongest man and it was probably one of the highest standards I've ever seen/heard of for a novice class as far as the competitors. The weight wasn't crazy, 200lb axle for reps, 205 keg over bar, 480 frame carry etc but the guys were doing double digits on every rep event and putting in great performances, and there were 18 of us lol
Is that a 200lb axle press for reps? Man, I do 200lbs strict barbell press but only manage 2 reps Also I guess they need to clean it off the ground too eh?. Love the Mitch Hooper Buzz Lightyear sign drawing :)
@@aaronbarlow4376 Yup 200lb axel for reps, if you do 200 for 2 strict you're probably good for 5+ with leg drive, depends on the athlete though. My friend is at least as good on strict press as I am but I do better on push press by a decent bit
@@simondean5227 I always imagined push press would be easy as it's almost all legs. Sometimes when I see strongmen fail a press it's because they underutilise the legs and try to strict press it up. I'm not about to criticise top strongmen though, fatigued as they are from all the events. To me the hard part always seemed to be cleaning the axel as they rest it on their bellies to change grip while olympic style lifters lift it straight to their shoulders with a squat clean. I always wondered why they don't do it that way.
@@aaronbarlow4376 The reason we don't clean it olimpic style very much is because the bar is very fat which means there's a risk of it slipping out during the clean, and at the top level of the sport, lots of competitions have axels with fixed weight at either end, meaning the weights don't spin during the clean the way they do on a normal barbell, so it's gonna want to fly out of your hands as you clean it. I'd also say push press still has a lot of shoulder and tricep strength involved, but split jerk is super leg dominant. Push press is probably slight closer to strict press than split jerk as far as leg usage imo, but it depends on the athlete as well
Brom, do you know of anyone who has competed in at least one strongman, one powerlifting, and one crossfit comp in a year? How should I prep? Is it possible? Great videos as always.
Can you do another CALISTHENIC exercise video? Maybe something like a 4-6 week strength/conditioning training program. Or a 3 month program. Is it on your "patron"?
I'm 5'3" and 175sh. I know I won't be winning a comp. Even the other guys in the lightweight cathegory are much heavier and taller. But well, I'll just go and try to win. You can only do so much, and that shouldn't stop you from doing it
@@A-A-RonDavis2470 So where do I draw the line then? If I can do a couple of reps on one or two events and I morally obligated to compete in open if I would zero the other three?
You can get scholarships for powerlifting. Didn't realize this was a thing until way too late. If you enjoy training and lifting heavy things... Compete at least twice and try to improve. Also let the high school lifters you know, know how far they could take simply repetitively working hard at lifting heavy sh&@.
I've not competed in strongman yet but my first ever competition was as a junior powerlifter in the equipped bench-only category of the IPA federation with only a 1-2 years of infrequent practice in a shirt. My mentality regarding competitions then and now is to simply not bother thinking of entering one without being able to be competitive in the first place. There is absolutely no merit in wasting my time and money to enter a contest ill-prepared and fail to even make a podium finish as a bare minimum to get something back of my investment into it. I'm there to win and take what's mine, simple as that. During my first powerlifting meet I felt no nervousness nor fear because I was confident I my abilities, I wasn't there to make merry with anyone nor did I care for what anyone else was going to lift that day. I was only there to take what was rightfully mine. By the end of it, I won a national record. In short, there is no value in competing if you don't think you can win.
What I would love to see (as a newbie with 15 months under my belt), is a strength by training age table. That would be far more useful for understanding my progress than just vague terms like "novice".
People that are concerned about a certain strength level before competing is a myopic, ego driven mistake that most people make (myself included). As I’ve gotten older, I’m of the opinion that if someone wants to compete just go, the fact of the matter is that a very small percentage of people will reach the top of a division. The experience and the community is what it’s all about.
That’s the main factor for most. Some people are competitive athletes and want to reach the top wether that is decided by their ego or not it is what they do. But you are right, just go. My first comp I was 18 and not nearly strong enough to hang with most of the guys there but it was the experience in the environment that impacted me most. And it also concreted my want to be competitive watching the few other guys there that really were trying to be the best.
if i remember right in the eddie hall documentary on netflix, his first competitions he did shit right
Couldn't disagree more... compeat means you need to be competitive.... get it??? Words are hard...
