weightlifting competition help

spacechick365

The place where I work is putting on a Bench press and dead lift competition on Jan 18th. I have already signed up and this will be my first ever competition. There will be prizes for the top 3 males and females and will be based on percentage of weight lifted. I have 5 weeks from today to get prepared. I currently am seeing a personal trainer once a week to work on making sure I have the correct form and knowing how much weight I can do. I weight 202 right now and last night we worked on gettign to the weight I can only do 3-5 times. I'm there in bench press at 85 lbs right now. On dead lift we worked up to 135lbs. That is where we will start next time but I had done so many dead lifts to get there my forearms were starting to get sore (we started at 85lbs). I am eating mostly meat and veggies from now until then to try and lose weight with out losign my ability to lift. That was originally why I started lifting and have a very long way to go before I will be at my ideal weight.

So now to why I'm posting here. Since this is my first ever competition, I don't know what to expect and I don't know what other people do to get ready. Everything I can find on the internet is for at max 1 week out. Any advice would be greatly apreciated in anythign from diet to excercises to do between the days I see my trainer. She has set me up with a cardio circuit program that I do three times a week and it takes about 30 min to complete. Thank you everyone in advance!

wareagle8706

bump. I'm curious!

Sorry I can't give any input. What specifically is meant by "percentage of weight lifted?" Can you give an example?

taso42

I would recommend eating at maintenance level at least the week leading up to it, if not 2 or more weeks.

Follow a tried and true program with a good progression like 5/3/1.

At the end of your worksets, add in some heavy singles - target about 85% of your competition goal.

Make the week leading up to the comp a deload week.

Ditch the cardio the week before as well.

Strive for PERFECT form. You will get the most out of these lifts if your form is spot on.

spacechick365

They take your weight as a base. Then how ever much you lift is a percentage of your weight. So I weight 200lbs. If I can lift 100lbs then that is 50% of my weight. 200lbs is 100%, 300lbs is 150%. Hope that clears that up.

MoreBean13

Bump to follow.

XXXMinnieXXX

Good luck! Xxx

Abells

I don't eat at maintenance and continue to lift and get stronger. My DL 1 rep max is now at 270 which is just under 2X my weight.

My suggestion is to follow your trainer and continue to build. The 5/3/1 is a good method. However, don't burn out! Don't over train to the point where you are consistently sore. Don't forget to take a day off. Keep up your protein and healthy eating.

how many days are you currently training?

taso42

I don't eat at maintenance and continue to lift and get stronger.

Ditto here for roughly half the year. But this thread is specifically about competition prep. Why eat at a deficit while prepping for a comp? Why not provide plenty of fuel for a 100% recovery before the meet?

wellbert

if you want to win, you're going to need to eat a lot of fuel, and lots of it should be protein. Plus sleep.

Rottnme

I spent some time as a powerlifter and as part of a training group of very competitive (state and nationally ranked) guys in my area. I'm not sure where to go with becasue your situation, being that it is a work competition, is pretty different from everything I have experienced but I think I can give you a little info....

What you should find almost immediately is that Powerlifting as a sport, until you get into the upper levels of competition, is mostly about competing with yourself. You push yourself to do the best you can do on that day, and to leave knowing that you left little to nothing on the table. Unless those around you are complete jerks, you should also find that this is can be one of the most supportive sports there is becasue of this. I have seen nationally ranked rivals help pump each other up and chear for one another becasue they understand the work involved and they want that person to succeed for themself.

Typically, powerlifting and weightloss do not go hand in hand becasue as you train to gain muscle you must gain weight. BUT for your purposes, starting out, you will do fine. The key will be to train, train, and train some more. Most people practice and recommend training each group of body parts twice a week (once heavy, once lighter with higher reps) in this case I would couple chest, shoulder, and tricepts in one workout group, legs and back in another. For your heavy workout do the primary competition lifts (bench and dead in this case), for the light workout, focus on higher reps that hit those same muscles but use different excercises. Doing this will help keep you in shape an building muscle while preventing over taxing the muscles, joints, and tendons. Also do not do both heavy lifts on the same day as they will both suffer.

As for the competition eat a good meal a couple of hours before hand and feed your engine. In a standard competition you get three lifts. The first lift gets you on the boards. It should be heavy but at a weight that you know you can nail. Other than because of a technicality, there should never be a reason to miss the first lift. Do your warm up, hit that lift to get on the board and into the groove and then get serious. The second lift is typically the bread and butter lift. This is typically where you attempt 90-100% of your anticipated training max. Hit this and improve your placement, miss it and you get a second shot at it. The third is the lift that changes you. This is the personal record, the adrenaline fix, the one that leaves you feeling alive. Take the knowledge from the first two lifts, set your weight, commit to it in your mind, and get into your head. When you hit the bench or the mat, you must KNOW you have it. This WILL NOT BE EASY but success comes from the heart. Dig deep here becaseu this lift is the reason for the sweat, blood, tears, pain, and the all of the hours of training that you put in. Give it everything you have and don't quit they make you quit. If you do this, succeed or not, I guarantee that you will walk away with a sense of accomplishement and pride that few experience with wieghts.

All of that said, the most important thing is to try hard and have fun! Support those around you, do your best, and you won't regret the experience. Good luck!!!

