Powerlifting/Strength Training Thread

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Don't bother with peaking for this mate. There's more potential for it to go wrong than right first time round. Try to have as few external variables to worry about as possible (peaking, weight cutting etc) for the first comp. Just eat nice and comfortably, don't overdo it compared to usual either.

Come in as fit as you can and the adrenalin will make it feel as though you've peaked anyway!

As I say, try to focus on soaking up the experience. Get you self sorted 2 attempts before your own, get straight over to the table after to put next attempts in. If necessary try and follow the rest of the flight in regards to knowing when to start warming up for the next lift (I'm not sure how much time there could be between lifts, but with Covid there may be less lifters and the day could run quicker with less rest between squat, bench and deadlift).
Thank you again for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate it and will be following the advice.
 


Bit of an epiphany yesterday...

My one big concern ahead of my first meet was hitting depth on squat. After reading this: 15 Steps to Nailing Your First Powerlifting Meet - BarBend I circled back to the article on hitting squat depth: 9 Tips to Squat Deeper + Advice from Pro Powerlifters | PowerliftingTechnique.com

I read through that and did the tests around hip and ankle mobility.

I'd always thought that I had an issue with hip mobility - when I was younger as a result of some medical tests they said that the ball in my hip ball and socket joint was too big for the socket - so I've made sure that I've stretched my hips plenty. However, through the tests I discovered that my hips are fine (great news) but I have awful ankle mobility. When I tried the 'toes four inches from the wall and touch the wall with your knees' I could still see my toes :confused: This led me onto here:


So, ankle mobility is now incorporated into my daily stretching routine. I've added PAILs and RAILs (three reps of each on each side twice a day) as suggested in that article:


I'm also wondering whether it's worth standing on my tiptoes when brushing my teeth - whether that will stretch the calves out and help with ankle mobility?

In retrospect, the ankle thing also makes sense - I used to suffer terribly from shin splints when I was younger, but as I lost weight that went away - I attributed it to the weight I used to carry, which it will have been, but I'm wondering if I've always had inflexible ankles too.

Anyway, hopefully some aspect of the above resonates with someone reading this, and I can get a bit of flexibility in those ankles to make sure I comfortably hit depth in four weeks times!
 
Apologies if covered before - I have really enjoyed weight lifting over the last 3 or 4 years but (probably due to my aspergers) I get very mixed up and muddled on the eating side and struggle a lot with it, even apps that track it and count up what you have eaten don't work for me. I have also had a number of eating issues in my life which just add to the difficulty of it all.

I am really looking forward to getting back to the gym in April and am planning to properly smash it. I think workout wise I was 90% of the way there (back day needs tweaking), but the eating side really let me down.

I need to simplify my eating as much as possible while also getting the most out of it. In the past I have just bought packets of pre cooked sliced chicken from the supermarkets and had one of those for lunch as my main protein meal, but I was reading the other day about those not being a great source due to being low quality

My main question is whether it is worth ordering from these chicken protein places online? are they worth it? is there a significant difference in protein from 'good' chicken Vs 'bad' chicken?
Eat mince, chicken, turkey, beef, pork lamb.

Portion your meals out and just use a different type of mince so you can freeze and microwave without having to eat rubber meat, you can then still.have the freedom to add any flavour that takes your fancy on any given day.
 
Bit of an epiphany yesterday...

My one big concern ahead of my first meet was hitting depth on squat. After reading this: 15 Steps to Nailing Your First Powerlifting Meet - BarBend I circled back to the article on hitting squat depth: 9 Tips to Squat Deeper + Advice from Pro Powerlifters | PowerliftingTechnique.com

I read through that and did the tests around hip and ankle mobility.

I'd always thought that I had an issue with hip mobility - when I was younger as a result of some medical tests they said that the ball in my hip ball and socket joint was too big for the socket - so I've made sure that I've stretched my hips plenty. However, through the tests I discovered that my hips are fine (great news) but I have awful ankle mobility. When I tried the 'toes four inches from the wall and touch the wall with your knees' I could still see my toes :confused: This led me onto here:


So, ankle mobility is now incorporated into my daily stretching routine. I've added PAILs and RAILs (three reps of each on each side twice a day) as suggested in that article:


I'm also wondering whether it's worth standing on my tiptoes when brushing my teeth - whether that will stretch the calves out and help with ankle mobility?

In retrospect, the ankle thing also makes sense - I used to suffer terribly from shin splints when I was younger, but as I lost weight that went away - I attributed it to the weight I used to carry, which it will have been, but I'm wondering if I've always had inflexible ankles too.

Anyway, hopefully some aspect of the above resonates with someone reading this, and I can get a bit of flexibility in those ankles to make sure I comfortably hit depth in four weeks times!

Have a look at Kabuki strength on YouTube. All your powerlifting specific mobility questions answered with perfect sport specificity.
 
First week back in the gym in what feels like forever.

Hamstring giving me some serious grief :lol:
Did you not train much through the lockdown?

I’ve pushed myself harder than I should since reopening and picked up a slight groin pull, which hasn’t really slowed me down much. Going to deload next week though.

I’ve been doing 5/3/1 after testing out my deadlift on my first workout back and finding it to be embarrassingly bad. Went off script yesterday and I’ve put 15kg on my previous all time best (which I repped for 3)—my previous all time PB is also embarrassingly bad, to be fair :lol:—Jim Wendler is awesome. I’m going to keep at this for the next few months.
 
Not a problem mate. Appreciated! I'm sure if you catch the competition bug that we'll meet at some point at s competition next year
And unfortunately next year may be the first time I compete.

