Journey to My First Meet...and beyond? - IIFF Tries to Stop Being Weak

[InItForFitness]

Welcome Everyone!

The majority of you from the section may not have experience with me in the forum, as I rarely have ever visited this section.

However, for the past few months I've been training following Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program, and it's quickly made me realize just how damn much I enjoy tossing around havey weight and growing stronger.


My initial plan, was to become a men's physique competitor in the NPC...and those plans are (somewhat) still on track, however I have decided to also take full advantage of my current off-season/bulk and carry my growth & strength development into my pursuit of my first ever powerlifting meet!


I. Current Stats
Height : 5'6-5'7 (on a good day)
Bodyweight : 190lbs



II. Current Lifts

Bench - 315lbs


Squat - 370lbs


Deadlift - 455lbs (Fiance Unimpressed by how weak I am)




III. The Meet


Show Date : March 28th
Federation : APF
Weight Class : 90kg/198lbs



IV. 9-Week Prep Outline


This includes what will be my (potential) 3rd attempt lifts come the day of the meet.

[dailob]

1rd!

looking forward man, looking forward

[FenderElectrics]

In.

Just set up my own programming for an April meet, definitely adds in some extra gym motivation having the meet on the horizon

[InItForFitness]

1rd!

looking forward man, looking forward

Speediest lurker in history lol

In.

Just set up my own programming for an April meet, definitely adds in some extra gym motivation having the meet on the horizon

Awesome, glad to have some experienced competitors in here!

The programming is actually from an outline I found here ; http://www.weightrainer.net/spreadsheets/frednotes.html



Looked at some choices from the Q & A thread here, but most of the links were dead.
So just did some Google work and found this site and it had a variety of options.

I like high training frequency so this one seemed like it'd suit me best and the outline looks decent...although my programming knowledge is relatively limited.

[Gxp23]

Oh hai.

[connorpat1995]

In
Casey's come to the dark side

meet #s look massive. any idea on a weight class?
are those the first attempts?

[InItForFitness]

Oh hai.

Hey *******!

In
Casey's come to the dark side

meet #s look massive. any idea on a weight class?
are those the first attempts?

Weight class will be 90kg.

The attempts listed would be final attempt lifts.
Will decided on openers as I get closer.

[NeverEnough89]

In on dis. Lots of people compete on the platform while in the off season. We all know your nutrition is on point. What has your progression been like on 531?

[InItForFitness]

In on dis. Lots of people compete on the platform while in the off season. We all know your nutrition is on point.

That was my thought, and it just happens to work out that I still have roughly 8lbs before I hit my weight limit for the class, so I can continue to bulk all the way up until the meet.

Which I felt will really help me come in as strong as possible.

What has your progression been like on 531?

4 cycles. 0 stalls or missed PR attempts.

Starting Lifts (In LBS)
Squat - 320
Bench - 305
Deadlift - 410

PR's @ End of 4th Cycle (In LBS) (Current PRS)
Squat - 370
Bench - 315
Deadlift - 455

[Gxp23]

That was my thought, and it just happens to work out that I still have roughly 8lbs before I hit my weight limit for the class, so I can continue to bulk all the way up until the meet.

Which I felt will really help me come in as strong as possible.




4 cycles. 0 stalls or missed PR attempts.

Starting Lifts (In LBS)
Squat - 320
Bench - 305
Deadlift - 410

PR's @ End of 4th Cycle (In LBS) (Current PRS)
Squat - 370
Bench - 315
Deadlift - 455

Just started stalling on mine, time to get back into bulking and eat wayyyy more carbs this time, amazing progress btw.

[NeverEnough89]

With a solid proven program that is made for powerlifting you'll make way better progress, compared to 531. Try and get as much volume as your body will allow for bench, and squats. I bench/squat 3x a week and deadlift 1x with 2 accessory Deadlift days. Good luck on the progress. As others stated in PL fam thread, get an inzer, titan, lever or single prong, depends on personal preference.

[InItForFitness]

Just started stalling on mine, time to get back into bulking and eat wayyyy more carbs this time, amazing progress btw.

You've got this brother. Eat up. Train hard. Phuck like a pornstar (this is the secret to my gainz).

With a solid proven program that is made for powerlifting you'll make way better progress, compared to 531. Try and get as much volume as your body will allow for bench, and squats. I bench/squat 3x a week and deadlift 1x with 2 accessory Deadlift days. Good luck on the progress. As others stated in PL fam thread, get an inzer, titan, lever or single prong, depends on personal preference.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll definitley look into another program to get onto after this meet.

I'm all for volume.
It was the one thing I really didn't enjoy about 5/3/1 was the simple lack of it and training each lift only 1x/week.

But, I'm pretty satisfied with the results I did see with it being my first real attempt at any sort of strength programming.

[Gxp23]

You've got this brother. Eat up. Train hard. Phuck like a pornstar (this is the secret to my gainz).

Haha my man! Yea, been loving the PHAT/531 combo so far, dat hemavol...got my stuff in and been using that on hyper days, cant wait to see what its going to be like on the increased carbs, plus I am keeping my eyes out for the new hemavol formula you mentioned, looking forward to comparing that also.

[InItForFitness]

Haha my man! Yea, been loving the PHAT/531 combo so far, dat hemavol...got my stuff in and been using that on hyper days, cant wait to see what its going to be like on the increased carbs, plus I am keeping my eyes out for the new hemavol formula you mentioned, looking forward to comparing that also.

