Pro Meet's & Dirty Bed Sheetz

[Frankdaddy]

My name is Brandon Franklin. I am 26 years old. I have been powerlifting consistently for a little over a year now. I have competed 4 times during this, and total'd elite raw/wraps in each one of them @220lbs or less. I dabbled in some powerlifting since 2007, but mostly while I trained for bodybuilding competitions. Once I realized I would always get stronger without much effort, and that I was not winning any bodybuilding shows with all of my effort...I decided then to turn my focus onto powerlifting full time. I have been ranked top 12 on powerlifting watch in 2014, an consistently top 15 since I first competed. My best total to date is a 1810 total. My best meet lifts are 740 squat with wraps, 415 bench, and 710 deadlift. I am creating this journal to keep track throughout the years that I compete. I use to a long time ago on here for the bodybuilding training, but I decided if I was going to get more serious, that I needed something to be able to look back on to see how training went, psychological, physiological aspects of training went into each prep compared to others.


Currently I am 1 week and 2.5 weeks out from a USPA Pro Meet, and SPF No Retreat, No Surrender Pro Cash meet for raw lifting. I will be competing at USPA for the first time in the no wrap category for my first meet. Training for both wraps and non wraps has been VERY interesting, and I will dabble into this as I move forward about pro's and con's.

[NeverEnough89]

IN.
Good luck on those coming meets.
What are your training methods gonna be?

[Frankdaddy]

IN.
Good luck on those coming meets.
What are your training methods gonna be?

Thanks man. Training methods are scattered quite a bit. I like a lot of Sheiko style, DUP setups to taper volume/frequency really high. I am not the most intelligent when it comes to programming, but I believe a lot of peoples mistakes are when they do these routines they are AMAZING at them, but can't perform as well at the meets or hit similar numbers that they did during the training block. I am a big believer that the body can peak well above a training max at given times that normally can't be hit in a rough training cycle. So I think when people increase the volume and just go straight into a meet, their ability to lift at maximal capacity is a little skewed. I think raising intensity slightly leading up to the meet and tapering back volume as you do so will help the lifter peak more optimally, of course given what the lifter responds well too. Some lifts, like my deadlift, doesnt respond as well to a lot of intensity week in and out. So in this case I love running an outline of how the Lilliebridge method is layed out on a bi-weekly basis for maximal effort. I don't need to do a lot for my squat, so just moving forward and not trying to kill myself keeps me less prone to injuries during training.

Here is a video of my last heavy squat training in wraps where I hit 2 Pr's, one of which was a meet training goal I set before this. Which was rather easy on both lifts.

[NeverEnough89]

I basically ran DUP for the past 12 weeks and am in the process of high intensity and very low volume to peak for a meet. So I get exactly what you're saying. I've read a few articles that say deadlifting for Max Effort more than 2x a month is sometimes detrimental for elite PLers.

[Frankdaddy]

This week is rather boring to have started a log, considering I am deloading practically for the next 3 weeks to prepare for 2 meets. Right now I have been focusing on a lot of shoulder, hip, and ankle mobility. My main focus on flexibility and relaxation during this time. The biggest problem with relaxation is that I have not been able to very much considering my wife and I just had our first child 3 weeks ago. Even the supplements are not benefiting recovery right now, which I never found much help with those to begin with compared to my natural capabilities. I have no incorporated any foam rolling this week, but I use a car buffer for "massaging" the areas I feel the tightest. I use the buffer as a cheap massage therapy for break down scar tissue from supplementation, and training protocol's.

[Frankdaddy]

Saturday I had a great meet. I won best lifter out of 67 lifter's, weighing in @210lbs. I totaled 1,775 raw without wraps at the First annual USPA Strong Box Pro/Am. I won 500$ cash and also took home first in my weight class. I am "deloading" because I have a SPF meet next week in Lexington, Ky for the No Retreat No Surrender for 1,000$ cash or prizes. I feel like I am in the running for this meet as well, but it all depends on how everyone feels that day. I have a lot of experience, so I don't plan to play into any game of trying to kill huge pr's, but kill what I know I can do best.

Here is the link to my video that I posted on ********.

*****://www.********.com/video.php?v=10152649827466981&l=512815101334959580 9

In the video is a 622 opener squat, 650.2, and final attempt 661.2. I then done a 400lb bench, 700lb deadlift, and then final attempt 716.2

[Frankdaddy]

FInally uploaded to Youtube

[NeverEnough89]

Congrats on the successful meet, attempts were on point.

[Frankdaddy]

Went to the gym tonight 5 days post meet to hit one more squat session in wraps. Competing next Saturday in wraps in Kentucky. The weather was getting bad, and the gym started closing early. I had around 25 minutes to hit my top set. I started wrapping around 315 just because I have not had a lot of practice in wraps this training cycle, and any last little bit is a win win.

135x8
225x3
315x3
405x2
545x2
635x2
675x2

I believe 675 is slightly over 85% of my 1 rep max. Considering I had to super set everything this did not feel too bad, but not as smooth as I would have wanted. The tension and pressure was high to just get it done, so i'm thankful I did not run into an injury. I wanted to hit a few singles on deadlift, but I am pretty thrashed from my meet Saturday so the extra rest could only benefit me in the end IMO.