I recently joined a powerlifting gym, and now have access to a bunch of gear and a bunch of guys who know how to use it.
I have been lifting for a little over 6 years now and have always trained raw (belt and wraps). Now that I have access to some gear and some knowledge, I really want to start doing some gear work.
The question I have, is how to program it. I am using a Westside Barbell standard template, as laided out by Jim Wendler.
How often do you guys train in gear?
I was thinking about rotating sort of a 3 week “mini-cycle.”
Week 1- Totally raw. Belt as needed.
Week 2- Light gear. Belt, wraps, and briefs on heaviest work.
Week 3- Full on gear.
Repeat. Maybe try and figure out when to put a deload week in there. Maybe every 6 weeks or so. I might really be over thinking this, but figured it couldn’t hurt to ask, and get some new ideas and insight. I do plan on competing. I have done a handful of raw competitions, mostly non-sanctioned stuff. I would like to take things to another level. Probably start in single-ply stuff. Maybe try and find some IPF/USAPL meets locally.
What do the guys you train with do? I like to start out raw and add more gear as I get closer to the meet. I’ve had the same gear for a bit though, so I know what it takes to get depth and touch with.
IMO, if its your first cycle in gear, especially higher end single and any double ply, id spend as much time in it as possible. In the last 8 weeks i’ve been out of the gear for one of them. And im still not comfortable in full squat gear.
In the next 13 or so weeks until my meet, im only out of gear twice; once as a deload, and the week before the meet. The way i keep my mind going, is by cycling the intensity, mainly by doing what wildiron suggested; cycle the amount of gear. For example, 4 weeks in briefs, 3 weeks in suit bottoms, deload, 3 weeks in full gear adding wraps where needed, etc.
That’s just my opinion and not necessarily a good plan. Gotta find a way to get stronger and more comfortable in the gear. im still working on it.
I would agree with that, train in the gear for a while you need to learn it, and that is not an easy task, well at least for me it wasn’t easy for me.
Why don’t you listen to the guys in your gym?
[quote]bjjwannabe152 wrote:
IMO, if its your first cycle in gear, especially higher end single and any double ply, id spend as much time in it as possible. In the last 8 weeks i’ve been out of the gear for one of them. And im still not comfortable in full squat gear.
In the next 13 or so weeks until my meet, im only out of gear twice; once as a deload, and the week before the meet. The way i keep my mind going, is by cycling the intensity, mainly by doing what wildiron suggested; cycle the amount of gear. For example, 4 weeks in briefs, 3 weeks in suit bottoms, deload, 3 weeks in full gear adding wraps where needed, etc.
That’s just my opinion and not necessarily a good plan. Gotta find a way to get stronger and more comfortable in the gear. im still working on it.[/quote]
That sounds about right. Once you learn the gear, then you can wear it much less. Over 12 weeks of training, I’ll wear my bench shirt 3-4 times. I’ll wear just briefs ~10 times (including DE and ME). I’ll wear briefs and suit about 4 times and put straps up on 2 of them. When I was learning my gear, I was in it all the time.
I have been using gear for about 9 or 10 months now, and I still wear it all the time. I have also been taking it slow with my gear, I started with single-ply gear and have been working my way up. I don’t need to wear my suit all the time anymore though, but I am always wearing my shirt.
What type of gear are you planning on training with and what kind of gear do your partners train with? If they are as experienced as you indicated they should have a pretty good idea of how to program your gear work and teach you the technique it requires. Im lucky, ive got a good group who helps me out a lot. They know the gear really well.
[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
Why don’t you listen to the guys in your gym?[/quote]
agreed… I cut my teeth on the frantz team and those guys live in their gear… so I trained in my gear every week…
every once in a while during the off season I’ll do a week where I lift all raw, but usually I only lift raw when the weight is lighter as a recovery day mid-week…
but if the team does something different then go for it… what’s the point of working with a team if you’re not going to listen?