this saturday is my first PL meet, and I am doing a full meet. Today I did mostly light work and some BW work, but I did 2 heavy sets of close grip bench because I couldnt resist. How do most people prepare during this time?
The monday or Tuesday before a meet I do 2 sets of 20 bodypart machine work and that is all. Rest up and by Saturday you will be chomping at the bit and strong as fuck.
[quote]brauny96 wrote:
this saturday is my first PL meet, and I am doing a full meet. Today I did mostly light work and some BW work, but I did 2 heavy sets of close grip bench because I couldnt resist. How do most people prepare during this time? [/quote]
is it raw? not that it matters am just wondering lol
For my first meet, I went in, did technique work just ease my nerves and did squats and deadlifts with 135 on the bar just to practice my technique. For bench I did like 100lbs I think. I was really friggin nervous so it helped with that. Use this time to strengthen your connective tissue. Someone told me that I needed to convince myself that the less I did, the stronger I’d get.
[quote]Kerley wrote:
brauny96 wrote:
this saturday is my first PL meet, and I am doing a full meet. Today I did mostly light work and some BW work, but I did 2 heavy sets of close grip bench because I couldnt resist. How do most people prepare during this time?
is it raw? not that it matters am just wondering lol[/quote]
this meet is raw, next one is single ply
i typically hit my squat and deadlift openers on monday, my bench opener on tuesday. on thursday i do like 2 to 3 sets of light squats to keep my hips loose because they get really tight and a couple db exercises for bloodflow. then of course eat my face off after weigh ins
The week before my last meet I hit bench openers on friday, squat and dl openers on saturday and then just rested up for that whole week before the meet, I tried to sleep as much as I could and I didn’t train at all
[quote]musicma1n1 wrote:
For my first meet, I went in, did technique work just ease my nerves and did squats and deadlifts with 135 on the bar just to practice my technique. For bench I did like 100lbs I think. I was really friggin nervous so it helped with that. Use this time to strengthen your connective tissue. Someone told me that I needed to convince myself that the less I did, the stronger I’d get.[/quote]
Indeed mate. You want to go in fresh with as little fatigue as possible.
I do Oly comps
Mon: 90% Snatch and C&J, front squat to heavy single
Wed: 90% Snatch and C&J, front squat to heavy single
Comps are on Saturday or Sunday and thats all I do.
Koing
Good luck Brauny, let us know how you do!
Since it’s now Tuesday, if you go to the gym today or tomorrow do what others said and only light, like warm up set light, technique work or nothing at all. Outside of the gym, keep loose with stretching and mobility work. As of now, resist any urge to go heavy.
Good luck and bring someone to take vids.
I will typically just do some bodyweight or just bar weight stuff to keep blood flowing and then just chill out all week and set up my weight cut or something…
[quote]brauny96 wrote:
this saturday is my first PL meet, and I am doing a full meet. Today I did mostly light work and some BW work, but I did 2 heavy sets of close grip bench because I couldnt resist. How do most people prepare during this time? [/quote]
I would say you’ve already done too much. Resist the urge to go in the gym and do your openers this week. You can’t get any stronger by training during this time, so let your body recover and compensate. If you try to do too much this week you will blow your wad in the gym before you even step on the platform.
Rest, relax, eat, and mentally prepare yourself for the task ahead.
Best of luck! Let us know how you do!
My plan typically is like this-
3 weeks pre-meet: light squat, last heavy pull, heavy bench
2 weeks pre-meet: last heavy squat, maybe medium weight pulls, heavy bench
1 week pre-meet: last heavy bench, very light squats, no pulls
The last heavy sessions on each lift mimic the meet. I wear whatever gear I will use in the meet. No box squats. I use straight weight (no chains, bands) for full-range singles. I touch my chest when benching and have a partner give a “press” command. I focus on hitting depth in squats- I a trainign partner call my depth. Overall, I try to pretend I’m doing judged lifts. I work up to something heavier than I will open at- but nothing I feel iffy about making. The idea here is to hit weights that will make me fearless about my opener and give me an idea of what a good second attempt will be.
I do nothing in the 6 or 7 days before the meet. I focus on eating a lot and getting lots of sleep. I take it easy on the alcohol during this week.
I would recommend taking an epsom salt bath tonight, Thursday night, and Friday night. Follow the instructions in this article: Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION
If you follow this protocol you will likely be amazed at how much calm confidence you have. Also, your nervous system will be primed and ready to rock. Oh, and best of luck at the meet.
i’m eager to know how it all goes! good luck with the meet!
