8 Days out .. reflecting on Meet prep and next 8 days

Looking back on the last 10 weeks of meet prep, and off-season.. I'm pretty hesitant to say it.. but.. I feel good. Comparing this meet prep to last cycle (March '15 meet).. this cycle things went pretty good.. I hit all my lifts.. made progress.. and gained some confidence in my multiply gear while adding predator briefs in. I remember when I first put these briefs on in June a few months ago, I thought there was going to be a LONG road to get to depth in these things.. thank God they broke in since then lol.

Last cycle was my first meet prep in multiply gear, and squats went ok - but I wasn't able to find my groove in the Metal Jack shirt.. I didn't even have one good clean touch before the meet.. and ended up with a 500lb bench PR. This time around I've gotten good, clean touches - and worked up to 530lbs off a 1 board. Hopefully if all goes well, I'll  grab another bench PR. At this point, its looking like 480-505-520 for attempts.

Regarding squat, I really like how the meet prep cycle we've been running has me hammering the geared squat openers for the most part in weeks 4-5-6.. basically the theory behind the meet prep is make the lifts reliable and confident.. Its not so much about getting stronger during the meet prep (properly peaking - yes.. strength building..not so much).. but rather making sure the lifts will pass on the platform.

6-7 weeks out I was still a few inches high on the squat.. but by weeks 4-5 I was able to get passable depth.. my last opener was last week (3 weeks out) and I feel pretty good about it. Main cues are to make sure I drive my knees out and arch hard in the hole. Bringing my grip in on the bar a little (about one-hand width) has helped me tighten up my back as well. Right now, I'm looking at 605-660-700 for squat attempts. I'm going in with the plan that if anything goes bad on the opening 605, I'm going up no matter what. I PR'd last meet at 630, and I'm not going backwards. Its champ or chump in my mind.  I might drop the 2nd a little (From 660) to maybe 650.. but I'm going all in. Not interested in going backwards at this meet.

As far as the deadlift, we ran a good 12 week cycle of Deadlift work back in late-spring/early summer, and my deadlift feels stronger than ever, with form seeming to be dialed in. I hit a 605 deadlift PR in the gym in July.. my best meet PR is 550.. so anything over 550 will be a win. At this point, I'm thinking 520-560- ?? see how it feels after a long day.

My best total was 1680 back in March, and I'm hoping to break into the 1700s. 1800 would be a gift, and its do-able .. but it requires a perfect day of 700-520-580 to do it.

Time will tell.

This upcoming week, I plan to do some lightweight/bodyweight stuff just to stay loose .. I've been following a good high-protein/low-shit diet (my trademark lol) and my bodyweight was down to 268 this morning.. so weight doesn't seem to be a problem.. any lighter and my gear isnt going to fit!

Last week training plan:

Squat- (Sunday)
A few sets w/225 x 1 or 2
Some foam rolling/hip mobility stretching
Air squats

Bench- (Tuesday)
A few sets w/225 x 1 or 2
More mobility work.. some band flyes/triceps

Deadlift- (Wednesday)
A few sets w/315 x 1
Some reverse hypers/mobility work

Thurs/Fri ... Then rest up for the meet and help support my training partners on Saturday.

We have a bunch of lifters from our team competing on Saturday and Sunday, and everyone's prep seems to have gone well and inline to hit some PRs.. now its a matter of supporting each other, and git-er-done.

4 Weeks out .. Squats and Pulls

Typically 4 weeks out we are taking our 1st and 2nd attempts, and a 3rd to a reverse band. (Geared lifters).. also, we like to Squat and Pull the same day to get used to the meet workload.. that allows us to use Thursday (when we normally deadlift) as an additional Back Accessory day.

For the raw lifters, we stuck to the plan with Brian going 505-530-550 raw  in the squat, then some form pulls to 500 for two singles.

For the gear lifters, we look at today with a little flexibility - if the depth is there on the opener, then we will continue to go up to 2nd and 3rd attempts (RB).. if the depth is questionable, we will just use the day to retake the opener several times  .. (As many times as needed...) until depth is there/better..

After the squats we did some form deadlift pulls up to500lbs, pulling for 2 singles each and focusing on moving the weight fast..

Wrapped up with some light accessories of Reverse Sled drags and GHRs..

Video below:

Greg Panora and Cory "Swede" Burns Seminar

On Saturday 9/12/15, we were fortunate enough to have two top-level lifters/coaches come down to Lakeville Powerlifting to hold a hands-on workshop/seminar with our team. We capped the attendance at 10 members so that each person would have a personalized experience.

Currently Greg Panora works as a powerlifting coach at Casco Crossfit, in Portland, Maine while Swede operates "Keyhole Barbell" in Apollo, PA. Panora is the current world record holder in the Equipped 242 division with a 2630 Total, and recently also totaled 2105 at 275 in the Raw class. Swede is an EliteFTS sponsored lifter and columnist, and has developed the "5th Set" training program which has been used by many lifters with great success.

Check out Swede's awesome E-book "5th Set" here:  (I bought a copy, and its an excellent refreshing way to train... myself and the whole team look forward to running this program in the coming off-season.)

 http://www.elitefts.com/5thset-for-powerlifting-methodology-for-training-and-competition.html

The first hour or so of the day was dedicated to a classroom-type seminar talking about Powerlifting, programming, and general methods and what it takes to succeed.

