T Nation

So You Are One Week Out

Powerlifting
#1

You’re 1 week out from your meet. What do you do?

Where can you go wrong?

  1. Doing too much.
  • If you’re not used to 1,000 different recovery methods don’t throw in a bunch of random recovery methods.
  • Going HAM on accessories and cardio- again you just need some light blood flow the week of the meet, nothing major.
  1. Drastic nutrition changes
  • Under eating because “I’m not training”, eat like you normally would. Don’t do 7 low carb days just because you aren’t training.
  • Over eating to “fill out your weight class”, you should of done that the past 12-20 weeks, throwing a bunch of food in now might wreck your GI.
  1. Stressing too much
  • This should be pretty obvious, make sure your openers are light and adjust things as needed based on how warmups go

What can you do right?

YOU tell me what you can do right. What do you do the week before your meet?

2 Likes
#2

Openers 5 days out. Then the remaining time: mobility, stretching and maybe some light squat, deadlift and bench movement work.

#3

Openers 5 days out? That’s a bit too close for me personally but I’ve seen some people do this with success.

I find with mobility and stretching a lot of people wait until the week of the meet and try to suddenly fix everything that’s fucked up, it’s not how it works. Sometimes you’ve just got to let it ride the way you’ve been training.

1 Like
#4

What I mean by stretching is that I basically continue to do it.

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#5

My last two peaks I worked up to a single for squat and bench on the Tuesday before my meet (4 days out). Squat was ~87-88% (lighter than my opener) and bench was my opener (~87-88%). Last deadlift was 2 weeks out, working up to RPE8-9 ish.

Nothing else really changes for me, mini water cut for my second meet to make sure I ducked under into the weight class. I think it was only like 3-4lbs, just cut off water in the afternoon before weigh in, and kept dinner light, nothing crazy.

I’ve only done two peaks, but felt great for both meets. Good thread idea, interested to know what others do for their peaks.

1 Like
#6

How long are typically your peaks?

#7

3-6 weeks depending on skill level, strength, training modality, etc.

#8

I’m currently in one. I’ll let y’all know the results. 3rd peak for me. I’m changing a few things this round I didn’t like last time. Based on training I think I’ll PR on bench and at least match my squat PR. Deadlift I think I’ll blow previous best out the window.

I completely agree with you on diet. My first meet I got all panicked and under ate, second time I over ate, this time I’m more controlled and. NOt changing anything.

Also fights the urge to do excessive “pump” work. You ain’t stepping on stage in speedo and a spray tan

1 Like
#9

Both my peaks have been 3 weeks long.

#10

I have always done that, as long as you don’t do a whole bunch of other stuff that week it should be fine. Although if you compete in gear, are old or have poor recovery, or are just lifting huge weights I can see why it might not work for you. In my case, by meet day I was fresher than I had been the whole training cycle and I was getting restless from not training.

I listened to an interview with Fred Hatfield, he said that the week of the meet (I think he said 5-6 days out) he would do squat and bench overloads but no actual lifting. Walkout/unrack and 10 sec. hold with 120% of his planned 3rd attempt, 2-3x. I did something like that for my last meet but only 110% and 1x, the weights all felt light except my 3rd deadlift. I had some other issues relating to my squat opener but as far as I’m concerned the peak was good.

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#11

That’s why I threw in personally, I tried it raw but didn’t like it.

The walkouts I’ve heard people do, never actually tried myself.

That’s pretty cool it worked out.

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#12

Josh Bryant said that from his experience there is no need to go over 110% of your goal 1rm, too much fatigue and injury risk. Rob Hall blew out his knee with 110% or less recently. Fred Hatfield made it work, but it’s possible that he was going unnecessarily heavy or maybe he was just a special case.

2 Likes
#13

Fred definitely is a special case lol

2 Likes
#14

Five days out take some squat doubles, bench triples and deadlift singles for 50%. Then nothing but rest and stretch until meet day.

1 Like
#15

One thing I’ve noticed during this week is that my weight usually tries to fall off.

I’ve been staying super light the past few days. Upping my intake a bit to keep me hovering around 214. I’m not cutting for this meet because I like cinnabon too much.

1 Like
#16

I find it hard to eat like normal when I’m not training hard. By the last couple days before a meet I’m forcing myself to eat close to normal quantities. The week after my last meet I was struggling to eat three meals a day, and one was just a protein shake and some toast.

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#17

6 days out now. Last night was my last training day.

Wanted a chiropractor appt but couldnt get one… damn. Prolly going to get a massage or two early this week and do my thang.

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#18

Same today I drank a shake way after training. And literally just ate lunch cause I wasn’t hungry and normally I like throwing food down.

#19

You should be able to get away with a bit less than usual, but if you totally lose your appetite and lose weight then that’s not a good thing. In the days after the meet you can always compensate for the drop in calories with beer.

1 Like
#20

Lol I’m not a drinker but yeah the decreased appetite is real. I don’t understand it. Guess the reps and other hard work I normally do conditioning wise is gone

1 Like