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Your first powerlifting competition- your build up starts here |
| I recommend that all first time lifters lift "raw" in their first competition. By "raw" I mean with out suits, shirts and wraps and only with a belt. In my opinion this is the best possible way to be introduced to the sport. Wearing supportive equipment will be a distraction in the early part of your career. I would rather that lifters adapted to the pressure of competition and became proficient lifters without having the added worry of supportive equipment. Phase 1- Power-building In an earlier article on gofigure, I introduced the concept of powerbuilding. For the first 8 weeks I recommend that you continue with the approach. In this article I outlined an approach that introduced the 3 powerlifts while continuing with high volume assistance training with a bodybuilding emphasis. A basic schedule will look like this Monday- Squat (legs and posterior chain) Tuesday- Rest Wednesday- Bench (chest and triceps) Thursday- Rest Friday- Deadlift (deadlift and upper back) Saturday- Shoulders and biceps. Refer to my article below for some ideas on a training template. http://www.gofigure.co.nz/doc/content/view/1170/45/ This phase is designed to continue building your base and your familiarity with the 3 powerlifts. You will continue to build muscle and strengthen your weak points. This will allow a smooth transition into the next 9 week phase- the powerlifting specific build up.  Phase 2- Powerlifting specific build up Over the next 9 weeks the objective is competition readiness. The focus shifts from a power-building approach to a powerlifting approach. I am still a big fan of assistance exercises, particularly in the first few weeks but the emphasis needs to be on the 3 powerlifts and recovering in time for the next training session. The basic training template does not change: Weeks 1-5 Monday- Squat (legs and posterior chain) Tuesday- Rest Wednesday- Bench (chest and triceps) Thursday- Rest Friday- Deadlift (deadlift and upper back) Saturday- Shoulders and biceps. Weeks 6-8 Monday- Squat (legs and posterior chain) Tuesday- Rest Wednesday- Bench (chest, shoulders and arms) Thursday- Rest Friday- Deadlift (deadlift and upper back) Saturday- Rest Week 9 Monday- Squat Tuesday- Bench Wednesday- Rest Thursday- Rest Friday- Rest Saturday- Compete Much has been written about the Westside approach and Sheiko. We will explore these templates in later articles. I favour a progressive overload approach for beginners. This is because it is simpler and allows and allows the lifter to focus on the goal weight for a particular workout. As usual, I like to keep things very simple. I have lifters establish their goals for the contest. This is done by calculating the current one rep maximum and then setting a realistic goal for the competition. It is important that the goals that a lifter sets are realistic.  We then input the numbers into the template below. The template should be applied to all three lifts: Week 1- 60% (of goal in competition) x 8 reps Week 2- 65% x 8 reps Week 3- 70% x 5 reps Week 4- 75% x 5 reps Week 5- 80% x 5 reps Week 6- 85% x 3 reps Week 7- 90% x 3 reps Week 8- 95% x 2 reps Week 9- 90% x 1 rep (opener) Competition- 90%, 95%-97.5%, 100%-102.5% You will see that I favour one working set each week. The key is to attain the necessary reps each week using competition form. I like my lifters to always have a rep in store at the end of their working set. This will keep the confidence high for the next week. Loss of confidence is the biggest reason for missed reps in my opinion. If the lifter misses a rep at any stage, a re-evaluation is required. Assistance work For detailed program design, I am more than happy to assist. But again, keep it simple. In the first 5 weeks, I like to choose 3-4 movements and perform a total of 12-16 sets per workout. I would monitor the lifter in weeks 6-7 to see how they were recovering. If they were physically and mentally on track, I would keep the workload high. If they were showing signs of fatigue I would reduce the assistance work. I often will remove all assistance work for a week in say week 6. It's all about listening to what the body is telling you. No assistance work is performed in weeks 8 or 9. Your first contest should be fun and rewarding. This will give you a good introduction to the sport and allow you to focus on your next goals. In a future article I will cover off other aspects of competing including the rules, competing on the day and making your weight class. I welcome your questions or comments: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Check at my blog for more powerbuilding articles. http://biggerstrongersmarter.wordpress.com/ |