First Meet Question

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

Hey, I’ve been lifting for a 6 years now, and I’m getting ready for my very first bench competition. For the last two years I’ve been doing something best described as my own version of westside barbell (after all, you’re supposed to pick exercises based on your weak spots), and I’ve never felt the need to deload.

My question is: is it a good idea to do some kind of deload before the meet, and if so, what type of deload?

The things I have considered doing:

  1. Cut out the repetition work the week before the meet(such as dumbell press for reps), as it might make me too tired

  2. cut out dynamic effort day the week before the meet (honestly, the speed days for bench press don’t seem to do much for me. maybe geared lifters get more out of them)

  3. lower the volume and intensity on everything I do

  4. Skip the ME work.

One lifter at my gym reccommended me switching my routine entirely and focus on a routine that will allow me to max out on meet day (basically it was a six week routine where you, during the first 3 weeks, work your way up to doing 6x6 with 80% of your 1RM, and during the other 3 weeks you lower the reps and sets while increasing the weight untill you hopefully hit a new 1rm on competition day ).

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m new to this forum, so I’m sorry if I happen to post in the wrong place.

2

First, I suggest reading through the Westside thread we have here. Second, if what you’re doing is working for you, then do it. If later on you decide you want to do some linear periodization, then that’s great. Finally, keep the intensity as high as you can for as long as you can without compromising your ability to recover, and ultimately supercompensate for your meet. A week off before the meet is the rule of thumb. I would try that, and then adjust based on how you feel as you do more meets and gain more experience.

3

Assuming you are following a Westside cycle as it is generally laid out, you should be ready to max out at pretty much anytime so you probably don’t need to switch routines. A very simple precomp version is to train normally up to the week before the comp. Then that pre meet week do the following.

Day 1 - DE work for squat, 1-2 singles afterward working up to opener or last warm-up set, minimal assistance work, all assistance sets are warm-ups sets

Day 2 - DE work for bench, 1-2 singles afterward working up to opener or last warm-up set (all with pause), minimal assistance work, all assistance sets are warm-up sets
Don’t perform any new exercises this week.

Day 3-6 rest, light cardio can be performed if desired to stay loose or if you need to lose weight

Day 7 - Competition

That works well in most scenarios, good luck with your comp,
Tim

4

Tim, similar question. I’m four weeks into your six week squat, deadlift, or bench program for both deadlift (monday) and squat (thursday) at the moment, and am planning on immediately repeating it for squat once I’m finished. When would be a good time to test a new deadlift max, bearing in mind I’m also following Coan bench (4 weeks in as well)? Could it be performed on week 7, or should I just let the muscles rest for a while and focus on bench and squat (while maybe doing some lighter deadlift work/focusing on a different movement on back day?

Thanks, and sorry for the hijack OP

5

[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
Tim, similar question. I’m four weeks into your six week squat, deadlift, or bench program for both deadlift (monday) and squat (thursday) at the moment, and am planning on immediately repeating it for squat once I’m finished. When would be a good time to test a new deadlift max, bearing in mind I’m also following Coan bench (4 weeks in as well)? Could it be performed on week 7, or should I just let the muscles rest for a while and focus on bench and squat (while maybe doing some lighter deadlift work/focusing on a different movement on back day?

Thanks, and sorry for the hijack OP[/quote]

You can max on week 7 (or 8 if you need extra rest). On week 5 you are doing your 1RM for a double so that will give you a very close estimation of where you are, a max may not be necessary unless you really want to do it. If you repeat it again then max for real after 12 weeks. I hope it is going well for you, a lot of lifters have had good results with that plan

6

Thanks. I think I’ll focus on not sucking at pullups for a while, and if a day comes when I feel good, I’ll go in and nail it.
The program’s going great so far - I was worried about running it while working my bench so hard, but it leaves plenty of reps in the tank, and I haven’t felt run down at all. Getting a double with 97.5% and feeling like you had 2 more in you when you’re just 3 weeks in is awesome.