After that, we broke off into two squat groups, and worked up to about 80% on our lifts while Swede and Greg critiqued and coached us. We continued onto the bench, and Swede demonstrated his method of setting up on the bench for maximum arch and leg drive.. in summary, over the past week or so - this has lead to some strong bench PRs by our lifters, as well as taking a full 1.25" off my bench stroke. At the end of the day we moved onto deadlifting.. with some great hands on coaching by the team, we had two members actually hit 25lb PRs on the deadlift that day! The rest of us worked up to about 80% again, and just focused on improving form. Greg also decided to work in with us on deadlifts, and worked up to a strong 755lb deadlift gym PR! Strong!

A couple of the biggest things I was able to take away from this seminar was:

• Benching with a better arch/tuck to take 1.25" off my stroke
• Bringing my hands in slightly on the squat to increase my back tightness
• Using the cue of "jumping" to begin the deadlift to maximize speed off the floor

Below is a 9 minute video grabbing some highlights from our 8 hour seminar. These guys are truly experts at their game and well worth your time and money if you get the chance to work with them in person at any time.. I would highly recommend their seminar to anyone looking to improve at the powerlifting game.. but my biggest advice would be make sure you  attend with an open mind to something new and different. It just might be the key to a bigger total.. rather it WILL be the key to a bigger total!

 

7 Weeks out - Squats to 92% RB 660

We are now 7 weeks out of the RPS NE Power Challenge in Everett, MA.

Our meet prep cycle started officially 3 weeks ago, but probably the most crucial weeks are these next 5 weeks, as we crank up the weights and get our body/muscles/CNS accustomed to the heavy work.... laid out as below:

Weeks 7/6 - Heavy Squats/Benches to openers..

Week 5 - Deload

Week 4/3 - Heavy Squats/Benches to 2nd attempts.. some reverse band PRs

Then Weeks 2-1 are basically cruise-in weeks to peak for the meet.

Today we worked up to openers for doubles for raw lifters, and 2nd attempts for singles w/reverse band for equipped lifters. We added in knee wraps for all top/working sets.

Fred went back to his old single-ply Centurion squat suit, and seems to have better form with it.
My Inzer Predator briefs are finally breaking in, and depth is getting much closer.. still high.. but now I at least feel it is "attainable" within the next 3 training weeks.. 

Squats -

Brandon worked up to 385 and 405, 2 reps each set
Brian went 485 and 505, 2 reps each set
Fred went 475, 515, and then 565 reverse band
Nick went 600 for 2 reps, then 660 reverse band

Accessory work-

Close stance piston squats 3x6 (205 lbs)
Stiff Leg Dls - 135, 185, 275
Sled Drags - 4 trips
Rolling Planks - 4x10

Tyler Linster's first meet RPS Southern Mass Blast 2

After joining LPL at the beginning of this year, Tyler decided to do a push-pull (bench/deadlift) meet to get some real baseline meet PRs as well as test his training. Being that there was no squatting in the meet, we decided to use a Smolov Jr bench peaking program to get his bench dialed in, and do some real light deadlift work on occasional days.

Going into the program, Tyler's 1 rep PR was a rough 200lbs. Probably wouldn't have passed in a meet... After 720 reps(see other posts for details on the Smolov Jr routine) later, he crushed his old PR with a 30lb gain, and a final bench attempt of 230lbs. For deadlift, his meet PR was 365lbs.. and finished with another 35lb gain.. and a 400lb deadlift...! Nice job Tyler .. hard work pays off!

Video below:

9 Weeks out Meet Prep.. Squats to 75% / 565lbs

Right now we are 9 weeks out of RPS Powerlifting's NE Power Challenge..

Today was 10% more weight than last session.. took Squats to 75%.

Raw lifters had 3 working sets of 3 reps
Equipped lifters had 2 working sets of 2 reps

We worked on sorting out depth for raw lifters, and driving knees out and staying more upright for equipped lifters...

Me personally, I am planning on opening squat around 650lbs.. going to need at least 600+ to get depth.

I'm happy with all our lifters progress.. with every session our form is improving.. we should start hitting openers/2nd attempts in another 2-3 weeks.

The most important things right now is to get brutally honest with depth and form so there are no surprises and disappointments on the platform. This is one of the most important parts of being a quality training team. Blowing smoke up each other's asses about how deep and great their squat is, does no good when sitting in front of 3 judges on a platform. Our job is to make sure everyone's lifts get passed come meet day.

Brian 445 x 3, Brandon 335 x 3, Fred 475 x 2, Nick 565 x 2

Accessories:

Romanian deadlifts 3x10 - No lockout
135 x 10
225 x 10
315 x 10 x 2

GHRs- 80 Reps

Pause Squats 3 x 6 reps
205lbs 3 x 6

Light deadlift accessory day.. heading into meet prep

Thursday was a super light day for me has we start meet prep with some 70% squats on Sunday. I just wanted to stay loose and get some back/hamstring work in.

A couple of our lifters won't be able to make it on Sunday, so they started their meet prep today.
Fred is lifting in the equipped class, and Chris will be lifting Raw Classic.

First day of Squat Meet prep :

Squats 70% 3x3  (Fred - 425lbs, Chris - 335lbs)
With Fred lifting equipped, we aren't going to see depth on the squats until about 475lbs, each squat was cut about 2" high right now. Chris lifting raw, did a good job on all his reps of hitting depth.

Pause squats - 6 sets x 6 reps
Dumbbell Lunges - 3 sets x 10 reps
Stir-the-pot ab work - 3 sets x 20 reps (10 to the left, 10 to the right)

For my light deadlift assistance day, I kept it really simple..

Back hyperextensions -
135lbs x 10 reps x 3 sets
225lbs x 10 reps x 1 sets

GHRs -
80 reps

Video below-