On April 14, 2007, I’ll be taking the plunge and losing my cherry at the St. Thomas Open IPF meet in St. Thomas, Ontario (Canada). Over the next twelve weeks, I’ll be opening my training log and giving you a rep-by-rep account of my progress leading up to the contest. I’ll recount every training session and include any relevant notes from that day in a “blog” format. These will be uncensored and will hopefully offer some insight into how I was feeling. Each article will cover four weeks of training, and the final installment will detail my meet results, reflections, and future plans.
Unlike most of the authors on EFS, I have yet to accomplish anything in the sport of powerlifting. With these articles, I hope to inspire and educate those new to the sport or those who have yet to step onto a platform. Perhaps this will invoke some nostalgia in veteran lifters. While there are a dozen articles about max effort waves or weak point training, there’s a lack of information on meet preparation for rookies. Hopefully, some of the readers out there will glean some kind of inspirational spark and pick a meet to make their debut. Perhaps others will learn from any mistakes I make along the way or find the method to my madness that will make the difference in their training. Either way, these articles should be mildly entertaining.
Who is this guy?
In the summer of 2004, I decided that a general bodybuilding program just wasn’t cutting it for me. After reading everything Louie Simmons had written, I stumbled across EFS and read Dave’s work in its entirety. Since I had little access to experienced lifters, I knew I had to take my education a step further so I purchased several of Louie’s tapes as well as Dave’s Westside seminar. Without question, those seminar tapes were the most valuable purchase I’ve ever made. The “hands on” tape taught me how to perform each of the lifts properly and gave me a point of reference for eliminating any technical errors I had developed.
Early on in my training, a previous shoulder injury flared up, and I spent over eight weeks going through ART therapy. This set my bench training back several months but enforced the need for shoulder balance in my training program. After several months on the conjugate system, my squat jumped up 200 lbs and my deadlift almost 300 lbs while my bench was still behind. The year 2005 brought many challenges, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Early in the year, I sustained a hip flexor injury that set back my squat training and reinforced my need for proper warm ups. In August, I entered an unsanctioned push/pull meet that will forever be one of the greatest days of my life. I completely bombed out in the bench—two technical errors and a final attempt that left me stapled to the bench. I set a 20 lb PR in the deadlift and missed a 50 lb PR due to poor technique. The support of family and friends was tremendous, and I’ll never forget it! In the fall of 2005, I sustained a second shoulder injury (to what was my healthy shoulder) that has never quite healed. Eventually, I’m going to head back for more ART treatments to take care of it.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in film this April, I moved home to work my way out of debt. Since I’m on a three-shift rotation, it’s nearly impossible to find a steady training partner or make it to the local “fitness center” on a regular basis. This left me with little choice so I did what any other fiscally responsible postgraduate would do and purchased a combo rack through EFS. Although currently unnamed, my garage gym is decked out with the absolute basics—combo rack, Texas power bar, chin bar, bands, boards, chains, EFS box squat box, chalk, blast straps, and a bitchin’ stereo. What more could a man ask for? Because I’m dealing with the cold Canadian winters, my kerosene heater has been my bane and savior (more on this later).
On with the show
Alright, enough is enough. I think I’ve introduced myself enough. I’ll give you a basic format for my training structure as well as my training log.
Being on a three-shift rotation means that every two weeks my sleep schedule and training time changes. This can pose a bit of a problem, but this is the reality I’m dealing with. On the plus side, I can eat every two hours at work, which makes gaining weight/maintaining my current weight much easier.
At this point in time, my work schedule allows me to follow the traditional “Westside” training template—Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Right now, I’m not performing any extra sessions.
Unfortunately, I’m training alone for 100% of my sessions, which raises plenty of difficulties. Instead of seeing this as a complete handicap, I try to be as analytical as possible and keep heavily detailed notes on my training. This has helped me identify many technical issues, and EFS’s exercise index has allowed me to compare my technique to the examples and better coach myself. Yes, I realize this isn’t ideal for my long-term goals in powerlifting, but it will do for now.
