How long before a PL comp. do you guys stop training

[Louie Nasta]

Again coming from that bodybuilder background mentality, i used to stop training a week or so before a show. I have my first ever PL competition coming up, and im curious as to how long before i should stop training, or should i just train light up to the show. I guess i have a mentality that if i dont train for a week and crash diet to make weight, my lifts will drop... if anyone could shed any light on this , it will be greatly appreciated

[Vincent Dizenzo]

My training gets light for two weeks before a meet. I'll complete the main exercises, but not go over 60%. Assistance work is also cut to a minum. Lastly, I lower gpp intensity and loads. For example, I wear a weight vest on most of my walks, I will cut out the weight vest for those two weeks, but continue with the walks. I'll drop tire flipping for light sled dragging. Just common sense stuff like that.

Good luck to you.

[Ryan Phillips]

when you say crash diet, what do you mean by that? i personally believe you should only ever drop water (by sweating only, no diuretics) to make weight and not cut out food until 20ish hrs before the weigh in.

[Louie Nasta]

first off thanks for the responses.


By crash diet, i am planning on staying on my keto diet and just taking in protein shakes and nuts.. i am dropping my calories by between 400-800 a day..

again i have never powerlifted before so this is all new to me..

i have about 12 pounds to lose, but im afraid that it may affect my poundages. if i just drop the water by sweating, wich i am doing by doing my cardio in sweats.. should i still keep my water intake up

obviously once i make weigh in, i will refeed the body before actual competition

[Steve Dohoney]

Why not skip the diet and just lift. Get the highest total you can, and learn from your first comp.

[D.J. Satterfield]

Why not skip the diet and just lift. Get the highest total you can, and learn from your first comp.

Going to have to agree with this. Unless you are a top level PL'er, no reason to cut 12# in the next week or so. Lift, set some numbers and go from there.

For me personally, (assuming you are doing a full meet) my last heavy DL is 8-10 days out, Sunday before the meet I will work up to my opener on Squat and Tuesday before the meet work up to my Bench opener.

Pretty much cut out all assisitance or at least cut it WAY back.

[Louie Nasta]

Going to have to agree with this. Unless you are a top level PL'er, no reason to cut 12# in the next week or so. Lift, set some numbers and go from there.

For me personally, (assuming you are doing a full meet) my last heavy DL is 8-10 days out, Sunday before the meet I will work up to my opener on Squat and Tuesday before the meet work up to my Bench opener.

Pretty much cut out all assisitance or at least cut it WAY back.

tahnks again for all the advice.. again this is my first ever PL meet, its 100% raw and if i dont drop the weight i will be in the 308 class and my lifts in my opinion suck, raw is a whole new world to me, used to knee wraps and wrist straps

dont get me wrong even if i make 275 my lifts arent even close to good, being that i train alone, i never get to max out due to the fear of injury, so my raw numbers that i am comfortable lifting in my homegym are bench-425, Squat 580, and deadlift wich really sucks is 485

also if anyone has secrets to upping the deadlift #'s i would we you big time

i guess after just having both rotator cuffs re-built a year ago these arent that bad, but again new to it all and felt i could compete better at 275

[David Ehrhardt]

Here's a quick little guide to safe and effective weight-cutting i just jotted down real fast...whether it's applicable to powerlifters?... dunno~~


coming from a background where weight-cutting is paramount, i can tell you this... 12 lbs is nothing to cut... at ANY weight over 135... as long as the weigh-ins are the day before...

Easiest way-- 3 weeks out, begin to drink water... a LOT of water. I'm not talking 'drink a gallon a day' i'm saying drink 2+ gallons/day. FORCE that water. It hurts, it sucks, and you'll never want to drink water ever again... but It makes water easier to cut when you need to- your body wont hold onto it for dear life =)

cut slow, dont be stupid-- no sweats over your sauna-suit while riding a bike in the sauna-- unless you want to have a heart-attack... sauna-suit while walking on a treadmill is more than sufficient... this is why we start the cut on thursday, with weighins friday night... and roughly 24hrs to recover...

here's a super-trick= Go to Riteaid or walgreens and buy a jar of albolene (womens makeup remover) Slather that stuff on your high-yield sweat areas (armpits, groin, back, arse-crack (i'm serious about that)... and put a sauna suit on before you go to bed the night before weigh-ins. You will lose a ton of water off of doing that alone (@235 i've always lost 8-9lbs of water overnight just by sleeping... and usually it's at a hotel--I was always glad i never had to sleep in that bed again...hahaha)

