Getting strong and possibly competing in Powerlifting.

Casshern88

So I’m aprox 82kg been training for 2+ years only seriously for a number of months though, recently decide to focus on strength training with goal of competing in a power lifting comp sometime mid 09

Currently following a 5x5 routine, squatting 3 times a week. Increasing the weight with each workout, after a few months when number go up, I may switch to a 3 x 3 style program. Then eventually when I can squat 130kg for at least 3 reps (don’t know why I chose this figure), change to squatting once a week.

I’m well aware the numbers have to go up quite a bit if i’m contemplating powerlifting, would appreciate any advice from people here.

What kind of numbers for my weight, should I be aiming for if I’m serious about competing?

Today I did

Squats (narrow stance, low bar) 5 x 5 - 65kg, still pretty easy
O.head press 22kg – starting light as have little experience with this exercise
Dead Lift 85kg 1 x 5 –felt easy
Chin ups (palms facing away) B.W. 10, 7, 5


finished with some core



plank 2 x 70 seconds

kneeling on Swiss ball rotating side to side with med ball in hands 2 x F

hypers 2 x 15

crunches 2 x 25

brianthebard

Height? Do you know your 1rm's?

Casshern88

6'1

not 100% of 1rm's but aprox

bench 90
squat 85
dead 100

my bench is a little out of proportion with the rest as there was i time when i focused far to much on benching / arms,while neglecting legs, but im rectifying that now...

supplements whey
may start creatine in coming weeks.

eating every 2 hours, healthy whole foods with lots of protein and good fats

brianthebard

Personally wouldn't start creatine yet, you could well afford to add a bit of weight if you wanted. if 85x5 felt easy on the deads you should probably be able for a bit more than that. Are you training hamstrings as well? Why are you squatting narrow stance? Especially at 6'1" a wide stance would take several inches off the rom and probably make it easier. I think you are following the starting strength plan? Not sure how suited that is to powerlifting, but I guess its a good start. (not a powerlifter so don't take any of this as guaranteed).

Arsenal1986

never competed myself but training with a guy who competed an id say very roughly at ur wait ud want a 160/170 squat 200 ish deadlift and 120 bench to be average not winning like......id say go for the creatine itll help with training its not like u need to be particularly advanced to use creatine if only that it wont make a huge differenc....if i was going down the powerliftr route than id say do Defrancos Westside for skinny bastards....more of a traditional powerlifting style training but with a hypertrophy emphasis....also ur 1rm deadlift is more than 100 if ur gettin 85 x 5 prob more like 110 or 115

Casshern88

brianthebard wrote: »

Are you training hamstrings as well? Why are you squatting narrow stance?

No particular reason why i was doing narrow stance , next session is Monday so ill try a bit wider stance then and see how that feels.

Not doing any specific hamstring work, figure there getting hit enough with deads and hip drive from squats.

once i get a bit stronger i think i will do WSFSB program.

Casshern88

Today

squat 70kg 5x5

bench 60kg 5x5

face pulls 35 3x10

dips bw + 10kg 3xf 10,7,4

Planned on squatting 67.5 today but couldn't find a second 1.5 plate so just did 70, felt good, last 2 reps on 5th set were a challenge, but was able to push through it.

I'm pretty confident ill be able to keep increasing my squat every workout till i hit at least 85kg 5x5. Feels really good for my squat to be going up every time, each workout is a new personal best.

Bench could have gone heaier but wanted to focus on technique, shoulder blades pinned together, arch....

Not sure if face pulls were lbs or kg just said number on the plates.

dips felt good.next workout wednesday.

Hanley

I'm guessing by your screen name you're about 20??? You're at a good age to get into powerlifting. There's a pretty good scene for the younger lifters here.

Good luck with it, and let me know if I can be any help.

Casshern88

Thanks Hanley ya I'm 20,

Question: Cardio ? how much is too much?? if I want to focus on strength gains?, at the min only cardio I'm doing is walking/ cycling to get from A to B.

But would like to keep up my fitness levels and keep the body fat under control while focusing on strength, would 2 cardio sessions a week (swimming,HIIT or muay thai) on non lifting days be too much to recover from while squatting 3 times a week. Or i could just do one cardio session on a sat if i was doing weights mon,wed and fri??

anyway today's session.


Squats 72kg 5x5
Overhead press 25kg 5x5
Deadlift 90kg 1x5
Chin up bw + 4kg 3xF 8,6,4

Finished with core

plank 2xF 75s, 50 sec

hypers 2x15

kneeling on Swiss ball rotating side to side with med ball in hands 1 x F

kneeling on Swiss ball doing alternating D/B curls 10kg each hand 2 x F


Squats felt good.
O.Press pretty easy still.
Deads felt good 90kg PB , hopefully hit 100kg by next fri .