As of today (February 16, 2007), I’m sitting in the mid 220 lbs, and I don’t plan on dropping weight. My justification for this is that it’s my first contest, and as Jim has said before, I’m not trying to split the atom here. With some luck, I’ll be able to step on to the platform at close to 230 lbs. I’ll consider cutting weight when it looks like I can set a class record, but that time isn’t in the immediate future.
I like to keep things loose and not train with anything more than a general template. However, this has proven to be a weakness and has led to subpar performance in the past. I’ve created a 12-week cycle for my DE days, and I’ll base my ME work on an “as needed” basis.
The log
Week one: January 21–27, midnight rotation
DE bench
Shoulder traction
Bench: bar X 15 X 2, 95 X 8, 135 X 3, 155 X 3 X 8
5-board: 225 X 8, 265 X 6, 295 X 5, 335 X 4 (ring on ring grip)
4-board: 335 X 2 (ring on ring grip)
Blast strap push-up: body weight X 10 X 4 (straps hanging 12 inches from floor)
Fat man pull-ups: body weight X 15 X 3
Hang cleans: 95 X 8 X 3
Notes:
ME squat
Sumo pull: 135 X 5 X 2, 225 X 5, 315 X 3, 405 X 2, 455 X 1
Med. stance good morning: bar X 9, 95 X 8, 135 X 6, 185 X 5 X 3
Pull thru: green band X 15 X 4
Roman chair abs: body weight X 20 X 2, 10 X 10 X 2, 25 X 10 X 2, 10 X 10 X 2
Notes:
ME BE
This is where things get interesting when training in your garage. My heater shit out on me, and I was really strapped for time as I train before going into work. After fiddling with the heater for the better part of 20 minutes, I had to abandon the session because there wasn’t enough time to get packed up and head to the local “fitness center.”
DE squat
Box squat: bar X 8 X 2, 95 X 3, 135 X 3, 185 X 2, 225 X 2 X 8
Box squat: 275 X 2, 315 X 2, 365 X 2, 405X 2
Conventional deadlifts: 135 X 3, 225 X 3, 275 X 2, 315 X 1 X 5
Good morning with bands: Gr X 25 X 3
Blast strap reverse fly: body weight X 10 X 3
B.S. ab fallouts: body weight X 8 X 3
Notes:
Big changes! So at this point, I realized I was falling into a trap that had caused me two injuries in the past. Once I enter pre-contest mode, I try to do too much too often and end up blowing something out. Thus, a countermeasure was required, and I decided to restructure things and develop a template.
ME squat: hamstring focus
DE squat: low back focus
ME bench: accessories/supplemental focus
DE bench: triceps focus
To keep my training volume/training economy in check, I didn’t allow myself more than five different exercises per session including abdominal work. This kept me focused and likely free of injuries caused by overtraining.
Week two: January 28–February 3, day rotation (training at 7 pm)
DE bench
Shoulder warm up: 5 X 10
Bench: bar X 8 X 2, 95 X 3, 135 X 2, 155 X 2 X 8, 185 X 2, 225 X 2, 225 X 1 X 2
Barbell extensions: 95 X 11 X 2, 115 X 7 X 2
Incline Tate extensions: 20 X 10, 40 X 8 X 3
Band face pull/high row: purple X 15 X 4
Dumbbell curl: 40 X 6 X 3
Notes:
ME squat–DE squat
I had to take the rest of the week off because I caught a nasty cold. When all was said and done, I lost about five pounds and a full week of training. On the plus side, my Metal IPF Viking Presser arrived! How exciting!