After weighins- Drink a few bottles of Pedialite... sip it slowly... Then once you feel good, eat some white-rice... then move up to chicken breasts.... then big-macs! hahah-- but keep drinking pedialite or gatoraide like a champ (i usually force myself or my teammates to drink close to 2 gallons of Pedialite/gatoraide over the recovery period)

This method was taught to me by my old fight coach, and it is the algorithm that I have used dozens of times to cut 20-25lbs in 2 days... and recover every damn pound before my fight/match... its not the first 15lbs that is hard to cut... its that last 5-10 when your pushing delirium, and all you can think about is drinking water... and pizza...

[Ben.Vincent]

im not no expert in this stuff but what i do is before any comp whether its a PL meet of strongman i take the week off before the comp so that my body can rest and heal up..i actually have a PL meet on saturday...need to drop like 7lbs to make weight..shouldnt be a problem just going to follow a bit of mike krocs weight cutting routine except i will be using a sauna and a hot tub..start in the hot tub..submerse your whole body except your face for 15 mins then go to sauna 15 mins then rest 5 mins then repeat till weight is lost..also have heard that chewing gum and spitting out your saliva can work to while you are in the sauna...never tried it though.

[Louie Nasta]

im not no expert in this stuff but what i do is before any comp whether its a PL meet of strongman i take the week off before the comp so that my body can rest and heal up..i actually have a PL meet on saturday...need to drop like 7lbs to make weight..shouldnt be a problem just going to follow a bit of mike krocs weight cutting routine except i will be using a sauna and a hot tub..start in the hot tub..submerse your whole body except your face for 15 mins then go to sauna 15 mins then rest 5 mins then repeat till weight is lost..also have heard that chewing gum and spitting out your saliva can work to while you are in the sauna...never tried it though.

bro are you doing the DL comp in gilbert saturday, if so what weight class and division,

[Mike O'Connor]

im not no expert in this stuff but what i do is before any comp whether its a PL meet of strongman i take the week off before the comp so that my body can rest and heal up..i actually have a PL meet on saturday...need to drop like 7lbs to make weight..shouldnt be a problem just going to follow a bit of mike krocs weight cutting routine except i will be using a sauna and a hot tub..start in the hot tub..submerse your whole body except your face for 15 mins then go to sauna 15 mins then rest 5 mins then repeat till weight is lost..also have heard that chewing gum and spitting out your saliva can work to while you are in the sauna...never tried it though.


ahaahah that is my old method for making weight. putting a few sweatshirts and cranking the heat up in the car while having someone driving you to weigh ins and spitting in a bottle for a few hours does the trick.. well for me anyway..

luckly im 230 right now and will not have to do that in my next meet/comp. thank god causee it sucks.. :(

[Nick Best]

For my training I do the last heavy deadlift 2 weeks out. No deads from then on till contest. Opening squats and bench a week out then nothing but rest, stretching a massage.

For the weight loss figure to lose 2 kg of strength for every pound lost. So if you drop 10lbs you will lose about 44lbs on your total.

Nick

[Vincent Dizenzo]

Don't cut. You'll never know how your body will react. Bloat yourself up for a few days on sodium and carbs. Your numbers will skyrocket.

[Louie Nasta]

i know i should probably just eat and go out and do my best, but i dont want to embarass myself LOL

i have also been told that since i have been on a keto diet for about 4 months, that once i eat real food, my weights should go up

again being new to PL and srtongman i appreciate all the help, im really starting to enjoy this board and all the great advise that everone offers, its not like some of the bodybuilding boards

[Tyler Shelgren]

Dude going out and doing your best is not going to be embarassing, there is no point at you cutting your weight at this point ecspecially if it is your first contest.

[Chris Weaver]

i know i should probably just eat and go out and do my best, but i dont want to embarass myself LOL

i have also been told that since i have been on a keto diet for about 4 months, that once i eat real food, my weights should go up

again being new to PL and srtongman i appreciate all the help, im really starting to enjoy this board and all the great advise that everone offers, its not like some of the bodybuilding boards

You're all over the map, no offense. Keto is great for bbing, but if your goal is strength, throw that out the window! You gotta eat carbs to be strong!

