[quote]Dave284 wrote:
Alright guys, im taking the plunge and doing my first powerlifting meet in 8 weeks. Im currently 89kg/196lbs (in the evening). Best lifts in the gym of 165/140/230 (360/308/505).
Ive been doing 5/3/1 for the past few months and hit some decent rep maxes:
300lb x 7 squat
440lb x 7 deadlift
Ive got a couple of questions basically:
1). How do I structure training for the next 8 weeks?
next week is a deload. I am still using fairly light weights on 5/3/1 (440lbs was the perscribed ‘1’ on 531 day). So I was thinking I ll bounce the %'s up to my true 1RM’s for a month (I take a month to do the 3 weeks lifting), take a week/two to hit openers then a week off.
2). Shall I cut to 82.5kg?
Im probably 15% BF right now, so ive got the fat to lose. I ll probably be 87 in the morning, so I have to lose 5kg in 8 weeks.
The benefits of this are: if I lift at 82.5 and hit 490kg, then I would have won the raw division last year. If i lift in the 90kg’s there is zero chance of that happening!
The cons: If i lift at 90, the U23 GBPF bench record is 149kg, might have a swing at it. Also I have to worry about dieting for 8 weeks.
Any input greatly appreciated.[/quote]
Congratulations, man. Competing seperates muppets from men.
I think your basic plan on taking openers two weeks out and taking an off-week the week before the meet is solid. Personally, I still bench heavy the week before a meet as I find my bench recovery is pretty quick. I also recommend taking somethign a bit heavier than your opener.
Since you have a couple months, you should have ample opportunity to get in at least a couple heavy workouts where you take heavy singles. They need not be true maxs, but they have to be comparable to what you will do on a platform. Let’s say a conservative estimated max is 475, then I would go 400, 425, 450 for three singles. Often with rep sets, the first rep is ugly and the form improves with later reps. In a meet, of course, you do not have this luxury. So you have to train singles at some point and the singles have to be heavy enough to challenge your technique. Use whatever gear you will use in the meet in these workouts. A couple workouts like that will give you a good simulation of what your meet lifts will feel like. I would do this within the next few weeks and again a couple weeks out when you are taking you openers.
This is probably not news to you but I’ll say it anyway- on all workouts going forward, practice pefect set-up and lift execution. For example, when you squat, take your time setting up, wait for an imaginary “squat” command, get depth; when you bench, hold your lockout at the top and weight for an imaginary “rack” command, etc. This is easy with lighter rep sets. If you practice it there, you’ll be likely to do it on the platform with heavier weights.
As far as cutting weight goes, that’s a matter of preference. What do you want? To be the big fish in a small pond by winning your class at this one meet? Or do you want a big total?
