I didn’t see any threads on this subject. Lots of stuff regarding how to prepare, but not about what you guys do after the contest.
I’ve only competed twice. Both times, the contest was on a Saturday; on Monday, I went back to my regular progressions. This clearly does not work for me. I had pronounced dips in strength on all 3 lifts for about a month after each meet.
Next time, I am thinking about taking a week or two off (this is hard - I like going in and lifting). Does anyone have any recommendations? What do you do?
I’ve competed in two full comps and one bench press comp, and have always taken the week following the comp completely off and allowed my joints and muscles to rest and heal. There is no reason you need to immediately go hit the weights right after a competition. It’s time to heal!
[quote]FiveFootTwo wrote:
I’ve competed in two full comps and one bench press comp, and have always taken the week following the comp completely off and allowed my joints and muscles to rest and heal. There is no reason you need to immediately go hit the weights right after a competition. It’s time to heal![/quote]
x2, Dont rush into anything. Sleep, if you can the day after, all day.
I may end up eating these words, but I am planning to just do a normal 5-3-1 deload after my upcoming comp. Take it easy on assistance exercises as well. It works out that the following week is a “Week 4” week on my template.
Not really sure what I’m going to do the week before the comp though (“Week 3”). hrmmm…
I also do a deload week. I’ve only competed a handful of times, but each time the week after I did a deload style week.
I felt like it really helped work out the soreness and helped to get me “loose” again. To each his own though. Certainly will want to take it easy that week.
Whiskey, strip clubs, and a shit load of double cheeseburgers immediately after the meet.
I was invited to the Arnold for the Raw Challenege a couple years ago. I got first in my division, went right to the hotel bar, and took a shot of jack. It was awesome.
I think it’d best to deload for a week or two. The more lifts you miss, the more beat up you’ll be after the meet. You don’t want to do nothing because that won’t help you recover. You need to get blood flow going.
I take the week off before the meet, do the meet, and since they are too; usually on a saturday I’ll go back to the gym monday.
it all depends how i feel. i take all day post-meet on saturday and sunday to be a lazy SOB and a fat slob. so i lay around, watch TV, eat and have sex. all three work great.
by monday i usually feel pretty good. b/c think about it, a meet is just a bunch of light ass warm up sets and 9 heavy attempts. baring the fact that you don’t hurt or slightly injure yourself you could be pretty well off.
i know i’ve done meets that, when it was all said and done; i didn’t even break a sweat. but those were my first few meets, i sweat now. (b/c i’m heavier lol)
I’m usually pretty well recuperated after a meet. While a meet is typically 8 or 9 max or near-max lifts, the two or three weeks leading up to a meet are very restorative. No deadlifting for three weeks, no heavy squats for two, and no maximal benching for two weeks (I’ll still work up to a my bench opener a week out or a little heavier). So if a meet is on Saturday, by the following weekend, I’m going heavy again.
[quote]Pinto wrote:
I’m usually pretty well recuperated after a meet. While a meet is typically 8 or 9 max or near-max lifts, the two or three weeks leading up to a meet are very restorative. No deadlifting for three weeks, no heavy squats for two, and no maximal benching for two weeks (I’ll still work up to a my bench opener a week out or a little heavier). So if a meet is on Saturday, by the following weekend, I’m going heavy again.[/quote]
How many meets per year do you do with this gameplan? I just can’t figure out how I’m going to get stronger if I am basically shut down for the ~month around the meet???
Here’s some good videos with Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, Buddy Morris, and Thomas Myslinski. They talk a lot about stress, recovery, and a few other topics. It’s really good stuff
Buddy Morris is the strength and conditioning coach for Pitt, and during the time of the interview he was the strength coach for the Browns.
Personally, I think taking a couple of days off and then doing light work for the rest of the week is a good idea.
Also, if you aren’t going to do another meet for at least 4 months, it is probably a good idea to avoid competition style squatting, benchpressing and deadlifting for a few weeks since that has likely been your focus going into the meet. Switching to things like front squats, unilateral work, incline and/or dumbell press will keep you strong plus allow some variety for your body.
The week after a meet I won’t do barbell back squats or deadlifts. Instead I’ll do high rep stuff like kettlebell goblet squats, kettlebell depth squats, db bench, cable rows, etc. After a week with this type of training I will do 3x3x70% for squats, bench, and deadlift for a week. A couple weeks after the meet I’m ready to return to the way I ordinarily train.
[quote]FiveFootTwo wrote:
I’ve competed in two full comps and one bench press comp, and have always taken the week following the comp completely off and allowed my joints and muscles to rest and heal. There is no reason you need to immediately go hit the weights right after a competition. It’s time to heal![/quote]
x2, Dont rush into anything. Sleep, if you can the day after, all day.[/quote]
x3, I’ve tried training the following week and it just sucked. I do gotta admit, the whiskey, strip clubs and cheeseburger advice sounds intriguing.
I can’t think of a real reason to do 3 meets in a month… I don’t do 3 in a year.
I usually take a day off and start back at the gym, sometimes i dont take a day off. I am a fan of a long pre-meet deload, and I need to get my gpp back to par from taking the time off.
Its important to know your body post-meet. One meet where I missed 4 lifts on strength (and pulled a close to a 20 second deadlift) I was fried and had to start back very light.
I’ll do meets on back to back months if I have to, but usually if meets are that close you kinda have to pick which ones you want to peak for…
after 10+ meets and just starting my 4th year of competing I still haven’t found a perfect recovery plan… the best I’ve felt was after AWPC worlds this year… during the meet I sipped on shakes between the lifts… kept my carbs up with gatorade and pedialite… had a big shake with 15g. or so of glutamine after my last deadlift… after awards I went to Gino’s East and ate nearly half of a stuffed spinach pizza and some wings… another big shake when I got home and I slept for 14 hours… I felt ready to lift by mid-week but just did some lighter, high rep sets to flush everything and was able to get back to it the next week pain-free…
so, readers digest version:
super high protein and glutamine on meet day, all day
eat 4x what a normal person does after the meet
do nothing but sleep and eat the next day
light weights for a week to flush everything and keep you from locking up from sitting on your ass all week…