So I'm going to be competing in my first ever powerlifting competition at the end of June. As I've stated already, this is not because I'm passionate about powerlifting, but because I'm on a mission to prove my natural status. But with that in mind, I'm not there to just make up the numbers.
I want to bench 180 kilos, squat over 200, and rip 270 kilos off a deadlift. Now considering that for the last 10 years, I've spent most of that training like a bodybuilder. I'm not the best equipped nor am I the most knowledgeable when it comes to prescribing programming for powerlifting.
So that's when I called in the big guns. And by the big guns, I mean my sister's boyfriend Shane, who a couple of years ago competed as an elite underage powerlifter. Now this is the exact powerlifting split that Shane has written for me, so that I can appear on the platform on the 29th of June in my best possible physical, at least from a strength perspective, condition. So Shane has written me a six-week strength building phase.
which consists of four workouts per week with each workout taking a specific focus. On day number one we have our back squats and close grip bench press. On day two we have just a regular bench press.
Day three is for pause squats and day four for deadlifts. So the weight that I select for each exercise I do over the next six weeks will be calculated based off of a percentage of something called my projected one repetition maximum. This is basically the maximum amount of weight that I could lift for just one single repetition. However, Shane has elected to add a couple of kilos to that number to ensure that over the next six weeks I'm working at a bit of an overload. This may not be necessary for you, but it highlights the importance of investing in a strength or a powerlifting coach if this is something that you wish to pursue, because there's some things that they can tell you that I won't be able to tell you in the context of a YouTube video.
So from my back squat, my bench press, and my deadlift, they all start working at 70% of my estimated one repetition maximum. Each week the weight that I use will increase by 5%. but the reps that I perform in each set that I do will similarly decrease by one every week. This will lead into and climax, suspicious choice of words, into the testing of what will hopefully be my brand new and spanking one repetition maximum in week number six, the final week of the program.
For close grip bench, it's a little bit different. The weight that I use will start off at 70% of my one repetition maximum, but the weight that I use will merely increase by 2% every week. For weeks one to three, we will be working at 6 sets of 3 repetitions, but for weeks 4 to 6, it will change to 5 sets of 2 repetitions. For pause squats, it's a little different again.
Starting off using a weight that's 74% of my projected 1 repetition maximum for pause squats, which bear in mind is going to be significantly less than my 1 repetition maximum for regular back squats. The weight will increase by 2% every week, but the weight times rep scheme that I'll use will stay consistent at 5 sets of 3 repetitions. This strength building phase will adhere to the principle of specificity. specificity...
Spit it out. Adheres to the principle of specificity... Take that flip flop out of your mouth.
I'm good. Adheres to the principle of specificity when it comes to building the most amount of strength. What this essentially means is that in order to get strong, you need to be more accustomed and comfortable using heavier weight. So between now and June 29th, every time that that bar enters the palms of my hand, or sits on the muscles just below my neck, I am acting as though that repetition that I'm doing at that point in time. is one of the three big repetition attempts that I will make on the USAPL WADA-tested powerlifting platform on June 29th.
Unlike training for bodybuilding, powerlifting requires a specific element of discipline, and this discipline pertains to resisting the urge to add more load to the bar when the prescribed weight in the initial few weeks feels subjectively light. It also extends to the discipline required to implement the perfect technique that is both comfortable for me, but also adheres to international powerlifting standards. Unlike my previous one repetition maximum attempts, there's little to no leeway when it comes to things like bouncing the bar off my chest on a bench press, or failing to break parallel or below knee height on a squat.
Staying true to the core of my training, which is more bodybuilding style work, I'll still be sprinkling a little bit of that in between now and the 29th of June. But the degree to which I'm prioritizing that, at the end of my squats, I'll add in a couple of sets of legs. At the end of bench press, I'll finish off my chest, shoulders, and triceps.
And after deadlifts, I'll do some back and biceps. But it's always super important to identify what your number one priority is at this point in time. And for me, for the next six to eight weeks, it's going to be powerlifting. With the growing trend of running and hybrid training in general, there's the increased temptation to try and do everything all at once. As opposed to putting 100% of your focus into one specific avenue.
You will never progress at the degree that it's possible to progress if you spread your energy, your efforts, and your recovery capacity across multiple different sports and multiple different pursuits. For the next six weeks, my priority is powerlifting. Not running, not bodybuilding, and certainly not fucking high rocks. I want to put myself in the best possible position to lift the most amount of weight that I can on that platform in Galway at the end of June.
And the quickest, most efficient, and most guaranteed way for me to get there is to invest 100% of the efforts into 100% of the powerlifting sessions that I will complete between now and then.