powerlifting beginner

Dcoady

I began lifting around three years ago but I have been focusing on strength gain the past year as i wanted to get stronger and more powerful for rugby but now im looking to actually compete , my stats are as follows
Age:19
Weight:105kg
Height:6ft
Bench:110kg
Squat:175kgx3
Deadlift:205kg
Im looking for a powerlifting program to follow to maximise my strength gains ? Also I have 4-5 days to train for how many hours needed , im looking to compete sometime after the summer maybe around christmas .

guydead67

They are good numbers especially the squat, assuming you would get three white lights for it!
Looking at those numbers, I’m going to go out on a limb (pure speculation) and say your back is your week point as it is the dead and bench that are low.
If you have 4-5 days to train loads – do a volume-based program, you might never have that much free time again!

Something like this might work;
squat every session 3 – 5 sets of 5 (do a weight that feels good and focus on waving that weight up till around Christmas time) time under the bar is key here, you want to make 175kg your opener.
Bench twice a week and Over Head Press twice a week for 3 – 5 sets of 1-5
Deadlift once a week for 3 – 5 sets of 1-5
For the presses and deadlift add weight to the bar every week for four weeks have an easy week and then start again
Do Back work every session, Rows, Shrugs, Weighted Chins and Face Pulls

Also check out when the competitions are on, as they will add specific motivation, and you will gain loads of experience. There is a deadlift comp on in Bandon in the summer, go and try to pull 220kg

Another good thing would be to join a powerlifting gym

Fell free not to listen to me, as you are a lot stronger!
Happy lifting

Dcoady

Thanks man appreciate it , sounds good , one thing though , how will I know to change the reps within the rep range . I assume you want me to do varying loads week to week but how can I judge it ? I usually train at UL gym but as college is out for the summer im back home using a commercial gym . Thanks for the reply and I will definitely give this a try !

Dave 101

A lot of online in the above routine, 5 days off heavy press along with 5 days of squats?

Day 1: deadlift 3 x 3-5
Squats 5 x 5
Abs 3 x 8-12

Day 2: Bench 3 x 3-5
DB bench 3 x 8-12
Rows 3 x 8-12
Chins 3 x 8-12
Pushdowns 3 x 8-12

Day 3: Squat 3 x 3-5
Front squat 3 x 8
Rdl 3 x 8
Abs 3 x 8-12

Day 4: Bench 5 x 5
DB press 3 x 8-12
Rows 3 x 8 -12
Chins 3 x 8-12
DB extensions 3 x 8-12

Dcoady

Thanks again for the reply but I couldnt gather what you meant by the first few lines , essentially 2 heavy presses a week with 2heavy squats and a heavy pull !

guydead67

Dcoady the idea was that you will be doing loads of volume with a moderate weight staying away from failure so that you can bring up your work capacity (which you probably have from rugby) for powerlifting. The idea is to make lifting heavy easy through practice, stay clear from excessive grinding and physicing-up. With that in mind, lift a weight that you can lift again in the next session! So keep it moderately light but not ridiculously so. Keep adding weight to the bar until you stall, take a mellow week and start again. I was hoping by doing it you would figure out when you need to deload.

I gave a rep range of 1-5 as that is the rep range that builds strength, so stick with 5reps for a few weeks then move to triples, then doubles, etc.

Dave says it is “a lot of online” ie impossible to do, he is right if you are lifting balls to the wall, but if you are getting all the reps with room to spare then it should be fine. For arguments, sake if squatting 150kg x 3 is easy but 160kg x 3 is just about possible, the aim is to make 152.5 easy then 155 and so forth, so over time a 180kg x 3 is just about possible. And the way to make it easy with volume is to just do it regularly.

I was thinking that volume would be good now as you have the time and then change to an intensity based program when the volume gets stale or you have less time.

I was thinking also why not just stick with the program you were doing for rugby, it has gotten you quite strong so far. If it doesn’t include bench or deadlift then add it in once a week to practice the lift.

As regards the exercises I believe there is huge value in overhead presses and back work.

As a final note I am really not qualified to give this advice as I am much much weaker than you. I’m just spouting what is currently working for me. Maybe some of the seasoned powerlifters on here can give you better advice.

Dcoady

Of course I will take your advice and it makes total sense now , an example would be I can bench 100 for 3x3 with alot of rest and by pumping myself up aswell as nearly hitting failure on every set , your saying I should droo the weight to 90/95 for 3x3 or 5x2 focusing on form and speed whilst accumulating volume for a few months ! Its clear now , sorry for the confusion ! Also thanks very much for the advice it is much appreciated thanks again ! I will start this style of training next week fresh ! Doing as follows
Monday:benching and overhead aswell as accessories
Tuesday: squat heavy and accessories
Wednesday:off
Thursday:benching overhead and accessories
Friday deadlift squat lighter aswell as accessories
Weekend off
Does this sound appropiate , I will be using the rep ranges you stated above

guydead67

I'd personally change it to:

Monday:squat and overhead aswell as accessories
Tuesday: squat and accessories
Wednesday:off
Thursday: squat and overhead aswell as accessories
Friday deadlift benching and accessories
Weekend off

I think you've got the concept, see how it goes

powerpete

Where are you based? If you want to send me a private mail I can give you the contact details of a few people in your area involved in powerlifting. The IDFPA are holding an intervarsity competition for students in October that you could focus in on, it would be a great first competition, there may also be a powerlifting club set up in UL next year all going well.

There is also a deadlift comp in Cork on the 24th of August, my advice would be to get yourself to a comp and you'll meet some very helpful people and gain valuable experience.