Preparatory cycles for a meet in december

[Deleted]

Hello everyone. On december 16, I'll be competing in my second powerlifting meet, which means I have exactly 16 weeks to train for it. I've just finished my first cycle of sheiko 29, and I'm planning on using sheiko programming to train for the meet.

I don't see any point in peaking until I'm 4 weeks out from the meet, so I have time to fit in 12 weeks of preparatory cycles. Combined with the 4 weeks of 29 that I just completed, that would make 16 weeks of preparation and 4 weeks of peaking.

I had a few questions.
1. Is that too much? Or should I drop 1 preparation cycle and allow for a week or of deloading?

2. Would you recommend raising my training maxes by 2-3% at the beginning of each cycle?

3. Are there any particular cycles that you would recommend? I was thinking of doing 29-30-31-32. 30 and 31 look quite hard, but I think my body could adapt to the volume.

4. My goals for the meet are a 500 squat/deadlift and a 275 bench. My current competition prs (from july) are a 440 squat and deadlift and a 231 bench. Does this seem too ambitious? I am 19, weigh 205 pounds, and have been lifting for about 16 months.

I would appreciate any advice.

[Deleted]

PS: I typed this from my phone, so it may be a little screwed up. I can edit it when I get to a computer, but until then I hope it is understandable.

[benburgess]

1. 16wks prep is fine, assuming your work capacity is reasonable...how do you feel after the first block?

2. Probably more like 1-2% but only if you definately feel you can i.e. the sessions are getting easy and you could definately add 5kg onto every set etc.

3. Pretty brutal cycle that. Given the length and your stregnth level i wold maybe go 29-37-37-31-32

4. I dont know what answer you are looking for really. No-one can predict your gains

[joeldibattista]

#30, #31 are for rated 1 lifters, which you are not.

Personally, I would run #29, #37, #32 and set some new maxes, then straight into #29, #37 and #32 again.

[Deleted]

Aug 21, 2011 17:15:59 GMT -5 benburgess said:

1. 16wks prep is fine, assuming your work capacity is reasonable...how do you feel after the first block?

2. Probably more like 1-2% but only if you definately feel you can i.e. the sessions are getting easy and you could definately add 5kg onto every set etc.

3. Pretty brutal cycle that. Given the length and your stregnth level i wold maybe go 29-37-37-31-32

4. I dont know what answer you are looking for really. No-one can predict your gains

Thanks for the advice, that sounds like a good plan.

Aug 21, 2011 20:13:38 GMT -5 joeldibattista said:

#30, #31 are for rated 1 lifters, which you are not.

Personally, I would run #29, #37, #32 and set some new maxes, then straight into #29, #37 and #32 again.

The problem with that is that I'm planning my training around a competition. Why would I do a peaking program 12 weeks out from the meet?

[benburgess]

What joel is suggesting is that you peak between now and the comp, get new maxes then use those maxes in another build up before the comp (ending on comp day). It's a solid plan. They are just 2 ways of arriving at the same place

[Deleted]

I would probably do that if I had more time, but if I were to run 37 and then 32 right now, I would only have time for 4 weeks of preparation before peaking again, which Sheiko seems to think is insufficient.

[Deleted]

I can't believe I thought I was ready for 30 or 31. I just started week 3 of 37, and the squats just about killed me. My bench and deadlift sets are pretty easy, so I'll probably increase my maxes a little more next cycle.

[joeldibattista]

Week 3 is a tough one for sure.

[Deleted]

Just did a skills evaluation after 8 weeks of prep. Results were somewhat disappointing. Squatted 455 and benched 240, no PR on deadlifts. I was sick though, and didn't deload between the prep and the test so I think it's understandable. Probably should have just worked up to 95%. I think I'm going to take 1 week to deload, and then do 6 more weeks of prep and then a peaking cycle leading up to the meet.

Might make a few changes though. Ditching the deadlifts from boxes for one. I have no troubles at the top end of the lift, and these were almost effortless for me. I'll replace them with either full range deadlifts or deficit deadlifts. Might replace lunges with light-ish front squats.

Thinking about choosing a slightly more difficult cycle to make up for the fact that I'm only prepping for 6 weeks.

Thoughts?

[benburgess]

With the greatest respect, my no.1 thought is that this forum
Could do with an FAQ...

As far as i can tell, you PB'd on 2 of 3 lifts under a ton of fatigue with no peaking / deloading program.

[Deleted]

That is correct. The problem is, they were very minor PRs. And I have no way of knowing how much more I could lift after actually peaking, so that leaves me unsure of how to structure my training leading up to the meet.