Mock Meet 3

Training Powerlifting
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Hey guys. Kind of spur of the moment, decided to do a mock meet today, rather than just maxing my squat. It wasn’t a perfect day, but I did very well, hitting a 115 lb PR total from the last time I did a mock meet, around 6 months ago, and hitting all time PR’s on squat, Paused Bench, and Deadlift.

Just wanted to share with everyone, any criticism or commentary is welcome. Personally, I am pretty happy with everything, although I think I had more on the squat (failed my final attempt). Bench still isn’t great… but it is improving, which is more than I can say about last mock meet haha. And, I think I need to be careful not to hitch my deadlift - it wasn’t horrible, but there is a little hitching, and the thing is it’s not something I am doing because I NEED to, it’s more or less a bad habit - I shift my knees forward, and it gives me the appearance of hitching at lockout, even though I could finish it without the hitch. And that might cost me lifts when i start doing real meets. Bench still isn’t great… but it is improving, which is more than I can say about last mock meet haha.

Anyways, thanks in advance for taking a look/any questions and comments.

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That deadlift was good I liked it 5 plates looks badass see the guy scoping ahha, you kinda hitched a bit but its not like you need to as you said. I hate bench press lol, I can barely rep 225. Solid squat too you kind of came down really fucking fast obviously because it is heavy, great lifting overall you will do great at a meet.

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Your leg drive on bench has improved considerably. From the angle it’s hard to tell much else. Maybe try elevating the camera next time. I’ll sometimes use a dumbell on top of a plate or two for recording it.

If I squatted like that my form would go to absolute total shit haha. But it seems to work for you. I did notice at one point your hips rise faster than your shoulders and your back takes over a bit but not terrible for a max effort.

From what I could tell you already spotted what was going with your deadlift. Nice job breaking the 500 barrier! 500 or more always seems to turn heads and your pull was no exception lol.

How heavy are you now?

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Jlabs thanks for the comment. I’m excited to try and get in my first meet. I’m probably gonna do one more mock meet in the late winter/early spring, then maybe do a meet over the summer in 2014.

Fletch, thanks for the comment on bench. I know the angle blows, it’s just hard in my gym to get s good setup. Dumbell idea is great, I wish I had thought of that. I agree on squat, my descent seems to horrify most people on TNation haha but it really is what feels best for me - although I think I might add in a little more paused work as well (more raw starting strength out of the hole never hurts). I also agree that my back takes over a little, but that’s my age-old problem of having a stronger posterior chain than quads. Just gotta keep front squatting to try and rectify that.

Also, I weighed in at 235.8 this morning, on a scale that is normally a little bit heavy. I have almost reached my goal of hitting 245 before I leave school and leave behind my meal plan with unlimited food haha. 7 months to gain those last 10 lbs, so I’m gonna slow down with the carbz and try and up the fruits and veggies to try and improve the muscle/fat ratio. I’m nowhere near lean right now, but once I hit 245 I have a lot of time to simply maintain/slowly recomp, so the main goal is really to hit that goal before I move into the real world, where I don;t have unlimited burgers, milk, subway sandwiches, pizza, eggs, veggies, Captain crunch…etc etc.

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[quote]N.K. wrote:
I have almost reached my goal of hitting 245 before I leave school and leave behind my meal plan with unlimited food haha. 7 months to gain those last 10 lbs, so I’m gonna slow down with the carbz and try and up the fruits and veggies to try and improve the muscle/fat ratio. I’m nowhere near lean right now, but once I hit 245 I have a lot of time to simply maintain/slowly recomp, so the main goal is really to hit that goal before I move into the real world, where I don;t have unlimited burgers, milk, subway sandwiches, pizza, eggs, veggies, Captain crunch…etc etc. [/quote]

Man do I miss the days of meal plans. Tremendous bargain if you’re someone who eats a ton of food. No cooking, no dishes, open just about any time, and packed with college girls. Hard to beat that.

115 lbs in 6 months is great progress, keep it up.

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Are you looking for critique on this? What fed are you looking to compete in? Couldn’t even tell if you paused your bench or not. Where are the other 6 attempts? As far as I can see 1/3 lifts completed, maybe 0/3 if you don’t wait for rack command on squat, though maybe 2/3 if a better bench angle and not high speed. Did you have anyone calling out commands?

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Back to the bar - I said in the first post that I wasn’t particularly looking for a critique, just wanted to share because it helps keep me motivated, and I was proud of some of the PR’s I hit, although criticism is welcome. I didn’t include any of the other attempts because I didn’t want the video to be three times as long - people are more likely to watch a shorter video, and all of these attempts were hard enough to see form breakdown so I decided that was enough. For Squat, I hit 375, 415, then failed 435. Bench it was 245, 255, then failed 260, and deadlift it was 455, 485, then 505 was my third attempt.

The bench wasn’t high speed, it was real time haha. I agree though, the pause wasn’t very long. I haven’t been training much with a pause, so I think I definitely rushed it. It’s something that I think will be rectified with more paused benching in training, somethign I am adding in next cycle.