@@sergiosantana7103 you bench with wrist wraps, don't talk to me clown
@@sergiosantana7103 can't even squat to depth too man
My first comp was compriced of weights that on their own was close to my absolute max. So in the comp I didnt anticipate the fatigue and I zeroed a lot of the events and ended up next to last. I was also about 50 pounds lighter than the next lightest guy.
So, my tips for newbies echo what Bromley said, get your body weight up and make sure the comp weights are well within your limit
was not 100% ready for my first comp, zero'd the stones and made countless mistakes on the other events. But it was a great learning experience, got to talking with other competitors and one of them guided me to the gym I currently train at. I learned so much from regularly going to this gym and had a long offseason to work on my competitiveness, competed at my 2nd comp and actually won that one! Even if you aren't ready to challenge for the podium, just make that first step and you will learn so much from the experience.
I entered a local strongman just to see what it was like (the event was this last Saturday). I weighed 213lbs. I came in last (9th) but I completed all of the events and my lifts werre respectable. I even hit a deadlift PR at 465. What was awesome were the other guys. They were encouraging and I was proud ti be among them - even though I was 10 years older than the next oldest guy. I enjoyed the experience for sure.
I'm debating potentially entering one in August and I don't even train. I'm 5'10 185 at 34 but im able to cut to do -180 that they have. What events did they do for yours?
@@justinlast2lastharder749 Hercules hold (which was cool), atlas stone relay race thing, Deadlift contest, keg toss and then they lost the results for the atlas hold which I did great because the handles had great gnurling so they made us do farmers holds and the bar slipped through my fingers (I forgot to use chalk). The farmers hold fiasco dropped me from middle of the pack to dead last. My deadlift was 450 which at the time I was super happy to hit because previous 435 was the best I ever hit. They got up to 800 on deadlift though. I didn't expect to win and was happy to hang out with some great guys who also like lifting. I definitely recommend - I am not doing more though because it's an all day event and I have kids. My days are usually occupied. Maybe when I'm 60 I'll do some more.
I enjoy listening to you talk about strength, you help me in the gym everyday, cheers Alex
Mere hours ago I did my first ever strongman comp - I was the youngest and smallest guy there, at 18 years old and 77 kg BW. I've been lifting seriously for less than two years and my PL gym total is about 1,000 lbs.
Despite all that, I had an amazing time, I loved every minute of it. Didn't place well (8 out of 9) but I at least didn't come anywhere close to zeroing anything - 8 reps on axle press, 6 reps on deadlift, 23 sec loading medley, 55 sec farmer's hold and 9 reps on sandbag over yoke.
So in short I think you can have an absolute blast at a strongman competition even if you're not that strong.
Looks like a light contest.
@@A-A-RonDavis2470 quite light yes, winners were getting well into double digits on all the rep events
For me I first competed novice with about a month of touching a few implements. I had a decent base in strength and terrible conditioning. I did 7 shows my first year. Just to try new events. No expectations. This year I cut back to doing 4 shows with more focus on getting stronger. Im doing my first open class show in October. Goals are the same as my first novice competition. No zeroes and finish top half in the press. You gotta not focus on other people. Do your best, have fun, relax, and realize other competitors are worried about what they are doing and won't worry about what you do unless your killing it.
Hey Bromley keep up the great content brother.
I gathered info on 30 competitions. For a novice male, to not zero most events you need:
180lbs Over head press, on axle or log bar
400lbs deadlift/farmers carry
220lbs sandbag/stone, load/carry
I have my first meet coming up in a few weeks. It's deadlift only which I think makes it easier - only one lift to think about. I'm 37, 200lbs and my goal is to pull 480lbs. My main reason for wanting to compete is that it really motivates me to be consistent in my training.
I'm 51 and 120kg (265lbs) So while I'm in the masters category I'm in a heavyweight class so I think my 200kg deadlift is not going to be competitive. But I guess it's good to experience how a meet works and get used to competition nerves.
Yeah, y'all need to be on his Patreon. It really is a steal. You might have a coach, but I seriously doubt very many coaches can explain things the way Bromley can. I've been there for over a year now, and it's been nothing but beneficial. You are years ahead of where you would be in terms of knowledge just from his TH-cam channel. Show the man some love.
Thank you for addressing this, I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while.
In powerlifting you can compete any time. It takes practice to compete, don't let arbitrary numbers stop you from competing. I mean sure, don't go from the first week of starting strength into competing next week, but competing earlier is generally better.
