Help needed from the PROs.

[danmac]

Alright so here's the story. I am competing July 18th for the first time. That leaves me 14 weeks to get into top shape. I will be competing and training raw for this my first competition. As of now I am following the advice of an older powerlifter and this is my general routine...

Monday - Deadlift day

I work up to 5 heavy singles
Then do weighted core work.

Wednesday - Bench Day

Work up to 3 heavy singles.
Then do board press singles.
Then 5x10 OH press with short breaks.
Then 4x20-50 triceps press down (with bands if i can)

Friday - Squat day

work up to 5 heavy singles
Then do lower back/hamstring work 3x10-50
Hard stretching for 10 minutes

And yeah thats my week. It seems like a lot of singles to be doing all the way until my competition. No DE stuff, nothing really, just the meat and potatoe lifts.

Now if anyone out there thinks i can improve this, and maybe help me arrange it so im peaking in 14 weeks, it would be really appreciated.

I can workout as many days a week as necessary, but keep in mind im not wearing gear and natural. Current maxes s/b/d are 435/335/455. (deadlift needs the most work i think)

[Sean S]

I think the easiest thing to do is simply get Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 e-book from the elitefts website. The feedback from raw lifters has been great and can be used with the basic 3 day template you are doing. This will keep the focus on the main lifts and work more rep ranges than just singles.
If you don't want to buy the e-book, you can do a search on the elitefts article section and look for articles by Matt Rhodes. He has at least one good article that lays out a very basic template using 5's and 3's that could be applied to the three main lifts.
Good luck with the training and competition.

[Travis Bell]

Why no DE work? Personally I feel that DE work is integral to making the heavy stuff work

[danmac]

Why no DE work? Personally I feel that DE work is integral to making the heavy stuff work

Because I don't know what im doing. Where would I put DE work?

And ill look into the 5/3/1

[Rob Luyando]

Raw............ I will leave the advice to the expert.............. Vincent chime in any time now

[Travis Bell]

Because I don't know what im doing. Where would I put DE work?

And ill look into the 5/3/1

LOL It's no big deal. That's what the forums are for man

DE work would go 72hrs after your ME work

Choose if you either want to do a Westside template or the 5/3/1

[MNRob]

Travis

This is a dumb question. Could you outline the basics of DE work? I have tried incorporating into my routine but I think I was doing it wrong.

My apologies for the vagueness of the question, the search turns up so much on DE work with varying methods. I don't know enough to ask an educated question(s).

-Rob

[slashkills]

Im not travis but i know enough about DE work. For bench you want about 50% of you one rep max. Thats just a guide though. The key is to keep it fast. The same for squat and deadlift. About 50% of your 1rm. Bands can be added later. Im not real sure about loading percentages on that though.

[SGT ROCK]

What sanction is the show? Will you be wearing a belt and wraps and knee wraps? How close to weight are you?

Semper Fi

[Travis Bell]

Travis

This is a dumb question. Could you outline the basics of DE work? I have tried incorporating into my routine but I think I was doing it wrong.

My apologies for the vagueness of the question, the search turns up so much on DE work with varying methods. I don't know enough to ask an educated question(s).

-Rob

Sure thing!

You start out with 8 sets of 3 reps. The first three sets you use index on the smooth grip, the second three sets you use thumb length from the smooth and the last two sets you use pinkie on the ring grip.

You should probably start out with 135 and work your way up to a weight that is a good speed weight for you.

This is a video of me doing DE work with straight weight, but you can also add some bands in later. I really feel that bands help increase the speed.

Video

[danmac]

What sanction is the show? Will you be wearing a belt and wraps and knee wraps? How close to weight are you?

Semper Fi

It's an IPF affiliated meet, knee wraps and a belt will be worn for sure and maybe some wraps for my wrists when benching if i it helps. It's not a raw meet or anything, i just don't want to have to learn how to lift in gear right away (plus i don't really have anyone around experienced with it).