Yeah, it's a solid product for sure.

Do you eat anything prior to your training?

[Gxp23]

Yeah, it's a solid product for sure.

Do you eat anything prior to your training?

Depends on time, working shifts there are times I train on a full stomach, and times I train on a small snacks, I make the most of what I can do because ultimately this is a hobby and my main source of exercise, its not so bad when I get started some times, usually I can blitz my work out without needing a big break, but sometimes, like today (chest arms hyper) started to gas on last bi/tri exercises, to be fair, 30 secs break probs didnt help but that pump...

[NeverEnough89]

I'm all for volume.
It was the one thing I really didn't enjoy about 5/3/1 was the simple lack of it and training each lift only 1x/week.

But, I'm pretty satisfied with the results I did see with it being my first real attempt at any sort of strength programming.

I've been on a DUP self made block, and 7 weeks progress was
286S-340
226B-250
391D-405
Did one more training block of 4 weeks and now a 3 week peak and I should be at 375, 275, 430. Just saying for strength, 5/3/1 isn't all that it is cracked up to be.

[psychodiver9]

Yessssssss! Don't overthink it Casey just focus on increasing intensty and decreasing frequency into the meet

Agree 5/3/1 sucks for strength

[psychodiver9]

Subbing, also lookedcloser and you maybegoing too heavy too close maxes no more than a month out and week of openers atmost and rest

[InItForFitness]

Depends on time, working shifts there are times I train on a full stomach, and times I train on a small snacks, I make the most of what I can do because ultimately this is a hobby and my main source of exercise, its not so bad when I get started some times, usually I can blitz my work out without needing a big break, but sometimes, like today (chest arms hyper) started to gas on last bi/tri exercises, to be fair, 30 secs break probs didnt help but that pump...

Gotcha.

I've found a solid dose of carbs + small dose protein (something like 40-60g carbs & 10-15g protein) about 30 minutes to an hour prior to training provides some seriously sickening pumps.

Plus recovery & training intensity seems to be much higher when I follow something like this as opposed to training fasted or having ate something >2 hours prior.

I've been on a DUP self made block, and 7 weeks progress was
286S-340
226B-250
391D-405
Did one more training block of 4 weeks and now a 3 week peak and I should be at 375, 275, 430. Just saying for strength, 5/3/1 isn't all that it is cracked up to be.

Interesting.

I've been watching some videos and reading up on structuring my own PL program, but I don't think I'm quiet ready for that yet.


Recommendations for programs?
It seems like I hear a lot of good things about Sheiko.

Yessssssss! Don't overthink it Casey just focus on increasing intensty and decreasing frequency into the meet

Agree 5/3/1 sucks for strength

Same, program recommendations?

(IIRC) You're a fan of Sheiko, correct?

Subbing, also lookedcloser and you maybegoing too heavy too close maxes no more than a month out and week of openers atmost and rest

Thanks for the tips brother.

Any suggestion for structure for that last month? I'll make the adjustments for the week leading up to the meet to include nothing but openers & rest.

[InItForFitness]

Meet Prep : Week 1 - Bench A

Workout

BENCH A SESSION

*10 Minutes Stretching + Mobility*

Main Lift

Bench Press
135 x 5 - w.u.
155 x 5 - w.u.
185 x 3 - w.u.
5 @ 250 x 2

Bench Press - 250 x 2



Additional Work

N/A

*Trained OHP & upper yesterday, so decided to rest on the accessory work today and simply push through the Bench work*

Cardio
N/A

[themonkay]

Still made it to the first page! Best of luck to you Casey!

[InItForFitness]

Still made it to the first page! Best of luck to you Casey!

Aww yeah!

Gun do the Nut. Misc. proud...
...possibly.

[psychodiver9]

I love sheiko if you start it go wth 29 first

[nugget5]

Will follow - Just initial feedback:

Bench: have you practiced paused bench yet?
Squat: looks good, but IMO slow on descent and speed into the hole allows better rebound out of the hole.
Deadlift: take the slack out of your arms before you pull, will help with keeping form tight and it won't slow you down out of the gate

[InItForFitness]

I love sheiko if you start it go wth 29 first

Will likely give it a go.
Website said the same in regards to starting with 29, so that'll be the first one I run coming off this meet.

Will follow - Just initial feedback:

Really glad to have you in here!

Bench: have you practiced paused bench yet?

Some.

Still need to work on having someone actually call out commands for me to ensure proper pause timing.

Squat: looks good, but IMO slow on descent and speed into the hole allows better rebound out of the hole.
Deadlift: take the slack out of your arms before you pull, will help with keeping form tight and it won't slow you down out of the gate

Will take both of these into consideration and post videos as I go to work on form ^^^

Thanks so much for the feedback brotha.

[nugget5]

anytime man. This is my paused, definitely don't release your grip like I did lol, but this is about how long the pause is (probably a little shorter) in RPS where I compete.

[psychodiver9]

Solid session but you really need to start pausing your bench to see how much you'll lose it makes a big difference

[InItForFitness]

Solid session but you really need to start pausing your bench to see how much you'll lose it makes a big difference

I'm assuming you mean form wise? Work on arch, foot placement, pause, etc.?

[unstrong]

In!

[psychodiver9]

I'm assuming you mean form wise? Work on arch, foot placement, pause, etc.?

Arch is preference, mine sucks. Foot just check rules some Feds allow heel up some dont pause is the biggy you will lose weight going from tng to a legit pause