So I just started training with a former world champion PL’er. I have been weight lifting religiously for about 5 years. I am 5’4" 157lbs and about 12% BF. I’m trying to bulk up to a solid 170 and cut to 165 for competition. I have been looking through the forums and there is a lot of good info but I had a few questions. I am only in my third serious week of training. I plan on lifting 100% RAW.
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Should I benchmark my self to see where I am currently performing? I’ve had a natural Max bench of 315 for years but my new bench technique makes me feel like a bitch. No clue what I max dead lift or squat.
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How often should I test my max? I respect the hell out of my trainer but he has expressed that this is not important right now.
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At my weight where do I need to be in my lifts to truly be competitive? I look at a lot of meet results from around the country and I find that the 165lb class is not well represented which makes it hard to see what kind of numbers I need to get to in order to place in a competition. I know I shouldn’t care about this but I don’t do anything to lose. I am very competitive and I want to always be the best.
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My trainer thinks by the end of the year based on what he see’s I will be benching around 325, squatting 500, and dead lifting 575-600 . Is this realistic? Squat and Dead lift seem huge to me while bench seems a little low.
Again I am new here and I’m sorry if any of these questions have been asked before.
If you are training with a former PL champion wouldn’t be better to ask him questions instead of us amateurs?
If you truly hit those numbers raw, at your weight, there won’t be too many people beating you. Especially on the local circuits. If he truly is a World Champion PL’er, than listen to him. Obviously he knows what to do. What’s his name?
[quote]MiniMike wrote:
- Should I benchmark my self to see where I am currently performing?[/quote]
Your training should show you where you’re currently performing. Even if you don’t know one-rep maxes, your rep-work should give you some ballpark of where you stand in all three lifts.
[quote]MiniMike wrote:
- How often should I test my max? I respect the hell out of my trainer but he has expressed that this is not important right now.[/quote]
As often as is necessary for you, and a max-test is never necessary to gain strength.
[quote]MiniMike wrote:
3. At my weight where do I need to be in my lifts to truly be competitive? I look at a lot of meet results from around the country and I find that the 165lb class is not well represented which makes it hard to see what kind of numbers I need to get to in order to place in a competition. I know I shouldn’t care about this but I don’t do anything to lose. I am very competitive and I want to always be the best.[/quote]
The 165-lb. weight class actually is very well represented, with plenty of talented lifters. To win a local meet, you might not need that big of a total. For bigger meets, it just depends upon who attends. Being near the top twenty 165s in the country requires at least a 1300-lb. raw total. To be top ten, you’ll likely need 1400+. And then there is a small group of lifters (Vashon Perryman, Tony Conyers, and Paul Nguyen) totaling 1500+ at that weight class right now. Perryman recently totaled 1603 at RUM with a 606 squat, 314 bench press, and 716 deadlift. So, to be the best, you would need 1600+.
[quote]MiniMike wrote:
- My trainer thinks by the end of the year based on what he see’s I will be benching around 325, squatting 500, and dead lifting 575-600 . Is this realistic? Squat and Dead lift seem huge to me while bench seems a little low.[/quote]
There is no way to answer this without knowing anything about your current numbers on squat and deadlift.
KlyeKeough gave you some good info. Just to follow up
I am assuming since you said you would lift 100% RAW you know that is a specific federation and you want to lift with them. A 1261 total would give you elite status with them, which means top 10 or better in the country for that year - drug tested, strict form on the lifts.
If your training partner is really any good in general trust him, at least until his advice clearly pans out to be wrong (ie you train with him for 6 months doing exactly what he says and then you are noticeably weaker then when you started). If you change your form is natural for it to feel weird for a while, and often the former required for a meet is stricter than what a regular lifter is used to doing, so what one thinks they bench (with a fast touch and go for example) is different than a real bench with a pause, no foot movement, etc.
Those goal numbers are great but can’t tell how realistic since we don’t know where you are, videos would be better. It is certainly likely however that you will make the most progress in the squat and DL especially training them competitively, most people train their bench pretty hard anyway.
If you want to do more comparisons to go the 100% RAW website and look around at state/national records. They will also put up the lifter classifications soon, it is currently being reworked but they still have a lot of info on their site:
http://rawpowerlifting.com/
Finally I would go to a meet and watch it and see what it is all about (or compete in one, even better). Good luck with your training
I appreciate the responses. My trainer is Bud Ravenscroft. He is on in age but still looks absolutely fantastic. I want to ask him but I don’t want to insult him. He is an awesome trainer but he just doesnt believe in certain things, so im just curious what others think.
Every week I add 10 lbs onto everything and stay at the same reps. Where does this even come close to baselining me, anyone?
Currently my training is
Mon- Light bench
6x10x155
5x155 4 sec pause on chest
6x145 4 sec pause
7x135 4 sec pause
3x10x135 close grip
4x10x35 reverse curls super set with 4x10x25 hammer curls
4x10x45 power dips
tues Dead Lift light squat
10x155
10x205
6x245
6x265
6x285
6x305
10x245
squat
4x10x15
fri heavy chest
10x155
5x155
5x165
5x175
5x185
10x155 4 sec pause on chest
3x10x155 close grip
4x10x35 reverse curls super set with 4x10x25 hammer curls
4x10x45 power dips
Sat Squats
2x8x155
6x245
4x6x2852x10x155 close stance
stiff leg deadlifts 4x10x225
straight bar upright rows
4x10x90+