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My first powerlifting meet is 6 weeks away. I was wondering when would be the best time to test my openers? When selecting an opener, I've often heard that it's best to choose a weight that you know you can lift "easy" to make sure you hit it, but how much of an increase from my training maxes can I take into account? I obviously want to be realistic, but I don't want to leave the meet feeling like I had something left in the tank.
Any thoughts?
start with weight you know youll hit to build confidence and get used to meet lifting......big diff between the gym and meet.....what are your #'s looking like right now?
A good rule is to make your first lift something you can do for 3 reps , second lift can be your max lift and your third should be a PR .
When was the last time you maxed out and what was the weight ?
If you haven't done it in awhile do it very soon ( all 3 in a week ) . Like Tex said Gym numbers are different than meet numbers , most of the time your stronger because of the adrenaline , but that dosent mean you should go off your plan.
I also take 2 full weeks off lifting before a meet - some guys go longer and some guys don't take time off.
What meet are you doing ?
I think it mostly depends on how comfortable you are with the weight. Some guys open REALLY light, jumping up a tun towards their max by the third lift. It all depends on the way you lift. For example, in a shirted bench press, its a lot trickier than a raw bench. If I were to bench raw, I might open with a lift 20 pounds under my max. For me, a single bench without a shirt is as least technical as it gets, and if I am under my max, NOTHING will screw that up. Same goes with the deadlift. just raw power - if you can get 600, then usually 580 is a breeze. Squats on the other hand are ticky - you have to make sure you get depth, and if you go just an inch lower than normal, 20 pounds off your max will be impossible.
So with all that in consideration, I'd pick a weight in the squat that you can handle at depth quite easily, ensuring that you go 'extra' deep to make sure the lift counts...Then add a little. Once you get accustomed to what deep enough is, it becomes easier to guage what weight you can jump to. Suited lifts obviously much trickier to get a good guess. One thing for sure, is you don't want to bomb! Nothing worse than all that training for your whole meet to be wiped out.
Thanks for all of the feedback. That's really helpful.
The meet I am doing is actually just a Push/Pull - March 10th in Belleville. It's a CPF sanctioned event.
I've spent the better part of the last 5 years trying to lose weight, so I've actually only been training in powerlifting for about 4 months. My gym max on the bench is only at about 275lbs at the moment. The last time I tested my max in the deadlift, I hit 465 for 1 solid rep.
I'm heading into a deload week, and I am planning to test my openers again next week. My plan of action is as follows:
Deadlift Bench
1 - 425 1 - 255
2 - 465 2 - 275
3 - 495 3 - 295
Thanks again for the replies...I'm getting more fired up as the meet approaches!
I just competed in my first meet 2 days ago. I think what Talo said is good advice. Have your first lift be about your 3 rep max. Second Your 1 rep max and 3rd a PR. Remember also that you will have to follow commands by the judges or you could fail a lift on a technicality. Which is another reason to start light and build your confidence. Think of your first lift as the last warm up.
Thanks again for all the feedback. My confidence is building everyday.
I'll be sure to keep you all posted as to how things go with testing my lifts next week.
Also, be careful if you are cutting weight to make a class. Not to mention the rules of the meet might be stricter than your gym lifts. Those 2 facts combined might make your gym max nearly impossible in meet conditions! It really depends on the individual too...Some guys peak for a meet and have lifts they never even came close to getting. Others might have to cut a tremendous amount of weight, making the day of the meet a little different than what they are used to! All comes with experience, if I had to give a recommended lift, I would have my 2nd just below my max. A weight your are sure you can get with a very long pause, or a weight you never had trouble with in the gym. Then my 3rd I would try to set a PR by 5-10 pounds. Don't make the mistake of jumping too much. Again, comes with experience lifting. I can usually tell what I will max on any given day just by the way my warm up feels with 1 plate.
The diet I am doing to cut isn't what I would call drastic by any means. Essentially, I am carb cycling. It's been 3 weeks, and I haven't noticed any decline in my strength. If anything, I find my recovery has improved. I've never been diagnosed with any specific gluten intollerance, but I assume the enhanced recovery is due to a decrease in inflammation caused by eliminating all the grains I was eating before. I realize that cutting weight can be counter productive to the strengthening process, but I decided when I started training for powerlifting that I wasn't about to sacrifice my physique goals...at least not yet. Talk to me in 2 years and see how obsessed I am with increasing my totals then LOL.
Yeah, losing bodyfat will definitely bring down the numbers...I find it much easier to drop 10-12 pounds of water the last day or two, and rehydrate somewhat. MUCH stronger than if you were to actually cut down 12 pounds of bodyfat! I am interested in the outcome of this event! I always liked the push pulls. Squats were always my weakest, so it was always a meet that favored my strengths. I only did one push pull meet (in orleans). I weighed 175 and managed a raw 360 bench with pause, always remember it because it was my first and ONLY ever double body weight bench. Haven't stayed injury free long enough to match it!
Good luck prepping for this event!