The biggest thing is to develop a training methodology, and this includes what you do the week before the meet, that allows you to hit the platform stronger than you were your last heavy day in the gym. Not “as strong” and certainly not weaker.
I know reading this everybody is saying, “No shit,” but think about how many conversations you get into on meet day with people who, “did X” in the gym the week before and can’t understand why they had a tough day.
Peaking for a meet is an art form and the reality of things is most people don’t stick with a particular training style long enough to understand how to effectively peak on it.
For us, we do our last heavy pull two weeks out but do a light 3x3 10 days out.
Last heavy squat is also 2 weeks out but we squat moderate the week before and real light Monday the week of.
Same with bench. Last heavy bench 2 weeks out, moderate the week before and real light Tuesday the week of.
Nothing from Wednesday on. In fact, we try to do as little physical activity as possible. Sloth mode.
The work Monday and Tuesday the week of is basically muscle memory and keeping from going crazy from not hitting the gym that week.
Again, we will have lifters attempt weight on meet day they have never touched before because we work very hard to structure cycles that have them stronger on meet day than they were 2 weeks prior.
Bottom line, IMO, doing anything heavy, and I know plenty of damn good lifters who do their openers Monday before the meet, is really misguided.
The work’s already done and now it’s time to trust your cycle.
[quote]apwsearch wrote:
The biggest thing is to develop a training methodology, and this includes what you do the week before the meet, that allows you to hit the platform stronger than you were your last heavy day in the gym. Not “as strong” and certainly not weaker.
I know reading this everybody is saying, “No shit,” but think about how many conversations you get into on meet day with people who, “did X” in the gym the week before and can’t understand why they had a tough day.
Peaking for a meet is an art form and the reality of things is most people don’t stick with a particular training style long enough to understand how to effectively peak on it.
For us, we do our last heavy pull two weeks out but do a light 3x3 10 days out.
Last heavy squat is also 2 weeks out but we squat moderate the week before and real light Monday the week of.
Same with bench. Last heavy bench 2 weeks out, moderate the week before and real light Tuesday the week of.
Nothing from Wednesday on. In fact, we try to do as little physical activity as possible. Sloth mode.
The work Monday and Tuesday the week of is basically muscle memory and keeping from going crazy from not hitting the gym that week.
Again, we will have lifters attempt weight on meet day they have never touched before because we work very hard to structure cycles that have them stronger on meet day than they were 2 weeks prior.
Bottom line, IMO, doing anything heavy, and I know plenty of damn good lifters who do their openers Monday before the meet, is really misguided.
The work’s already done and now it’s time to trust your cycle.[/quote]
This is similar to what I have found in experimenting with my own peaking.
3 weeks out, I typically take my heaviest squat and deadlift.
2 weeks out I will take openers on squat and deadlift and my heaviest bench.
1 week out I squat moderate weight in just briefs, bench opener(10 days out) and no deads
Week of meet, Monday 2 sets of 20 per each bodypart. Pump up work, usually machines.
I came up with this after a few years of experimenting and it has allowed me to come in MUCH stronger at the meet than I’ve ever been in training. The first time I used this peak a couple years ago, the heaviest squat I had taken in training was a 515 grinder and at the meet I SMOKED 545. I used this with one of my training partners for his last meet and his heaviest training squat was a 685 grinder and he smashed 745 at the meet.
Good luck Brauny
what about nutrition leading up to a meet? what do you guys suggest as far as carbs and calories leading up to it?
[quote]Zen Taco wrote:
what about nutrition leading up to a meet? what do you guys suggest as far as carbs and calories leading up to it?[/quote]
If you’re not trying to make weight, don’t change anything. Especially on meet day. Don’t start putting foods into your system that it’s not used to.
Eat whatever you normally eat the night before a training day. Meet day can be tough because you have to time your meals with your warmups/comp lifts, but try to eat “normal” foods for yourself.
[quote]Zen Taco wrote:
what about nutrition leading up to a meet? what do you guys suggest as far as carbs and calories leading up to it?[/quote]
I eat a lot. It improves recovery. It gets my bodyweight up (I don’t don’t really care about weight classes any more) which makes me stronger and makes my gear fit tighter. Heavy eating also seems to make me sleep more, which also improves recovery. I eat a little bit of everything, but I shoot for getting in plenty of quality fat and protein.