Powerlifters: the Week Before the Meet

[Gary Gibson]

About to go to my third meet. I'm still trying to figure out this tapering thing. I know some competitors do nothing the week before the meet. I'm still feeling a little residual fatigue in my legs from all the loading I've been doing. I wonder if I should go to the gym for one last light squat and bench session today. If I do, what would I be trying to accomplish? Get some blood flowing or get the feel of some heavy-ish weight around 80%?

I did my last pull a few days ago. It was a personal best, but it wasn't an all-out effort. It was testing out my new leg strength then and I'm hoping to pull maybe 5% more in competition. I know from experience the the deadlift definitely needs about a week or two (depending on the size of the lifter and the barbell in question) to recoup after a heavy effort. What I'm not sure about right now is whether or not some kind of squatting today would help or hinder my performance on Saturday.

Thanks for reading.

[cjangelo]

I'm editing this post because what I had before wasn't very useful.

I knew I had read something that I liked by Jack Reape on tapering. Here is the link:
http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/cycle_peak_taper_dominate&cr=



The Taper

The taper isn't a back-off week. In back-off weeks we're letting our body recover via reduced volume and intensity, and very little assistance. Taper weeks are focused on allowing super-compensation to occur.

Gene Bell once told me that you can't make yourself stronger in the last two weeks, but you can let yourself get stronger. Volume is down, but intensities in the 85-90% range can be used to hone the neuromuscular system. (13) During the taper, we also focus on checking and correcting any technique issues, work on improving speed lost in the heavy training blocks, and maintain only a slightly reduced level of assistance work. Week 11 would contain our last 95% plus work, and the last of any overloads, partials or walkouts. Week 12 is a back-off week, 60% rule or some reps above 7 with light weights.

Week 13 is a critical week. Our main lift volume will stay low, but some 2-3 sets of 1 to 3 reps in the 85-90% range in the squat and bench press are done here in full gear. Some speed work in the squat and deadlift also fit well here. Do your normal assistance work for triceps, lats, abs, and posterior chain. Week 14 is meet week, and I highly recommend the "Three Day Cycle" from Consistent Winning by Drs. D.D. Lobstein Ph.D. and R.D. Sandler D.P.M, adapted to powerlifting.

For a Saturday meet, on week 14 you'll do a light bench press workout on Monday. This is a great time to use chains over bands for speed work as they're easier on the body. Do some light and limited raw squats, and some lat work. Tuesday and Wednesday, don't do a thing but relax, walk a bit, and stretch. These are two days to review your training and make your final meet plan.

You had goals at the outset of the cycle and laid out a plan to get there. If your training went well or not as planned, adjust accordingly. Get it right in your head because after Wednesday night you're done thinking about it. Thursday you go to the gym and do your first two warm-up sets of bench and squat which will feel good.

Friday, you do your first three warm-up sets of bench and squat, preferably at the meet site. These will feel better than the day before. You'll feel amazingly fresh physically, and your adrenaline will rise. You need to suppress this adrenaline rush by distracting yourself and by putting the meet forcibly out of your head. I strongly advise wearing regular clothes and not warm-ups until you weigh in or start to warm up the next day.

Also, the following part titled 'Go Time' is awesome. I really can't wait to compete again.

[Mr.City]

Have you ever read the "Defying Gravity: How to win at Weightlifting" by Bill Starr. It's a book about preparing for a meet, mentally and physically. He covers nutrition, how to taper down, performance enhancing drugs, both legal and illegal, and even the issue of sex before the meet. Plus, it's got lots of pics of dudes who were 70s big. Hell, even young Rip is in there.

[lylemcd]

Are you geared or RAW

I'd argue that most of the 'take the week off' guys are heavily geared and need the break because they train ME work 51 weeks a year and are beaten up

IME, a full week off leaves most people stiff and they lose their groove. The old classic peaking approach for RAW PL (and this would go for even light gear IMO) is

10-14 days out: last heavy dead
7-10 days out: last heavy squat
5 days out: last heavy bench. So Monday, maybe to the opener (90% max) for a single. So light squat before it since squatting does hit teh shoulder girdle and will affect your bench.