I did not have anyone yelling out commands. I didn’t have powerlifting friends there, except for the deadlift, and I am still at least 8 or so months away from my first meet, so I was mostly concerned with just getting the feel for maxing all 3 lifts in one day and trying to set PR’s. Also, I haven’t chosen a fed for my first meet yet. I still have some work to do in terms of strength before I commit to my first meet. The Europa fitness expo comes near my hometown every summer, however, so I was thinking of entering that meet this summer. Also, friends of mine have been loving RPS meets that are nearby, so I might consider that as well.

Also, Rock978 - Dining halls are the greatest friend a lifter could have haha. Thanks for the comment, I appreciate the positive feedback.

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[quote]N.K. wrote:
Back to the bar - I said in the first post that I wasn’t particularly looking for a critique, just wanted to share because it helps keep me motivated, and I was proud of some of the PR’s I hit, although criticism is welcome. I didn’t include any of the other attempts because I didn’t want the video to be three times as long - people are more likely to watch a shorter video, and all of these attempts were hard enough to see form breakdown so I decided that was enough. For Squat, I hit 375, 415, then failed 435. Bench it was 245, 255, then failed 260, and deadlift it was 455, 485, then 505 was my third attempt.

The bench wasn’t high speed, it was real time haha. I agree though, the pause wasn’t very long. I haven’t been training much with a pause, so I think I definitely rushed it. It’s something that I think will be rectified with more paused benching in training, somethign I am adding in next cycle.

I did not have anyone yelling out commands. I didn’t have powerlifting friends there, except for the deadlift, and I am still at least 8 or so months away from my first meet, so I was mostly concerned with just getting the feel for maxing all 3 lifts in one day and trying to set PR’s. Also, I haven’t chosen a fed for my first meet yet. I still have some work to do in terms of strength before I commit to my first meet. The Europa fitness expo comes near my hometown every summer, however, so I was thinking of entering that meet this summer. Also, friends of mine have been loving RPS meets that are nearby, so I might consider that as well.

Also, Rock978 - Dining halls are the greatest friend a lifter could have haha. Thanks for the comment, I appreciate the positive feedback. [/quote]

Sorry, didn’t mean to sound harsh, but the judges will seem that way when it comes down to it. Just do a meet and get a feel for it, doesn’t matter how strong you are.

RPS looks like they run a good meet, probably going to do my initiation back meet in RPS myself. Seems like Gene has his shit together. Well run meets and good judging. Feel free to show all the reps, it will only give you more knowledge in what to expect.

PS: Would watch a longer video with no problems. I sat through watching hours of the IPL worlds with many boring as hell parts on stream.

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What’s your program look like these days NK?

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Haha thanks back to the bar, I appreciate the honesty. I would watch a longer video too, but not everyone would… and I can understand that. Watching 9 minute training videos with the lillibridges is a lot more interesting than a 9 minute training video of me, lifting right around half of what Eric lifts haha.

But yeah, my buddies seem to love RPS. They are doing another RPS meet this sunday, which I probably would have entered but I have a concert that weekend so alas, I couldn’t. But you’re right, best way to get a real feel for a meet is to just do one. Like I said, I think next summer I am finally going to commit.

Fletch: I’ll try and keep this short, because I am long winded and could probably write a post about my training that could be considered a short novel.

Lately, I have been essentially doing Max effort lower/upper, Dynamic/rep effort lower/upper. But I normally utilize a lot higher reps than the “westside” version of a DE/ME split. It has been working really well for me, but I am also still working out the kinks, trying to figure out EXACTLY which rep ranges work best, swapping out assistance exercises, and figuring out how long each cycle should be, etc. But here is an example of what it looks like

Monday:
Squat up to 335 for one set of max reps (ME) - next week 365 - next week 395
A few paused-squat backoff sets (these are a new add on)
Light, high rep touch and go deadifts

Tues:
Bench 215 for one set of max reps - next week 235 - next week 255
at the same weight, do one set of paused reps (again, a new add on based on the meet results)
High rep “stability work” (i.e. close grip feet up bench, dumbell bench, etc)
High rep back work (lat pulldowns, cable rows, lat pullovers, etc)
Pullups/“Bar Stars”

Wed: Stretch/light conditioning

Thurs:
Speed Squats, work up to 315 (give of take) for some fast reps, with a couple paused squat backoff sets
Front squats: normally work up to one hard set: A high-rep, beltless set for a few weeks, then throw on the belt and try and PR in later weeks
High-rep deadlift variation: deficit deads, romanian deads, etc.

Fri:
High rep bench pressing (RE)
Bodyweight work (pushups and dips)
High rep back work
Bar starz

Pretty simple. this last cycle, I did that for 3 weeks, then in the 4th week did my mock meet. It is working very well for me, although I am making some changes - adding in the paused squats, to help with raw strength out of the hole, adding in paused bench, and in this next cycle I am going to program my ME stuff a little lighter, to slightly increase my volume. So, for example, this last cycle I hit 8 reps at 335, 5 at 365, then 2 at 395. In my next cycle, I would prefer it be something like 9-10, 6-7, and 3-4. But anyways, that’s that.