I've knacked something in my shoulder and neck - made a couple of stupid mistakes (misloaded the bar {missed a 10kg plate off one side} and came back too heavy after a week off and so failed a squat) on Saturday and haven't been able to train since.

The lad a couple of doors round is a physio so he's going to pop round tonight to take a look. I'm feeling better this morning but up until last night it seemed to be getting worse - Simpsylass (no) had to help me get ready for bed.

I'm thinking that if I can get back to a place by the day of the comp where I can safely lift anything then I'll still go - as it will all add to my experience, but if I'm at risk of further injury I'm going to pull out.

Gutted, but only got myself to blame.
 
I need to simplify my eating as much as possible while also getting the most out of it. In the past I have just bought packets of pre cooked sliced chicken from the supermarkets and had one of those for lunch as my main protein meal, but I was reading the other day about those not being a great source due to being low quality

My main question is whether it is worth ordering from these chicken protein places online? are they worth it? is there a significant difference in protein from 'good' chicken Vs 'bad' chicken?
You'll be fine if you're getting enough protein.
I'm vegan and my protein sources are shite compared to the amino acid contents of meat.
Buy I eat about 200g of protein a day and so everything I've been told (I'm a big fan of the stronger by science pod) is that even though my protein sources aren't as good as others, I'll be getting all the amino acids I need as I'm hitting my protein goal in grammes.
If you're eating about 2g of protein per kilo bodyweight, it shouldn't make any difference if its premium quality chicken, poor quality chicken or tofu or lentils.

If you're shit at counting macros, just try and keep a rough idea of the protein you're eating.
 
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You'll be fine if you're getting enough protein.
I'm vegan and my protein sources are shite compared to the amino acid contents of meat.
Buy I eat about 200g of protein a day and so everything I've been told (I'm a big fan of the stronger by science pod) is that even though my protein sources aren't as good as others, I'll be getting all the amino acids I need as I'm hitting my protein goal in grammes.
If you're eating about 2g of protein per kilo bodyweight, it shouldn't make any difference if its premium quality chicken, poor quality chicken or tofu or lentils.

If you're shit at counting macros, just try and keep a rough idea of the protein you're eating.

Thanks for this, pretty much what I wanted to hear! 200g is what I am going to aim at too.

Went in on day 1 of reopening, did a chest session and was in so much pain after I couldn't go in for another 3 days :oops:

Now I have done 4 days in a row and getting the old buzz back. Bought some chicken from musclefood so going to try and cook that up at the weekend.
 
The physio I mentioned came round and essentially said it was a bad strain. He said to crack on training but keep it very light. Worked up to 3*5 at 60% of my 1 rep max (RM) this morning and it felt great, didn't even feel a twinge. So, I think it was some of the unusual movements that have caused the strain. So, subject to anything else over the next couple of weeks, I'll be competing. Even if it's not at the level I would really like it to be.

I've been looking into Kabuki strength too @Titus , thanks for the recommendation. Back to training barefoot (I'd started wearing shoes to get used to it for competition), trying to go barefoot round the house more, and incorporating some of the ankle mobility drills into my stretching. Trusting it will aid with my squat depth, if not before this competition then in the medium term.
 
Morning, this could either be brave or stupid (stupid in the context of the SMB, hopefully brave in relation to the atmosphere on this thread) but here goes. I've decided to chronicle my build up to my first comp and put it out there on YouTube - thought that some of you may be interested:


First time I've ever done anything like this, so interested to hear people's thoughts!
Morning, this could either be brave or stupid (stupid in the context of the SMB, hopefully brave in relation to the atmosphere on this thread) but here goes. I've decided to chronicle my build up to my first comp and put it out there on YouTube - thought that some of you may be interested:


First time I've ever done anything like this, so interested to hear people's thoughts!
I've also set up an Instagram account to share content too, Chris.Simpson.PL
 
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Morning, this could either be brave or stupid (stupid in the context of the SMB, hopefully brave in relation to the atmosphere on this thread) but here goes. I've decided to chronicle my build up to my first comp and put it out there on YouTube - thought that some of you may be interested:


First time I've ever done anything like this, so interested to hear people's thoughts!

I've also set up an Instagram account to share content too, Chris.Simpson.PL
Which weight category are you competing in?
 
Which weight category are you competing in?
Under 75kg. Ultimately I want to go to u67.5, but with only finding out about this comp five weeks in advance I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself. What I didn't realise is that, in the federation I'm competing in, you can move up (or down) a division on the day - should have read the rule book earlier! So I could have gone for u67.5 but then moved up if I didn't make it. Still, we live and learn, and it's all building experience!
 
Under 75kg. Ultimately I want to go to u67.5, but with only finding out about this comp five weeks in advance I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself. What I didn't realise is that, in the federation I'm competing in, you can move up (or down) a division on the day - should have read the rule book earlier! So I could have gone for u67.5 but then moved up if I didn't make it. Still, we live and learn, and it's all building experience!
Fair play if you can keep your weight down that low, but powerlifting and keeping my weight at 67 kilos would just seem like torture to me.

The best thing about days where I squat and/or deadlift is being able to eat whatever I want on that day for the energy, also the day before in preparation for it and the day after in order to recover! :lol:
 
Fair play if you can keep your weight down that low, but powerlifting and keeping my weight at 67 kilos would just seem like torture to me.

The best thing about days where I squat and/or deadlift is being able to eat whatever I want on that day for the energy, also the day before in preparation for it and the day after in order to recover! :lol:
The leaner I am the easier I find it to control my diabetes - so it's the desired weight that drives the category I'll compete in, rather than the weights driving the desired bodyweight - I trust that makes sense? I know what you mean though - sometimes after training I feel like I could do nothing but eat for the rest of the day :lol:
 

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