How do you prepare for your next week? When do you start preparing? Jeff Guller likes to get started with conjugate powerlifting nine weeks before meet time.
Peaking technically is reeling in your training from general to specific as a meet approaches while changing and removing variations and setting yourself up to be at your best technically. This is important when transitioning to a conjugate approach.
Even though I didn’t make all of the goals I set for this year, I did have some good results. And if results are the measure of a year, then it was a good year.
2018 was not a good year for my powerlifting career. 2019 has been better. My training’s gotten better, I’ve gotten better at caring for myself, and I competed better. I want to do better next time around, though….
Two years ago, I injured myself at a meet. The pain was so bad I nearly pulled out of the meet. After talking with some experts, I decided to hop into the APF Nationals without a weight cut and with a quick prep. Let’s just say it’s good to be back.
Hard work pays off — not snake oil sales and get-rich-quick schemes. That doesn’t mean you can’t get stronger quickly. It just means you’ll have to put in a little extra work, like bumping up a weight class.
My training was more organized than it was for the IPA meet. But I decided to experiment before this meet: I trained using my squat suit without the briefs. It actually improved my speed, depth, and how much weight I could handle.
You’ve spent months preparing and training, and you’ve made a significant financial investment in entry fees, lodging, food, and so on. All this of stress for just 9 lifts sucks up a lot of your energy. You can’t afford to waste your energy, so manage it instead.
Now that I had the trip paid for thanks to a seminar event, I could focus on helping my lifters at the US Kern Open: the reason I’d flown all the way from the East Coast to begin with.
Look before you leap into training right back after your last meet because the next four to six weeks can (and will) set up your next cycle for success… or for failure. Take time to reflect on that. Success or failure… which one will you choose?
My goal for this meet was a 400-pound squat until Dave asked, “What’s the Pro total for your weight class?” In that moment, I knew that was no longer the goal — it became a Pro total.
Murphy’s Law: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. That’s pretty much a solid description for how the Tennessee State Championships went for me. But hey, good job to the victors. Now it’s time to prepare for my next meet…
Packing the basics is just half the battle. Meet sites can be cold, uncomfortable, and might be far from easy access to good food. All variables need to be taken into consideration while packing for meet day… and these 44 items will help you cover your bases.
The meet prep beast is going to rear its ugly heads at you sometimes, and its mugs come in many forms: injuries, stress, or a lousy no-show training partner. When one of them tries to bite, it’s best to have a flexible plan of action that helps you nimbly dodge from the monster’s jaws.
It was my first time representing Team elitefts at a meet. The support I got from them was unreal. Oh, and the team shirt was pretty cool, too.
As Strom prepares for Worlds, his coach reflects on what it took to get there.
Reverse bands are a common tool to overload movements, but there is more than one way to utilize them in your training.
I had some good PRs, some serious let downs, and a great battle with IPF world deadlift champ Mike Hedlesky.
Elitefts™ Coach Bob Youngs shares his ‘Tips When Traveling for a Meet‘ checklist.
The meet was everything that is right with powerlifting.
Who you ridin’ with? Them or us? Deep love or cheap lust?
The sweet and sour of the NBS Fitness powerlifting team’s first meet.
Days that go right may be few and far between, but when you have one like this… it’s just badass.
Jesse Pierce competed in his first powerlifting meet. However, as a soldier, the real task was waiting for him after he stepped off the platform.
When it comes to competition, you want to make sure everything is in order—even the tiniest things. As Eric Maroscher points out, one thing is definitely key.
Up until the last few months, my template has been the same. It was coined the “Chaos Method.”
It’s done and in the books. I competed at the 16th annual RPS Power Challenge on October 21, 2012.
How to prepare, what to expect, and all that comes in between your first time on the platform.
I hadn’t competed in anything since college and that fire was raging again after the meet.
I’m three weeks into my journey to return to competition after a six-year layoff. So far I have received a lot of positive feedback for putting my quest out there.
When I was younger, I read about Hatfield’s 1000-pound squat and said to myself, “I will do that someday.” That day never came.
By far, the most important reason to compete is because it’s a blast.
I need to work for a few months on conditioning and tons of accessory work to bring up weaknesses.
I wanted to get on the biggest stage a raw lifter could find…and then win.
My ears got bumblebees in them, legs went to jello, vision began to shrink down to a tiny dark tunnel and everything got tinted red.
I’ve been training for meets non-stop for years and although I’m not injured physically, I need a break mentally.
The only memory I have of that event is the pain from every rep, but I wasn’t about to quit.
My point from this is that meet conditions are never perfect, whether or not you plan for them to be.
In the end, it’s just about getting better each time I’m out there.
Andy Deck, representing lightweights worldwide at the Arnold Sports Expo.
I designed this program to have in front of me week in and week out until judgment day arrived.
The only regret that I have about this contest is that it’s over!
I am more excited than ever for the future of Strongwoman in America.
I figured if I was going to throw caution to the wind with my equipped training I’d need some sort of edge.
Everyone must have been scared of me. Either that or nobody wanted to fly to Connecticut to lift.
I have 8 weeks till the Pro-Am, so I hope to get my 800-plus press there. I still have plenty of time.
Here’s a good meal plan to ensure adequate energy and hydration for a powerlifting meet.
Getting ready for a big meet is stressful. There are a lot of things to consider, especially when using equipment. I am not going to write out all of my workouts, but I am going to give you a few points that I have learned over the last 20 years, and hopefully you can avoid some of my mistakes. Then again we are a bunch of hard headed powerlifters so who knows. This is based on a 16 week program.
We get a lot of questions regarding how to choose openers for powerlifting meets and there are a lot of ways to look at this.
Since most veteran powerlifters have their own way of doing things and will probably never read this article, we are not going to address them. What I am going to do is address the lifter that is entering the first powerlifting meet.