The cons you mention for starting early is more a matter of mindset than anything. There's a difference between competing 6 times per year and like 1-2x a year. If you're weak, you don't need a long peak to taper, it might just come down to ending you base phase (;-)) with heavy 5-6 reps, then taking the next week to train some singles. Peaking for a few competitions a year won't meaningfully hold you back achieving better numbers.
Duality of social media. Many more eyes on our strength sports, however, we typically only see the top athletes and assume we need to be close to that in order to be competitive at local level meets.
My first meet there was no frame of reference except WSM. Terrifying to go in blind but the uncertainty left a gamblers chance that I was ready . If the exposure today existed back then, I probably would never have signed up lol.
This is really good advice. Thank you. I've been considering competing in my first strongman event in the novice class, but am still a bit uncertain. Planning on talking to the owner of my gym this week and reviewing the events with him as well to get his opinion. This video is very helpful in my decision making process. Thanks!
I have my first strongman comp in February! Can’t wait.
I think a good analogy is someone asking when they should run their first marathon. Probably not just after you get into running. If you are gonna throw up and pass out at mile 15, you probably shouldn't start the race. Do a half first (novice level). But if you are fairly confident that you can finish, get out there and do it.
At my local competitions the novice weights are pretty accessible. I have convinced a couple of friends to compete and have found a 405 deadlift, 315 squat, 225 bench, and putting 135 overhead a few times means you probably won’t zero anything. Life is unfair this could take a month or a few years.
Am a Uni student, and my Powerlifting comp has every ability. Girl with a missing hand benching just 30kg despite her disability, to hulks deadlifting 650lbs at 19. Everyone hypes everyone as we all push up on our limits (in short term)
About to go for my first Powerlifting comp. Am only a 140kg deadlifter, 120kg squatter, and 90kg Bencher, but the competition helps keep me focussed on periodisation and programming well (Base and Peak Phases)
The good thing about Powerlifting is the competition AND weight jumps are all on you. Whatever you pull is good for you. In other sports, there's set weights/weight jumps, and you are competing against others, giving a skewed perspective on how good you did. Not bashing either concept, but Powerlifting is the easiest and most inviting sport because your grandma can do a peaking block and do a few barbell lifts. Can't do that in let's say, Strongman.
My first ever strongman meet I couldn’t even squat the set weight for the first event I was a buck fifty (650 ish total) zeroed a lot of events but the energy was amazing I respected it and the competitors for learning the skill of strongman. I had absolute blast so I’d always recommend doing a meet
I did spartan races back in college and after the last one I said I was done and looked to getting into strength instead. I always had my eye on doing a meet at some point and eventually got to the point where I signed up for one that got cancelled because of Covid. I realized after that it really didn't change how i felt about training much and never got around to doing a meet. I guess i'm in that bracket of people that just will never see the day. I keep it as a maybe, but I have too many other hobbies to really make lifting that high on my priority list.
I was toying with the idea of doing strongman one day, and this dissuaded me, at least for now. I’m 5’6” and I’m 153 pounds. It took such hard work to get down here from 211 pounds. I like the idea of strongman competition, but with how hard it was to lose all of that weight, I don’t want to put it back on. I love watching strongman and think it’s super cool. I’ll just stick with my weighted calisthenics for now.
Bromely, I would be curious for some more specifics on what would be a decent starting point for people interested in strongman competition, as many people don't have regular access to these implements. I am luck enough to live two hours away from Untamed Strength and train their on occasion, which means I might have more access to strongman equipment than a large portion of your viewers. Still, I am not using these tools on a regular basis. I have a 1650 total and a 620 pound deadlift is part of that, yet I find many strong implements kick my ass (though I think some of this lack of Proficiency and experience with the implements). As an example of this, even lapping a 250 pound sandbag is kicking my ass which seems pathetic when considering my deadlift is 620.
You are plenty strong enough to hang with the weights, its just a matter of getting enough practice with the implements to be effective with them. People in your position should be jumping into meets regularly
In a national meet here (small country: switzerland) if you hit around 120 kg on the bench, 180 on squat and maybe 220 on the deadlift (93 kg weight class) you were not standing out at all. So I figure it is probably quite similar in a local meet in the US.
Liking the regular content uploads.