And i am pretty close to the weight cut off, I hover around 196 or so, and the weight class is 198. So i guess i do have some room to play, but again its my first meet and i have never cut weight for anything before so i wouldn't really want to play around with it to much.

[danmac]

Sure thing!

You start out with 8 sets of 3 reps. The first three sets you use index on the smooth grip, the second three sets you use thumb length from the smooth and the last two sets you use pinkie on the ring grip.

You should probably start out with 135 and work your way up to a weight that is a good speed weight for you.

This is a video of me doing DE work with straight weight, but you can also add some bands in later. I really feel that bands help increase the speed.

What about for squatting and deadlifting? Similar set up?

[Travis Bell]

For squatting yes, for deadlifting no. You should just do speed pulls for deadlifting

Research some of the articles on DE work on www.westside-barbell.com

[danmac]

Alright so i think ill go with the west side template, it looks like fun. I just read about 10 articles from the site and i think i may just take a few hours and read all of them. I can already see some of the errors in my training... like doing max singles every week in the main lifts (things haven't been moving lately).

As for an actual outline for the template they seem to have some discrepancies when i searched them. So let me know if this looks good. (Taken from another forum)


SUNDAY- SPEED DAY FOR BENCH
BENCH 8-10 sets of 3reps(one minute between sets. Reps should be done explosively but controled w/50% of one rep max)
TRICEP MOVEMENT- one exercise, reps 10-15, one minute rest between sets
DB EXTENSIONS, DB EXT. W/ ELBOWS FLARED,
PUSHDOWNS, SKULL CRUSHERS,
JM PRESSES,etc
SHOULDER MOVEMENT-one exercise, reps 10-12, minute rest between sets
db presses, laterals, front presses, Arnold presses, etc.
UPPER BACK MOVEMENT- 3sets of 10-12 reps(one upper back movement)
LAT PULLDOWNS, BENT-ROWS, CABLE ROWS,
ONE ARM DB or CABLE ROW,etc
ABS and or NECK

MONDAY- MAX EFFORT DAY FOR SQUAT & DEADLIFT
MAX EFFORT EXERCISE – choose one exercise, work to a one rep max, do not
Perform exercise two weeks in a row
ZERCHER SQUATS, PIN LOCKOUTS(at different heights),
SAFETY SQUAT BAR SQUATS(off a low box),
SQUATS(off a high box), DEADLIFT(off a platform),
ARCH-BACK GOOD MORNINGS, STIFF-LEGS,
BELT SQUATS, SUMO DEADLIFTS,(all exercises can be
Enhanced with bands. Also keep a record of max lifts)
LEG CURLS 3-4 sets of 5-7 reps
LOWER BACK MOVEMENT- switch every 3 weeks
STIFF-LEGS(not to be done when using as a max effort exercise),
PULL THROUGHS, HYPERS, REVERSE HYPERS,etc
UPPER BACK MOVEMENT- 3sets of 5-7 reps
BICEPS and ABS

WEDNESDAY- MAX EFFORT DAY FOR BENCH
MAX EFFORT EXERCISE – same directions as for max day for squat and deadlift
BOARD PRESSES, CAMBER BAR PRESSES, FLOOR
PRESSES, DECLINE PRESSES, DB FOR REPS, REVERSE
BAND PRESSES, LOCKOUTS, CLOSE GRIP PRESSES
INCLINE PRESSES,etc
TRICEP MOVEMENT-pick two, keep reps 3-7, take longer between sets for optimum
Recovery, 3sets each
BACK MOVEMENT- keep reps 10-12 for 3sets
ABS and or NECK

FRIDAY- SPEED DAY FOR SQUAT
BOX SQUATS 6-10 sets of 2 reps with 50-60% of one rep max, one minute rest
LEG CURLS 3sets of 10 reps
LOWER BACK MOVEMENT- same exercise as Mondays but lighter and more reps
SHRUGS 3sets of 10-15 reps as heavy as you can handle it
BICEPS and ABS