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Old Forum question for those with powerlifting experience

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Dan Anderson

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I am considering entering my first meet in early November or at least treating that time frame as a mock meet for the experience of preparing for one. I have a few questions.

Since october I have been using 531, prior to that very litte barbell experience. Since that time I have yet to stall or have to re calculate my max on a given lift in order to take a step back.  At this point my true maxes are much higher than the percentages I am working off of.  This is not a complaint, I am making steady progress and I am in a good groove.   If I didnt have an interest in trying to peak, I would just keep getting strong doing what I am doing. My question is now that I have an interest in peaking during a certain time frame should I consider doing something different?  Thanks for any thoughts and advice..  I hope this doesnt fall under "things are going so well help me screw it up."
 
I'm not a competitive powerlifter, so take this with several grains of salt, but I would stick with the program, at least until maybe 2-3 weeks before the meet, for a quick peaking cycle then. If it's your first meet, I'd say go, get the experience, lift what you can lift, don't worry too much about specific numbers. If you enjoy it, you can train more specifically for the next one, if need be.

The longer I lift, the more I feel like milking a good program for all it's worth, especially the first time through, is too valuable to waste. And 531, from everything I hear, is a very sustainable program. Keep doing well with it, keep making progress, and see where it gets you. Then, if you decide you want to be more powerlifting-specific, you'll have built up a great base to work from. I just finished reading the 531 book, and talking with a very experienced powerlifter who recommended it highly, and I'm really impressed with the program. Jim Wendler also has a book called "531 for powerlifting"; I haven't read that yet, don't know how it differs from the base program, but maybe you can transition to that. At $10 for the kindle edition, how wrong can you go? I'd at least read that before you make any decisions.
 
Jason,

I have both Beyond 531 and 531 for powerlifters.  Wendler offers severals ways to go about it.  Thanks  for your thoughts.

Dan

 
 
Depends on your goals. I don't do a peaking cycle but I do take it easy the week before a meet. My philosophy about competition is that it's a good metric and an excellent motivator but I'm not willing to let it get in the way of or change my training. In your shoes I'd probably work up to a "kind of max" single about 4 weeks before the meet just to have an idea what to use for my first attempts.
 
Dan, you are doing great, why not keep doing what you are doing and have a great time in your first meet without worrying about hitting the exact peak?  You will learn a lot at that meet and start planning the peak for the next one.
 
Pavel nailed it. You'll find the peak naturally through training, and you'll get better at hitting it on time for meets with experience.

Best advice I ever got: compete often. It keeps your training and your goals honest.
 
Thanks everyone. I will stay on the path I am on.

Chris, " Best advice I ever got: compete often. It keeps your training and your goals honest"   I like this a lot.

Dan
 
Are you lifting in the Iron Boy meet in Morganton in November?  I've lifted in two IBP meets.  Both times, I did not take it too seriously, just learned a lot and had fun.  I met some great people, and got good advice.   Pavel's advice is dead on- keep doing what you are doing, and have a good time.
 
Steve no, not in Morganton.  There is a meet around Raleigh in Nov.  I am excited about trying something new.
 
Cool.  If you are interested in powerlifting, Iron Boy has meets about every month somewhere in NC.  Might be worth it to drop by and take a look, meet some people.  I did my two meets and got back to business with GS, but I learned a lot and met some very strong and very gracious people at these meets.
 
Dan, when it comes to picking attempts for the meet, always start conservatively.  My advice is to pick a weight you have tripled in training on each of your three lifts.  That way, you _know_ you'll get one rep without difficulty and you won't bomb out of the meet.  (If you dind't know this, you must complete at least one attempt in each of your three lifts if you want your total to count.)

-S-
 
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