Powerlifting Meet Recap, Training Updates, Warm Up & Openers, Sumo and Stuff You Should Read

What a week.

Well, mainly last Sunday was great, the rest of the week sucked as far as training goes! Here's what happened:

Powerlifting Meet Recap

Last week I got Seven of Nine:

Resistance is futile.

7 of 9 attempts that is!

My second squat attempt at 235 Kg (518 lb) did not count because I didn't wait for the squat command, and I missed a 175 Kg (385.8 lb) bench press most likely due to my back slipping on the bench when I engaged my leg drive on the ascent.

Finished off with these numbers in the 90 Kg (198.4 lb) weight class:

Squat: 235 Kg (518 lb)
Bench Press: 170 Kg (374.8 lb)
Deadlift: 255 Kg (562.2 lb)
Total: 660 Kg (1455 lb)

Here's my full meet write up.

I already posted videos to individual lifts, but here's a compilation of all the lifts in one easy to watch video, which is set to a song that goes well with everything:

Post Meet Training

So after maxing out at the competition last week, I didn't really have any immediate plans about training post-meet, so I decided to screw around for the most part.

Screwing around for me = trying to hit MOAR 1 rep maxes!

Unfortunately I missed on all lifts haha

I did hit a 1RM on the sumo deadlift, but that's because it was my first real attempt at trying out that exercise.

Goals & Training Updates

So the goal is to hit these numbers for the next meet, or by the end of the year:

Squat: 250 Kg (551.2 lb)
Bench Press: 182.5 Kg (402.3 lb)
Deadlift: 272.5 Kg (600.8 lb)
Total: 705 Kg (1554.3 lb)

My training will be more or less the same, which is as followed:

Monday:

Low Bar Squat: 3x3
High Bar Squat: 3x3
Low Bar Squat: 1x5
High Bar Squat: 1x5
Face Pulls
Reverse Grip Bench Press: 5x5 or 10x3

Tuesday:

Jump Rope/Heavy Bag
L-Sit Chin Ups
Neck Training

Wednesday:

Front Squat: 3x3 or 5x3
Overhead Press: 3x5 (or something else)
Barbell Curl: 3x5-10

Friday:

Low Bar Squat: 2x3
High Bar Squat: 2x3
Face Pulls
Reverse Grip Bench Press: 3x3
Conventional/Mat Pulls/Sumo/Suitcase Deadlifts

The sets and reps may change up and time goes by (or right away), but the exercise will likely remain the same throughout.

As far as progression goes, I'm going to stick with adding 2.5 lb to the bar every week (for most lifts). It's been working well, and so far it has been a sustainable increase in weight.

Occasionally I'll attempt some sort of PR on a Wednesdays and Fridays, depending on how I feel.

Pre-Workout Warm Ups

My pre-workout warm ups will look like this:

Foam Rolling
Ab Wheel
Band Pull Aparts
Shoulder Dislocations
L-Sit Chin Ups

I decided to start using the ab wheel to strengthen my abs, and to make use of an piece of exercise equipment that has been collecting dust for a while.

I'm hoping the stronger core I build from using the ab wheel will translate to all my lifts.

Warm Ups & Openers

My warmup for the squat and bench press will follow a similar pattern.

I will warm up to a paused heavy single, and then drop back down in weight for my work sets.

For this heavy single (also known as an "over-warm up"), I'm aiming to get it to a load that is equal to my intended openers for my next meet.

So I guess you can say I'm warming up to my openers, then dropping back down to my work sets.

Also, pausing my warm ups has been an easy (and sneaky) way to add paused lifts to my training without having to screw around much with the exercises. I'm building power out of the hole with paused squats, and getting strong in the bottom position for the bench press. I'll be pausing in competition anyways, so might as well do it during warm ups (and occasionally work sets).

I pretty much did this while training for the powerlifting meet that was held last week, and it seemed to have worked well.

For the squat, I have squatted 460 lb (my squat opener at the meet was 463 lb) many, many times during training as the last warm up set before dropping down in weight. Also, I have benched press 330 lb (which was also the weight I chose for my opener) many times. Same deal with the deadlift.

I feel that hitting an a weight that is intended to be used as an opener during a meet over and over again during training (as a friggin' WARM UP!) will build confidence and familiarity with that weight and ensure that you (or I) won't miss the first attempt at any lift.

The last point about warm ups is that I've recently started warming up during the squat without a belt, up to around 410 lb (paused squat), in an attempt to further strengthen my core.

Sumo Deadlift

As mentioned earlier, I started doing sumo deadlifts.

Why?

Simply as a potential way to deadlift more weight through a shorter range of motion.

Combined with a hook grip (which also shortens the range of motion slightly), the sumo deadlift hypothetically could be the best deadlifting "style" for me and my T-rex arms.

Looking at the video, I already see some things I can improve on:

More vertical shin
More vertical arms
Pulling back on the bar more

I'm still not sure when to program the sumo deadlift in, but I'll probably be training with conventional deadlifts more often and throw in sumo if I ever want a lighter day in order to practice the technique, and take a bit of the stress off my lower back.