Hello everyone.
I’m a junior in high school and i’m hoping to compete next year for my school powerlifting team.
My main question is about making the transition from raw lifting to assisted lifting. Heres my background info first:
I’ve only very recently taken up an interest in PL(maybe 3-4months ago). Before that, my only exercise consisted of a receational soccer practices and games.
My nutrition has always been relatively “clean”, following most of 7 essential habits(by Berardi i think). My parents rarely buy junk food and keep alot of fresh foods. Ive never been lean, but i’ve always been healthy and and fairly fast, though not very strong.
Right now my best 3-lift total is 1025 with just a belt. When i started weight training, i was really weak and i’ve really made alot of improvement quicker than i thought i would. Here are my lifts in detail:
Before(November 2005)
Bench: 180
Squat: 305
Deadlift: 290
Total= 775
Most recent:
Bench: 245
Squat: 415
Deadlift: 365
Total=1025
I’ve been using a modified westside type template for my workouts, well really it’s not too much like westside except that i have ME and DE Upper body and Lower body days. Something like this:
Day 1
ME Upper
Flat or Incline Bench work up to 1RM
BB Row 5X5*
Pull Up 5X5*
Skull Crushers 5X5*
Day 2
OFF
Day 3
ME Lower Body
Squat or Deadlift work up to 1RM
Pull Throughs 5X5*
Goodmorning 5X5*
Day 4
OFF
Day 5
DE Upper Body
Flat or Incline Bench 10X3 @ 70-80%
BB Row 5X5*
JM press 5X5*
Day 6
OFF
Day 7
DE Lower Body
Squat or Deadlift 10X3
GHR 20 reps as many sets as necessary
Reverse Hyper 5X5*
Day 8
OFF
*add reps/sets or increse weight each session
I’ve been taking the last 2-3 days of each month off for some extra recovery and making new PR every week, including this week, so i don’t plan on changing it up just yet.
I realize i’ll eventually stall out and am a little unsure as to how well i’ll be able to address fixing a possible sticking point. I fail at different joint angles/heights on my final Max effort attempt on ME bench days so it’s hard to asses a potential week point especially since i’m still making steady gains.
My main question is: at what point i should start implementing gear and what kind of results should i expect to gain? Also, i’m wondering how long ussually does it take to get used to putting on and efectively using gear?
I"m hoping to acheive a high 1400s total by january next year so i have a chance at placing at state in 181lb class.
Any other comments are appreciated.
Thanks.