Next training routine?

[Deleted]

I am new to Sheiko training and I am about to finish program #29. I really enjoyed the program and did not miss a rep. I weigh in at 238lb, 43 years old and used as my max raw lifts squat (560), bench (350), and dead lift (600). I have not competed for 3 years and would like to jump into a meet in the begining of May...The question I have is where to go next?

Thanks for all your help,
Greg

[joeldibattista]

How many weeks exactly do you have until your comp?

[Deleted]

I am eight weeks out...

[joeldibattista]

Greg - a popular cycle is 29/37/32. #37 is a relatively similar prepatory cycle to #29, #32 is a "peaking" cycle for leading up to a competition.

#37 - www.elitefts.com/documents/Sheiko37.htm
#32 - www.elitefts.com/sheiko/Sheiko32.htm

Or you could run the last 8 weeks of Dave Bates's 13 week cycle on this site (which is basically #37 & #32).

[Deleted]

Thank you...would you keep the same max reps for all programs?

[joeldibattista]

Yeah I would. Even though #37 isn't really any harder than #29, you are going to be going into it without any "deload", so the accumulation of fatigue means that even if you got stronger in your last block, you may in fact feel weaker until you peak - does that make sense?

If you read the #32, you will see there is a "skills evaluation" in the first week - basically a max out. Sheiko advises that if you hit PRs in this, you should use the new PRs in your final 3 weeks of training.

HOWEVER, Dave Bates has found that his lifters do best if they only work up to 95% on this skills evaluation - I have found this to work best for myself as well. Keep in mind that you will be extremely fatigued by this point (8 weeks of prep with no deload), so if you can hit 95% in this state well, then you are in a great position to hit some PRs comp day.

By the way, that is a great raw total. Very keen to see how you get on, please keep us updated.

[Deleted]

Thanks for your time and I will keep you posted...I am very pleased with the workouts. I attempted to get ready for a meet in the fall, unfortunately I kept getting injured. The Sheiko routines so far, have allowed me to train hard. However, staying to the plan %'s I believe the risk of getting injured is very low.

[Deleted]

As a first time user of the Sheiko programs I hit my first skill evaluation today. My raw totals were 535 squat, 345 bench, 585 deadlift. I have not competed in a full power meet since 2003 and have not done any competitions for the last 3 years. I am very pleased with these numbers. I had some left for each of the lifts and when I compete on May 1st it is not out of the question to add another 50 - 75 lbs to this total.

[davebates]

Mar 31, 2010 21:28:18 GMT -5 @gregoliver said:

As a first time user of the Sheiko programs I hit my first skill evaluation today. My raw totals were 535 squat, 345 bench, 585 deadlift. I have not competed in a full power meet since 2003 and have not done any competitions for the last 3 years. I am very pleased with these numbers. I had some left for each of the lifts and when I compete on May 1st it is not out of the question to add another 50 - 75 lbs to this total.

Good job.....

[benburgess]

Mar 31, 2010 21:28:18 GMT -5 @gregoliver said:

As a first time user of the Sheiko programs I hit my first skill evaluation today. My raw totals were 535 squat, 345 bench, 585 deadlift. I have not competed in a full power meet since 2003 and have not done any competitions for the last 3 years. I am very pleased with these numbers. I had some left for each of the lifts and when I compete on May 1st it is not out of the question to add another 50 - 75 lbs to this total.

Nice work Greg!