2 days out: light squat,bench,dl. Maybe 60-70%, it should be a warmup and get someone to call competition commands for the practice. IT'll keep you loose, keep your groove, etc.

[NolanPower]

I agree with almost all of what Lyle said, except change his 2 days out to 3 days out, and don't deadlift that day.

[lylemcd]

I think it depends on the person, some tighten up with too long between workouts. So 3 days might be too much for some. And too little for others. One guy I worked with for strongman, I took him through an easy workout the day before. But he also had some weird injury/connective tissue issues and tightened up like a maniac without movement. I also see no problem with light deads that close. If a couple of singles at 50-60% tires you out that much, you may have bigger issues than the meet IMO.

[AidenBloodaxe]

I don't want to jack the thread, but for an inexperienced intermediate trainee would it be plausible to train as usual, but simply have a light day 3days before a meet.

I'm currently using Texas Method with a Mon, Wed, Fri schedule & I have my first meet in April which is on a Saturday. Would training as normal on Monday & thus disrupting homoeostasis considerably, then a light workout on Wednesday as usual skipping Fridays workout ready for the meet on Saturday be acceptable? After all, the aim of Fridays workout in TM is to test for RMs & increase in performance, meaning that an extra days rest should be sufficient, right?

[Gary Gibson]

Hey, thanks for the replies.

Quick question: why did 82% feel like 95% tonight??? Seriously. I just got 430x1 last week on Friday and now tonight (Monday) 365 felt really, really heavy. In fact, it felt like 405.

Don't even want to talk about bench.

Should I be this week at this point? I've actually upped my calories and am walking around over the limit just to make sure I have enough nutrients to recover.

[cjangelo]

2 days out: light squat,bench,dl. Maybe 60-70%, it should be a warmup and get someone to call competition commands for the practice. IT'll keep you loose, keep your groove, etc.

I was gonna suggest you just do some speed work on wednesday (SOME, not like a full workout's worth) or even just your warm-ups and cruise on into saturday morning's meet.


Should I be this week at this point?

Well, you got 4 days to let the fatigue dissipate. Eat and sleep and relax.

But what do I know?

[jacob cloud]

10-14 days out: last heavy dead
7-10 days out: last heavy squat
5 days out: last heavy bench. So Monday, maybe to the opener (90% max) for a single. So light squat before it since squatting does hit teh shoulder girdle and will affect your bench.

2 days out: light squat,bench,dl. Maybe 60-70%, it should be a warmup and get someone to call competition commands for the practice. IT'll keep you loose, keep your groove, etc.

This is almost exactly what I did before my last meet, and it worked great. At this point, a lifter should be aware enough of his own recovery abilities to adjust it slightly to fit themselves.

[Guido]

Are you geared or RAW

I'd argue that most of the 'take the week off' guys are heavily geared and need the break because they train ME work 51 weeks a year and are beaten up

IME, a full week off leaves most people stiff and they lose their groove. The old classic peaking approach for RAW PL (and this would go for even light gear IMO) is

10-14 days out: last heavy dead
7-10 days out: last heavy squat
5 days out: last heavy bench. So Monday, maybe to the opener (90% max) for a single. So light squat before it since squatting does hit teh shoulder girdle and will affect your bench.

2 days out: light squat,bench,dl. Maybe 60-70%, it should be a warmup and get someone to call competition commands for the practice. IT'll keep you loose, keep your groove, etc.Yes, that is a good rule of thumb, although you will need to know your own recovery abilities and adjust as needed. I personally would not do any sort of deadlift for at least 8 days before a meet. Maybe some 60% of 1RM squat and bench 4 days out for me. I would also need more than 5 days to recover from heavy bench, maybe more like 6-7 days. Of course, I'm in my 30's, have been powerlifting for 6 years, and have done 13-14 meets so I have figured out what works best for me. Someone newer to the game and younger could probably follow those guidelines as written and be fine.