Week three: February 4–10, day rotation
DE BE
Shoulder warm up
Shoulder traction
Bench: bar X 10 X 2, 95 X 5, 135 X 3, 155 X 3 X 3, 155+ 30 lbs chains X 3 X 5
Bench with Viking presser: 225 X 1, 265 X 1, 295 X 1 (ring on ring grip), 315 X 1 (pinky/ring grip)
Band press downs: blue X 15 X 4
Dumbbell shrug: 40 X 25 X 3
B.S. scarecrow: body weight X 8 X 3
Shoulder traction, right arm only
Notes:
ME squat
Shoulder warm up
Shoulder traction
One inch below parallel squat: bar X 6, 135 X 5, 225 X 5, 315 |X 5, 405 X 2, 495 X F, 495 X 1, 525 X F
Romanian deadlift: 135 X 6, 185 X 6, 225 X 6 X 3
Band leg curl: blue X 8 X 3
Roman chair abs: body weight X 15 X 2, 10 X 10 X 2, 25 X 8 X 2, 10 X 10, body weight X 15
Notes:
ME BE
Shoulder traction
Shoulder warm up
2-board: bar X 10 X 2, 95 X 5, 135 X 6, 185 X 5, 225 X 3, 265 X 1, 295 X 1, 325 X F, 325 X F
2-board rep work: 225 X 8 X 2
B.S. push-up: body weight X 8 X 3
Dumbbell shoulder press: 40 X 6 X 2
Power cleans: 135 X 6 X 3, 95 X 6 X 3
Barbell curl: 95 X 6 X 2
Notes:
DE squat
Shoulder warm up
Shoulder traction
Box squat: bar X 5 X 2, 135 X 5, 185 X 3, 225 X 2, 245 X 2 X 10
Deadlift: 135 X 2, 225 X 2, 315 X 1 X 6 (no belt)
Med. stance good morning: 135 X 5, 185 X 5, 185 X 3 X 4 (raw doggin’ it)
Band reverse crossover: minis X 20 X 4
Roman chair abs: body weight X 20 X 3, 10 X 15 X 3
Notes:
Week four: February 11–17, afternoon rotation (11 am training)
DE BE
Shoulder warm up
Shoulder traction
Bench: bar X 8 X 2, 95 X 6, 135 X 3, 155 X 3, 155 + 30 lbs chains X 3 X 8
3-board shirted: 185 X 1 (raw), 225 X 5, 275 X 5, 295 X 3, 315 X 3
Barbell extensions: bar X 8, 95 X 8 X 2, 115 X 6, 125 X 5 X 3
Pull-up: body weight X 5 X 6
Notes:
ME squat
Shoulder warm up
Pull-up: body weight X 5 X 2
Rack pull: bar X 5, 135 X 5, 225 + 30 lbs chains X 5, 315 X 3, 405 X 1, 495 X 1, 545 X 1, 545 X 1 (no chain)
Leg curl: Gr. X 10, blue X 10 X 4
Pull thru: Gr X 10 X 3
Standing abs: Gr X 10 X 5
Notes:
ME BE
Shoulder traction
Shoulder warm up
2-board: bar X 8 X 2 (to chest); 95 X 5; 135, 185, 225 X 5; 265 X 2; 305 X 1; 275 X 2 X 2
B.S. push-up: body weight X 10 X 3
Barbell row: 135 X 10 X 2; 185 X 8 X 2
Plate raise: 25 X 12, 45 X 10 X 2
Band high row/face pull/whatever: mini X 20 X 2, purple X 15 X 2
Alternating curls: 40 X 15
Notes:
DE squat
Shoulder traction
Box squat: bar X 8 X 2, 95 X 5, 135 X 3, 185 X 2, 225 X 2, 245 X 2, 245 X 2 X 10
Deadlifts: 135, 225, 315 X 2, 405 X 1, 455 X 1, 525 X 1, 565 X F, 565 X F
Notes:
The month in review
It’s hard to believe that one third of my training for the meet has already passed, and a quarter of that was a sick week! I’ve still got plenty of time before April and consider this my “reentry” phase to consistent training. The next eight weeks will be interesting, and if I continue to push hard and stalwart, I know I will be proud of my results.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article, and I want to thank Dave and the EFS staff for allowing me the honor of writing for the site. Stay strong and have fun. I’ll see you all next month!
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.
Copyright© 2007 Elite Fitness Systems. All rights reserved.