I’m in the process of setting out my first 531 run up to a meet. I’ve got the four four-week cycles set out, the book made it so easy and pruned all the crap out that’s been bugging me. Best 10 bucks I’ve spent in a long time.
Anyway, I have 18 training weeks. After the 16 weeks of 531 cycles, I have two weeks leading up to the meet. That’s where I’m hoping for a bit of guidance.
I was thinking in week 17 I could properly test my press, but for the comp lifts I’m not too sure. I definitely don’t want to hit anything heavy the week leading up to the meet. I was thinking of maybe just running the fourth 531 deload again for that week.
I was thinking of something along these lines:
Weeks 1 to 16
531 cycles as normal, four in total
Week 17
Monday: test military press max single
Tuesday: work up to a 5 lb deadlift PR single
Thursday: work up to a 5 lb bench press PR single
Friday: work up to a 5 lb squat PR single
Week 18
Repeat week 16 deload, maybe with an extra 5 lbs
My thinking is that a 5 lbs PR on the comp lifts should a) not be too taxing and b) give me a pretty good idea of how much more I could move. I’ll be looking to put 10-20 lbs on my previous meet PR for each lift.
To put this in context, I’m not weak but I’m not strong either. At 31, 6’ and 220 somewhere between 17-20% bodyfat I’m sitting on raw with wraps meet PRs of 440/286/561 but in the last few weeks I’ve gone 473x3 in wraps, 275x2 without a hand out and DL 495x5 so I’m guessing on a good day I’m not too far off 500/300/600. I’ve been powerlifting for around 18 months, with three full power and one push/pull in the books.