It's a long ways away but I'd like to attend for my first meet.
I'm going to lift RAW and currently weigh 203.
With being able to do a 24 hr weigh in, do most people dehydrate if they are close to making a lower class? I'm guessing there is a big difference between the numbers in 198 and 220?
Who gives a **** about weight class? Right now I'm 215 and if I weigh in at 221 in October I won't care because it won't affect my total. Once I start getting competitive numbers then I'll start thinking about weight classes. I've been to one meet to watch but didn't learn much. There was so many ****ing people and only one platform so I was there for 2 hours only to see the women's squat. Atmosphere was so damn cool though.
Here's my take on it N11. Being that far out, if you think you have some fat you could peal off and get into the 198's, do it. You will drop some water before so there's a pound or 2 right there. Anyone that say the numbers didn't matter to them in their first meet either never did one or forgot what it was like, providing they took it seriously.
Now the drawback of dropping the weight; if you're born to be a 220er and that's where you'll end up, it would be nice to bite the bullet now knowing you're only going to get better in the 220's.
I would recommend going to a meet with someone who can explain what's going on. While there, pick a guy out, watch how and when he gets ready. Since you're going raw, you won't have to factor in the time it takes to get geared up with wraps and straps so pick someone who is doing the same.