What is a powerlifting meet handler (and the benefits)
What is a meet handler
A meet handler is someone who comes with you to your competition in order to make the day go as smoothly as possible. Powerlifting comps can sometimes be a bit overwhelming and fast paced, especially if you are new to it. Having an experienced person there to help you on the day can be the difference between hitting a PR total or bombing out.
In this article, I’m going to go through all the benefits of having a meet handler with you.
Timings
Powerlifting competitions are fast paced. Time your warmups wrong and it can ruin your attempts. Start too early and you’ll run out of warmups and get to the platform cold. Too late and you’ll end up being rushed and gassed out for your opener. Having someone who is experienced there with you, can help you manage timings throughout the day. When to warmup up, what warmup jumps to take, when to take your final warmup in order to feel primed for your opener. Meets are also long. You will need to eat but knowing what to eat and when to eat is vital to performing at your best.
Keeping calm
Nerves and anxiety can completely shackle your potential on the day. Having someone there with a cool head can sometimes be enough by itself to settle your nerves. But if not, you’ve got someone there to talk to, reassure you, and make sure you’re making good decisions. Having someone handle all the admin stuff for you lets you just keep locked in to do what you do best, lifting.
Attempt selection
We’ve all been there. When the line between what you want to lift and what you can actually lift blurs. A meet handler is also there to help with attempt selection. How much they are involved is up to you and should be discussed beforehand. Some people need their handler to completely take the decision for them. Some people need it to be more of a democracy as to what numbers to pick. Either way, having a second, completely unbiased opinion to help you choose what numbers to select is invaluable to maximising your total. As it’s important to remember to pick what you can lift on that day, not what you wanted to be able to lift.
Load warmup weights
A really underrated role of a meet handler is having someone there to physically load the warmup plates for you. 25kg plates are heavy. Loading them on and off is 1 extra bit of fatigue that can catch up on you and can be the difference between getting that third attempt or not. Discussing a warmup plan with your meet handler beforehand makes it so that between warmups you can just chill and stay locked in. Let your handler change the plates for you. You just be a barbell princess.
Taking your headphones off for you so you have a badass entrance
Last but not least. We’ve all seen those recap vids where the lifter is wearing headphones, psyching themselves up. “The bar is loaded” is called out. The lifters handler takes off their headphones for them. And the lifter goes straight out to the platform completely dialed in, and pulls a big deadlift PR. Much better than you having 1 ear out trying to hear when youre called onto the platform and then finding a place for you to gently set down your headphones before coming out.
While of course not 100% necessary, having a meet handler there to help you, will definitely make the day a lot easier. You will have more fun and be less stressed. For most people, their coach will be their meet handler. But sometimes coaches aren’t able to make every competition. If so, you can hire a handler and have a thorough discussion and agreement with your coach to make a game plan. If you don’t have a coach, having a handler can still give you a wealth of benefits on the day. So again, you can still hire a handler and make a game plan together.