Casshern88

Gym was quiet this morning, nice session.

Squats 5x5 75kg -getting harder.... still doable though.

Bench 5x5 62.5kg - Bench still feels strong.

Face pulls 40lbs (I'm going to presume its pounds) 3x10

Dips B.W + 10kg 3xF 10, 7.5, 6 Improvement since monday happy out with that.

kneeling ab crunch from high pulley - 35 2x10


may go for swim tomorrow depending on how bad the doms are.

BrokenArrows

Casshern88 wrote: »

Face pulls 40lbs (I'm going to presume its pounds) 3x10

You may want to confirm that!

40lbs = 18.18kg
40kg = 88lbs

Kind of a difference when you look at it like that.

Casshern88

Squat 5x5 77.5kg - defo getting stronger here, considering 6 weeks ago i would have struggled to do one set at this weight
O.Press 5x5 27.5kg - felt fine.
Deadlift 1x6 95kg - this was the first day it actually felt heavy, i used a overhand grip , i figured no point using a mixed grip if the weight is still light enough to hold overhand, get my forearms worked a bit.
Chin up b.w. + 4kg 3xF - 10,6,5

Some core at the end too, usual stuff.

ya when you say it like that i doubt im face pulling 40 kg so id say its lbs.

Casshern88

today.

Squat 80kg 5x5 - Success
Bench 65kg 5x5 - grand
face pulls 3x10 18.5kg - felt ok.
dips bw + 10kg 3xF - 10,8,4 + 2 @ just bw

finished with a bit a core.

good session today, reached the first of my short term goals today , that being a 80kg 5x5 squat , while it isn't much its creeping ever closer to the 100kg squat milestone.

brianthebard

Nice squatting. You should be well able for 100kg, if not now then in a week or two.

Casshern88

cheers .

quick question to anyone.

My shoulders seem to be fatigued a lot on this program, all these dips, presses and benching are taking there toll.

I'm half thinking mabey its too much for them, as they get hit in some way on every training day? should i limit overhead pressing to once a week mabey?? or is it just a case of man up and take it.

kevpants

Could be. Where did you get the program, was it inspired by any particular one?

If powerlifting is your goal it wouldn't be a big deal if you took the emphasis off the direct shoulder work and concentrated on bench, back and tri's IMO. I've similar aspirations to yourself and the program I'm doing is very easy on my shoulders if not on other parts. I've a log up on it.

From observing more experienced powerlifters training I have to say I notice a distinct lack of shoulder training. In fact I think Hanley here has only really been hitting them recently? Maybe he'll be able to advise you more.

Casshern88

ya ive been following ur log kev.

Pretty much a slight modification of stronglifts.com program. It’s similar to starting strength except its 5x5. Plan on switching to S.S. shortly though.

I think I may need to up calories though, as in fair ness this is the first weeks its really effected me, and this week due to a series of circumstance my nutrition has not been up to scratch.

Hanley

kevpants wrote: »

Could be. Where did you get the program, was it inspired by any particular one?

If powerlifting is your goal it wouldn't be a big deal if you took the emphasis off the direct shoulder work and concentrated on bench, back and tri's IMO. I've similar aspirations to yourself and the program I'm doing is very easy on my shoulders if not on other parts. I've a log up on it.

From observing more experienced powerlifters training I have to say I notice a distinct lack of shoulder training. In fact I think Hanley here has only really been hitting them recently? Maybe he'll be able to advise you more.

I'd slightly differ from Kev and say shoulder work is important, but only if it doesn't effect the rest of your lifts.

Heavy benching and squatting will both kill your shoulders, so if you can't recover from them, you're probably better off not doing too much direct shoulder work.

My shoulder's suck. They've always been pretty big, but they're weak as sh!t. I only expect to get about 10 reps with 32.5kg 'bells today on seated presses. I'm hoping that since everything else is strong (chest, tri's, lats) once I bring my shoulders up my bench will follow.

kevpants

Shoulder flexibility's a big deal though so don't get me wrong. I've figured out my repetitive elbow injury has been down to poor shoulder flexibility in the squat. I'm not able to squeeze them back enough and my elbows get hammered as a result. I thought it was my bench that was causing it.

Where do the shoulders come in on the bench Hanley? Is it stability or do they play a part in the actual drive? I've never felt a direct carry over from shoulder training I only train them so as not to have them as a weakpoint. Never knew what part they played.

Casshern88

Missed Fridays session as i had to go to a wedding which led in turn to crap eating and a few drinks, oh well, today is a new week.

squat 82.5kg 5x5 - challenging
Bench 67.5kg 5x5 - grand
face pulls 18.7kg 2x12 , 21.5kg 1x12
Dips b.w. + 10kg 10,6,6. - hummm ive had better

followed by core

Casshern88

Squat 85kg 5x5 - boo ya

deadlift - 100kg 1x5 -

chin up b.w. + 5kg 3xF - 9,8,4

barbell curls 25 kg 2x10

left out presses today to give shoulders a break , i think dips may be the cause of my problems, going too deep/ jumping up into position with weight at start?....