LorinaLynn

I have no advice, I just want to wish you luck. :drinker:

What kind of job do you have? I wish I worked someplace that had this kind of contest. I've seen places that had Biggest Loser type competitions, which I'd never win because even when I had a fair bit to lose, I lost slowly, but THIS is something I could get behind! :happy:

millerll

I compete several times a year. I second what Taso said about 5/3/1. Some of the best lifters i know use it. Since I live under a rock, I had not heard of it until a month ago. I'm going light right now since I just had a meet, but I'm right back into it after the new year, and I'm going to give 5/3/1 a try. I've stagnated in my current routine, so this sounds like a welcome change.

And a big thumbs-up to everything rottnme said about what to expect on meet day. Just concentrate on competing with yourself. Have fun! Powerlifting meets are a lot of fun and a great source of comraderie. Good luck, and I hope you set some PRs!

spacechick365

Thank you all for the advice and support! I currently workout 5 days a week with one day being heavy weights and the other four days being light weights and aerobics. I have two little kids so we have been doing fitness video games for the aerobics portion.

I work at a military base as an engineer so mostly desk job but they do offer random competitions through out the year. This is the first time I've even cared about them though. I would love to finish in the top three girls but I'm going to be happy to just be there.

I have noticed the weight thing. I haven't been losing as fast as other people that I work out with but I'm the only one doing heavy weights. They all run and do very light weight. That is great but I would rather lift weights and do other thigns for aerobics. I will post my results so that everyone that is interested can see how it went.

JNick77

The place where I work is putting on a Bench press and dead lift competition on Jan 18th. I have already signed up and this will be my first ever competition. There will be prizes for the top 3 males and females and will be based on percentage of weight lifted. I have 5 weeks from today to get prepared. I currently am seeing a personal trainer once a week to work on making sure I have the correct form and knowing how much weight I can do. I weight 202 right now and last night we worked on gettign to the weight I can only do 3-5 times. I'm there in bench press at 85 lbs right now. On dead lift we worked up to 135lbs. That is where we will start next time but I had done so many dead lifts to get there my forearms were starting to get sore (we started at 85lbs). I am eating mostly meat and veggies from now until then to try and lose weight with out losign my ability to lift. That was originally why I started lifting and have a very long way to go before I will be at my ideal weight.

So now to why I'm posting here. Since this is my first ever competition, I don't know what to expect and I don't know what other people do to get ready. Everything I can find on the internet is for at max 1 week out. Any advice would be greatly apreciated in anythign from diet to excercises to do between the days I see my trainer. She has set me up with a cardio circuit program that I do three times a week and it takes about 30 min to complete. Thank you everyone in advance!

I would recommend surfing on the Westside Barbell Club forums for an answer to this question cuz you're not going to find it here unless one or two of the handful of people on this site that I can think of which are qualified to answer this question chime-in. Not trying to be a jerk but that is the first place I would go if I were in your position.

Mummyadams

Can someone explain the 5/3/1 method?

Good luck to the OP!

jayche

Deload/rest a week before your competition.
Learn powerlifting form for bench press, it's a more efficient way (reduces the range of motion so you can push more weight up) to put the bar down to your chest and up.
Speed/band training helps a lot, bring it up.

If you are a beginner to weight training I'd probably go for higher frequency training, but your trainer should already have you on that.

alvalaurie

Bumping to follow the results of your sucess!

GOOD LUCK!!!

taso42

Can someone explain the 5/3/1 method?

Good luck to the OP!

It's summarized all over the internet, but it's best to read the book.

http://www.jimwendler.com/2011/12/531-2nd-edition-ebook-now-for-sale/

jayche

Can someone explain the 5/3/1 method?

Good luck to the OP!

% based progression plan based increasing poundages on 4 big compound movements (Deadlift, Squat, Bench and Overhead Press) on a 4 (3 week work/1 week deload) week cycle.
The first month you will calculate your 1-rep max and calculate 90% of that max.. this is your training max and will be the standard that you base the rest of your lifts by (Wendler suggests this so you don't plateau later).

Week 1 will be 3 working sets of 65%(of training max)x5, 75%x5 and 85% x5+(as many reps as you can do).
Week 2 will be 3 working sets of 70%x3 80%x3 and 90%x3+.
Week 3 will be 3 working sets of 75%x5 85%x3 95%x1+.
Week 4 is a deload where you do 40%x5 50%x5 60%x5(note that there is no +, you don't go for as many reps as possible).

At the end of a 4 week cycle you increase the poundages on your training maxes by 5/10 (5 for Bench Press and Standing Overhead Press, 10 for Squats and Deadlifts) and repeat. Accessory work is mainly up to the user but there are popular templates out there for people who want to follow one.

spacechick365

Here is a quick update for those that are interested.

In 4 weeks I haven't lost any weight so I'm still at 200lbs.

I went from 80lb bench press to 100lb bench press and am hoping to get between 105-120 for my 1 rep max.

I went from 135lb dead lifts to 185lb dead lifts and am hoping to get between 200-210 for my 1 rep max.

We will get 5 lifts of each and currently I am 1 of 4 girls competing with awards going to the top 3. Thank you everyone for all of you help. The competition is next Fri so I will come back on and give everyone the results. I'm getting super excited and can't believe how much weight I've been able to increase to in the last month and I'm glad that I at least maintained my weight with the increase in lifting.

cheri0627

Best of luck to you!