i did my first meet 2 weeks ago and really enjoyed it
at 140lbs I squatted 265 benched 190 and deadlifted 400 which were all personal bests
but since then i took a week off and back in the gym i am not feeling strong.
in fact i feel very shaky under squats, dnt want to think about deadlifting and my bench is a few kg off. i must admit i train beltless and i obviously belted for the comp but now i dont feel as strong.
i am also having significant difficulty getting tight for lifts like i did without a belt
i guess the questions are
is post meet strength decline normal
how can you learn to get tight without needing a belt, getting enough air etc?
Holy crap, this could be any subset of about 36,000,000 things.
My first guess is that YOU AREN’T WEARING THE BELT YOU’VE BEEN WEARING AND GETTING USED TO FOR WEEKS.
My second is not enough accumulated pizza after the meet (did you have to make weight?).
3rd is a question: how hard/heavy is your restart after the layoff? Did you do a drop ten and punt or did you fly right back into it?
Specifically:
is post meet strength decline normal
Normal as in more often than not? No. Normal as in does it happen in nature? Yes.
how can you learn to get tight without needing a belt, getting enough air etc? Practice, practice, practice. The more you lift without a belt the better you can get at it. The more you practice with a belt the better you can get at using one. The longer you’ve been powerlifting the easier the transitions from one way to the other.
By the way, congrats on losing your contest cherry and also on the PRs.
regarding the belt i literally trained the whole pre-comp phase without it and only wore it in the comp. so i didnt think it would be that because i am used to not wearing it
that said it makes such a difference - probaly highlights my inexperience that its so powerful for me
i probaly did fly straight back into it after a week off, i havent exactly phased in as such but i didnt think i would need to because im so inexperienced and average lifts
[quote]vegeta99 wrote:
i did my first meet 2 weeks ago and really enjoyed it
at 140lbs I squatted 265 benched 190 and deadlifted 400 which were all personal bests
but since then i took a week off and back in the gym i am not feeling strong.
in fact i feel very shaky under squats, dnt want to think about deadlifting and my bench is a few kg off. i must admit i train beltless and i obviously belted for the comp but now i dont feel as strong.
i am also having significant difficulty getting tight for lifts like i did without a belt
i guess the questions are
is post meet strength decline normal
how can you learn to get tight without needing a belt, getting enough air etc?[/quote]
nice deadlift number! im around the same bodyweight as you too (currently around 136lbs), and im getting ready for a meet as well. i only managed to hit a 330 lbs deadlift for 3 x 3 sets unbelted. how were your training maxes like before the meet? and whats your height and leverages like?
Your lifts are not average you squat double your body weight the average man can’t do that right out the gate. May seem weird to think about but a guy at 250lbs would need a 500lbs raw squat just to match you. How many guys did you see do that at your meet? Unless its a top meet probably not many. Then you were 20lbs away from a 3x Deadlift that’s fucking legit once again a 250lbs man would need 700+ to match you and raw there are not alot of guys doing that espeacialy Average guys.
Add to that you compete in a belt and all lifts were PRs meaning for one every single lift you did put more stress on you than normal and each lift was something you have never done plus a good adrenaline dump. Its very possible your just still fried from the meet. Dont be so hard on your self here.
As for the tightness its all about practice. But, training your core and alot of breathing training helps a ton.
regarding the belt i literally trained the whole pre-comp phase without it and only wore it in the comp. so i didnt think it would be that because i am used to not wearing it
that said it makes such a difference - probaly highlights my inexperience that its so powerful for me
i probaly did fly straight back into it after a week off, i havent exactly phased in as such but i didnt think i would need to because im so inexperienced and average lifts
[/quote]
What kind of training did you do prior? What are you trying to do now?
Reed hit it well suggesting that you may just be soaking in post contest-gasmic funk. Could have been a really hard cycle coming in followed by a really impressive show and now your brain and endocrine system are chilling on a beach somewhere.
Just back up some and slip back in.
And again, congrats. I am a DL addict and that 400 is awfully impressive. So too the SQ and BP, but I have a special place in my heart for people who pull.
[quote]vegeta99 wrote:
but since then i took a week off[/quote]
Why did you do this?
Anyway it’s normal. I’m assuming you peaked for the meet somewhat. So by definition on the other side of the peak is another decline. Ideally you’ll be at your absolute strongest at the meet. Afterwards it’s very normal to feel like your strength is down a little bit.
i took a week because i thought that was normal thing to do…i literally have no idea
thanks for the kind words btw, i did come 2nd but the guy who beat me was the british champion and obviously much older, im only 23 he was mid 30s.
in terms of how i trained for the meet i basically entered on 4 weeks notice so i had to lift nearly every day, i did exclusively sets of 2/3 on bench and squats. in terms of deadlift the heaviest i pulled was 330 for a single, i barely deadlifted only really did speed deadlifts becasue i was more worried about squatting then anything. i upped my rows but spent most time training heavy and one day for technique/speed.
training heavy every day really started to make me sore though, so in future i need more time to prepare and to know when to push and not. i think i need to take more time to build up then lifting 2s and 3s all the time.
my advice to you rafsanjaniii would be to make sure you spend atleast a week doing paused benches, that threw me off, and get used to the commands!
[quote]vegeta99 wrote:
in terms of deadlift the heaviest i pulled was 330 for a single, i barely deadlifted only really did speed deadlifts becasue i was more worried about squatting then anything. [/quote]
You, my friend, are kindred!
This is how I trained for most of my powerlifting career!!!
I’d go for a zillion speed sets at low percentage and then hit the meet and pull a PR. The first time I pulled 600, the heaviest I went in training was 535 or something like that. Same kind of deal on my squat and bench. I always figured that my squat was a assistance for my dead, and visa versa. I could prep for a meet in 5 weeks because that was my lifting cycle.
Personally speaking, I think you’re a genius! (For whatever that is worth.)
[quote]Reed wrote:
Your lifts are not average you squat double your body weight the average man can’t do that right out the gate. May seem weird to think about but a guy at 250lbs would need a 500lbs raw squat just to match you. How many guys did you see do that at your meet? Unless its a top meet probably not many. Then you were 20lbs away from a 3x Deadlift that’s fucking legit once again a 250lbs man would need 700+ to match you and raw there are not alot of guys doing that espeacialy Average guys.
[/quote]
I don’t say this to put you or OP down, but this is simply not true. a 2x bodyweight squat at 200 lbs is more impressive than a 2x bodyweight squat at 150. a 3x bodyweight deadlift at 350 lbs is MUCH more impressive and difficult than a 3x bodyweight deadlift at 150 lbs.
The heavier you get, the more impressive and difficult lifts of the same ratio become. If you don’t understand why, I’ll be more than happy to go into more detail.
Having said all that; OP, good work on your first meet. Now you have a baseline for future meets.
It is pretty normal to have an initial decline in strength after a powerlifting meet. However, at your experience and strength level, it shouldn’t be significant, unless you hurt yourself of course. There’s nothing wrong with training with a belt regularly, but during normal training, I don’t think most people should have it excessively tight. Also, you’ll learn breath control better if you have a bit of extra room in the belt, which then requires you to push your belly OUT against the belt, thereby creating more pressure. Try it out and see what you think.