Squats were good, very happy with progress. i have found that when i have a spotter behind me i tend to be more solid in my technique , strength, ect, mabey its a ego thing you know some ones watching so you want be the beast you can.

just threw in the curls as i felt like doing a bit of gun work.

Casshern88

squat 87kg 5x5

Bench 70kg 5x5

Machine Row's 20kg 2x12 , 25kg 1x12 http://www.myfit.ca/exercisedatabase/images/tbarrows.gif

Dips b.w. 10kg 3xF 12,6,5

standing pulley abs crunch 35lbs 4x12

Hard session squats were mentally and physically draining.
I asked some lad in gym to spot me on last set as I didn’t know if id make itbut the guy assisted me every time i slowed down the slightest :mad:
I think i could have got all the reps my self but i think im going to have to squat that weight again on Monday to be sure ...

Could really feel my lats working on rows, just decided to do them instead of face pulls today

happy with bench.

Casshern88

Squats 87.5kg 5x5

deadlift 105kg 1x5

chin up 3xF B.W. = 5kg 10,5,2 + 1 unweighted

barbell curls 25kg 1x10 27kg 1x7 25kg 1x3

Squats felt great , i felt like i could have done a 6th set if i wanted, 90kg 5x5 is looking very do able on Wednesday One of the guys that run the gym commented that my squats were good , nice ROM , happy with that.

Also while deadlifting on the first rep the bar ripped open a scab i had on my shin , blood proceed to go everywhere i continued on deadlifting, manly stuff. (don't worry i cleaned the bar after)


Very pleased with my progress so far, excited about the prospect of a 90kg 5x5 squat in a few days, also the possibility of a 100kg 5x5 in the next few weeks. ive put on more muscle in the last 8 weeks than i have in the last 8 months, my lats, quads, shoulders, chest seem all to have packed on a bit of size.

Also deadlifts were good today , still feel managable only "hard" thing about them today was keeping grip of the bar.

brianthebard

Are you using chalk? It will make a big difference for your grip imo. Also might want to get long socks or wear trackkie bottoms for a while until that scab heals, don't want to make that a weekly event!

Nice squatting, always a good feeling when you know you can handle more at the end of you sets.

Casshern88

Squat 90kg 5x5

Bench 72kg 5x5

Row Machine 50 2x12 55 1x12

dips B.W. 10kg 12,12,5

followed by core

Huge success on squats, didn't feel hard till last set, although i am having issues with bar placement, the bar sometimes aggravates my shoulders while squatting, i wonder is it because my grip is too narrow, bar too low or something like that....

Bench felt good i think i might have even done a 6th set by accident as i forgot my log book and lost count of sets.

improvement on dips

all in all things going well.

kevpants

Casshern88 wrote: »

Huge success on squats, didn't feel hard till last set, although i am having issues with bar placement, the bar sometimes aggravates my shoulders while squatting, i wonder is it because my grip is too narrow, bar too low or something like that....

I doubt the bar is too low, especially since you seem to say you've got a narrow grip. I take a grip with my pinkies on the rings and try and wedge the bar as far down my back as possible. Thumbless grip too. It takes a long time to get flexible enough to get the bar low enough so I doubt you're accidentally going too low.

Is the bar aggravating your shoulder muscles (overstretching or something) or is it pressing into you and hurting you that way?

Casshern88

kevpants wrote: »

I take a grip with my pinkies on the rings and try and wedge the bar as far down my back as possible. Thumbless grip too.

I was thinking maybe it could be a flexibility issue with shoulders.

That is how i try to hold it, although sometimes i would feel as if its pressing into my shoulders, i might take some pics now to put up, even just with broom stick so you can see my aprox placement

Casshern88

as promised, excuse crap quality and camera angel, just took this quickly my self, ill get the gf to take a proper one later if i get a chance.

Casshern88

Squat 92kg 5x5

Chin up b.w. 5kg 10,5,3

shrugs 20kg 3x12

barbell curls 25kg 1x12 27kg 1 x10

hypers b.w. + 3kg 2x15

Used the belt for first time today ever, stuck it on for last set while squatting, felt good.

Hanley

Casshern88 wrote: »

as promised, excuse crap quality and camera angel, just took this quickly my self, ill get the gf to take a proper one later if i get a chance.

Looks spot on.

Casshern88

Squat 95kg 5x5

bench 75kg 5x5

Face pull 40lbs (superseted with) Machine rows 25kg 3x10

Dips b.w. + 10kg 12,12 6

Good workout, squats went well, were very hard by last set.