What Numbers Should I Aim for on the Meet?

Hi!
I will have a powerlifting meet next weekend, but i was stupid, and never tested my total. Since i’m on my deload week, i can’t test it now because it would probably hinder my performance on meet day. So i had a 6 week training block, and a 4 week peaking right after it, so by now i’m probably pretty faigued. I followed a peaking cycle written by Mike Isratel: http://bit.ly/1TjInWi
Last week on the third week of peaking i lifted these weights:
Benchpress: 2x3 127.5kg (284lbs) which was 10/10 on the effort, so i wouldn’t be able to do one more rep nor increase weight with 2.5kg and do the same amount of reps.
Squat: 2x3 162.5kg (360lbs) this was 9/10 effort, so i probably wouldn’t be able to do 1 more rep, but probably could have done the same reps with 2.5kg more.
Deadlift: 2x3 182.5kg (405lbs) this was a 9/10 also.

I was thinking to do these lift on the meet:
Bench: 125/130/135-140kg (275/287/297-308lbs)
Squat: 160/170/175-180kg (352/374/386-396lbs)
Deadlift: 185/195/200-205kg (405/430/440-450lbs)

Based on my last weeks lifts when i was beat up from 9 weeks of constant training (3x/ week benchpress and squat, 2x/week deadlift +accessories), are these numbers correct for my first meet? Should i start with lower numbers? Are the weight jumps good? I’m confident, that i’m able to hit all my second attempts even on a bad day, but how much should my third attempts be?
Thanks for the help guys!

Generally you don’t want to increase the weight jump between attempts. It’s a balance between conserving energy and priming yourself for the next set. The only time you really increase the jump is if you were way off in judging your strength and the first two attempts were ridiculously easy.

I think your bench attempt would be better at 125/132.5/135-140. If you trained competition pauses then it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a problem. If you didn’t pause for very long, it might be better to go slightly less. The squat seems fine.

For deadlift, I like taking bigger jumps because by then I’m already fatigued but at the same time everything already feels warmed up to lift heavy. I would go with 180/192.5/200-205. The third attempts seem reasonable. Just pick them based on how the second attempt moves.

Good luck!

[quote]nagyb wrote:
Hi!
I will have a powerlifting meet next weekend, but i was stupid, and never tested my total. Since i’m on my deload week, i can’t test it now because it would probably hinder my performance on meet day. So i had a 6 week training block, and a 4 week peaking right after it, so by now i’m probably pretty faigued. I followed a peaking cycle written by Mike Isratel: http://bit.ly/1TjInWi
Last week on the third week of peaking i lifted these weights:
Benchpress: 2x3 127.5kg (284lbs) which was 10/10 on the effort, so i wouldn’t be able to do one more rep nor increase weight with 2.5kg and do the same amount of reps.
Squat: 2x3 162.5kg (360lbs) this was 9/10 effort, so i probably wouldn’t be able to do 1 more rep, but probably could have done the same reps with 2.5kg more.
Deadlift: 2x3 182.5kg (405lbs) this was a 9/10 also.

I was thinking to do these lift on the meet:
Bench: 125/130/135-140kg (275/287/297-308lbs)
Squat: 160/170/175-180kg (352/374/386-396lbs)
Deadlift: 185/195/200-205kg (405/430/440-450lbs)

Based on my last weeks lifts when i was beat up from 9 weeks of constant training (3x/ week benchpress and squat, 2x/week deadlift +accessories), are these numbers correct for my first meet? Should i start with lower numbers? Are the weight jumps good? I’m confident, that i’m able to hit all my second attempts even on a bad day, but how much should my third attempts be?
Thanks for the help guys![/quote]

There are a couple of ways you could go about it. I’m guessing this is your first meet, so be very conservative. You want to go 9/9 if at all possible. Factor in that you’re using different equipment (possibly even to the extent of a squat, bench and deadlift bar along with a monolift, depending on your federation) and you REALLY want to play it safe.

Option one would be to go

Attempt 1: around 87-93% PR
Attempt 2: current PR
Attempt 3: 2.5-5 kg PR

That’s what I did for my first meet and it went fine, even though I was new to all the bars and the mono.

Second option is to go:

Attempt 1: 88% of goal
Attempt 2: 94% of goal
Attempt 3: goal

To me, your bench attempts look fine but your squat and DL are way too close to each other. You might want to drop your first a little and even your second.

Also, I noticed in your peaking you hit triples. When did you last hit a heavy single, around 95% of your max or higher? Personally, I’d be a bit wary of coming into a meet not having hit a heavy single two or so weeks out. Usually I’ll hit my squat and bench opener around five days out and my DL two weeks out.

Bottom line, pick first attempts you know you’ll smoke. Seconds you should know you’ll get even if things are going great, and third you should be realistically confident of. Remember, if it’s your first meet it is arguably more important to go 9/9 than posting huge PRs. A 2.5-5 kg PR is good as it is, and then you can work from your new meet PRs for your next cycle.