Don't worry about how much you're lifting. It's your first contest. Relax, have fun, don't take it TOO serious, and try to set some PR's. You should learn a ton from your first contest. Pay attention to the older lifters, what they do, what the eat, what they bring to the comp with them, etc.

12 pounds isn't a huge amount to lose, but if you're not careful you'll lose alot of strenght. Dieting will take alot of the fun out of the competition. Just go, learn, and have a good time.

As far as deadlifting, there is a ton of good info on here. Look up the coan/phillipi routine, and just read read read. Westside, Powerlifting USA, MILO, Ironmind, guys' workout journals on here...everything!

[Ben.Vincent]

bro are you doing the DL comp in gilbert saturday, if so what weight class and division,

ya i am doing that! i am going to be in the 242 class are you doing it??

[Ben.Vincent]

when i was reading matt krocks way of cutting weight he say to make sure for every pound you lose to eat that much after your weigh ins to make sure you maintain your strength..for example if you cut 8lbs you should eat 8lbs worth of food after to maintain what you already had

[JEFF VANCO]

This is such a rookie mistake........believe me, lots of strongman 1st timers do it too.

Who cares where you place. Keep your weight up and your strength will stay up

Take a few days off before the competition
Eat a good breakfast
Go there and push to achieve your best

Newbs need to understand that the true competition is with yourself.

[Ben.Vincent]

louie im actually doing the open class and the junior class..242 ..you?

[Tom Hutchison]

Pulling low numbers is not all embarassing. Just go and have fun.

Not being able to bend over enough to actually grab the barbell because your deadlift suit is too tight...now THAT would be embarassing. Right Ben? :N:

[Chris Weaver]

Newbs need to understand that the true competition is with yourself.

Yup, what he said.

[nickakeough]

first off thanks for the responses.


By crash diet, i am planning on staying on my keto diet and just taking in protein shakes and nuts.. i am dropping my calories by between 400-800 a day..

again i have never powerlifted before so this is all new to me..

i have about 12 pounds to lose, but im afraid that it may affect my poundages. if i just drop the water by sweating, wich i am doing by doing my cardio in sweats.. should i still keep my water intake up

obviously once i make weigh in, i will refeed the body before actual competition

You can eat "normally" until a week out or so. You are destroying your strength by depleting cals so much.

I walk around at 240 and compete at 231 in strongman. This is what I do for a saturday contest. Wednesday I will cut down to 8oz of chicken, 8oz of chobani yogurt, and lil vegs or rice cakes. I also drink about 2-3 gallons of water and salt the hell outa my chicken.
Thursday I cut my water to 32oz and at night I go to the gym for 2 hours. I do cardio in my homemade sweatsuit, mad layers of under armour basically, and sauna. I do 10-20 minute cycles of each. I drop anywhere between 5-9lbs of water weight. I eat 4oz of yogurt and maybe a rice cake and I make weight. Then I do like a gallon of gatorade, water, and eat dense carbs and alota meat. The next day I am back up to 238. This method I found is better than putting yourself through a month of ridiculous diet.

Choose what you think works for you but I have done this method to make weight for 4 of my shows and I competed well.

here is what matt kroc does.http://www.elitefts.com/documents/kroc_meet_report.htm

I would not condone this method but he gets it done this way.

[Ben.Vincent]

Pulling low numbers is not all embarassing. Just go and have fun.

Not being able to bend over enough to actually grab the barbell because your deadlift suit is too tight...now THAT would be embarassing. Right Ben? :N:

haha..thats how its supposed to be! i can get down to the bar just takes some time lol

[Anthony Esquerdo]

My training gets light for two weeks before a meet. I'll complete the main exercises, but not go over 60%. Assistance work is also cut to a minum. Lastly, I lower gpp intensity and loads. For example, I wear a weight vest on most of my walks, I will cut out the weight vest for those two weeks, but continue with the walks. I'll drop tire flipping for light sled dragging. Just common sense stuff like that.

Good luck to you.

This is great advice I wish I followed for my first pl meet. Vince is a very strong and experienced lifter I would follow this advice.

I know is the week before my first pl week I did hardcore strongman training and sure that day I set all new prs, but the week later at my meet I didn't.

Oh and too add in either cut the water weight day before and replenish or just do it at your weight class. No need to kill yourself and risk getting weaker, Powerlifting is you against the weight.