It also depends on the standard I think. I just competed as a novice at great lakes strongest man and it was probably one of the highest standards I've ever seen/heard of for a novice class as far as the competitors. The weight wasn't crazy, 200lb axle for reps, 205 keg over bar, 480 frame carry etc but the guys were doing double digits on every rep event and putting in great performances, and there were 18 of us lol
Is that a 200lb axle press for reps? Man, I do 200lbs strict barbell press but only manage 2 reps Also I guess they need to clean it off the ground too eh?.
Love the Mitch Hooper Buzz Lightyear sign drawing :)
@@aaronbarlow4376 Yup 200lb axel for reps, if you do 200 for 2 strict you're probably good for 5+ with leg drive, depends on the athlete though. My friend is at least as good on strict press as I am but I do better on push press by a decent bit
@@simondean5227 I always imagined push press would be easy as it's almost all legs. Sometimes when I see strongmen fail a press it's because they underutilise the legs and try to strict press it up. I'm not about to criticise top strongmen though, fatigued as they are from all the events.
To me the hard part always seemed to be cleaning the axel as they rest it on their bellies to change grip while olympic style lifters lift it straight to their shoulders with a squat clean. I always wondered why they don't do it that way.
@@aaronbarlow4376 The reason we don't clean it olimpic style very much is because the bar is very fat which means there's a risk of it slipping out during the clean, and at the top level of the sport, lots of competitions have axels with fixed weight at either end, meaning the weights don't spin during the clean the way they do on a normal barbell, so it's gonna want to fly out of your hands as you clean it. I'd also say push press still has a lot of shoulder and tricep strength involved, but split jerk is super leg dominant. Push press is probably slight closer to strict press than split jerk as far as leg usage imo, but it depends on the athlete as well
@@simondean5227 AH yeah the fixed weight would be tricky rolling the bar in the hands.
Can you adress caffine please! Great video as always coach!
"Even if your bench is only 185"
Oh hey, thanks for talking about me
I was slow as hell but didn't zero any event, which I was pretty happy with. That's all I was aiming for
Brom, do you know of anyone who has competed in at least one strongman, one powerlifting, and one crossfit comp in a year? How should I prep? Is it possible? Great videos as always.
Can you do another CALISTHENIC exercise video? Maybe something like a 4-6 week strength/conditioning training program. Or a 3 month program. Is it on your "patron"?
At least as strong as Brian Shaw
What age is to old to start competing in strongman? Is it something as to old to begin?
I'm 5'3" and 175sh. I know I won't be winning a comp. Even the other guys in the lightweight cathegory are much heavier and taller. But well, I'll just go and try to win.
You can only do so much, and that shouldn't stop you from doing it
Idk if I should compete rn or not I think I’d do good tho I’m 145 pounds 15 years old pause bench is 255 deadlift 395 and squat 375 could I win
I have a similar question; when do you know it's time to stop competing as a novice and move on to open classes?
If you can handle the open weights, you do open. Period!
@@AlexanderBromley What if I can handle some but zero out on other events?
@@simondean5227 Literally some of the better pro Strongmen still zero events or don't complete them.
@@A-A-RonDavis2470 So where do I draw the line then? If I can do a couple of reps on one or two events and I morally obligated to compete in open if I would zero the other three?
You can get scholarships for powerlifting. Didn't realize this was a thing until way too late. If you enjoy training and lifting heavy things... Compete at least twice and try to improve.
Also let the high school lifters you know, know how far they could take simply repetitively working hard at lifting heavy sh&@.
I've not competed in strongman yet but my first ever competition was as a junior powerlifter in the equipped bench-only category of the IPA federation with only a 1-2 years of infrequent practice in a shirt. My mentality regarding competitions then and now is to simply not bother thinking of entering one without being able to be competitive in the first place. There is absolutely no merit in wasting my time and money to enter a contest ill-prepared and fail to even make a podium finish as a bare minimum to get something back of my investment into it. I'm there to win and take what's mine, simple as that.
During my first powerlifting meet I felt no nervousness nor fear because I was confident I my abilities, I wasn't there to make merry with anyone nor did I care for what anyone else was going to lift that day. I was only there to take what was rightfully mine. By the end of it, I won a national record.
In short, there is no value in competing if you don't think you can win.
What I would love to see (as a newbie with 15 months under my belt), is a strength by training age table. That would be far more useful for understanding my progress than just vague terms like "novice".