Any weightlifiting gurus here?

[Syringer]

On May 25th there'll be a bench/squat competition at my school that'll either be divided into weight classes or a formula based on weight/weight lifted that will be used to determine winners..

I can't bench all that much (relative to others) so my focus will be on squats. I have no idea what my 1rpm is right now, but today I did 335 for 10 reps as part of my HST program (read more here..and in my last HST cycle I did 5 reps @ 365 (I weigh just under 170)..so I think my 1rpm is close to 400. I'm really curious though as to how they judge the squat though..if it has to be completely parellel or what as mine aren't 100% parellel.

I'm a graduating senior here at UCLA and I would absolutely love to be near the top, and think I have a chance at being competitive. Currently I do a 3-day week HST program, but for the next month I really want to focus on my squats to prepare..so what would be the best method to do it?

Should I only do squats (currently that's all I do) or throw in deadlifts, leg presses, etc then? Should I also continue to focus on my upper body as much either (it might be advantageous to lose upper body strength/weight because of the way the competition works)? Any other advice?

 

[SVT Cobra]

I was going to raise the bs flag until I read that you were a senoir in college and not HS, and you do not go all the way parallel.

I have a lot to say so sorry if I forget anything, but I will try to give you the best advice possible ad get you ready for the competiton. For my background see here.

To answer your first question, look at a regulation NCAA chart that shows percentages of lifting; off of memory I would say your strength level is about 405lbs. Meaning you can do 405Lbs once. But, a week before the compeition (and I say a week because you should be doing light weight and higher reps, but not pushing to hard the week before the compition, your legs also need a good 2 day rest before) try doing weight once, start at 385 and work your way up ten lbs until you cannot do anymore. Especially with squatting doing something 5 times vs your max (both yielding the same strength levels) can be very hard if you are not used to doing once rep once of your max. Always with a good spotter of course.

Now to adress my next issue, if you are not going parallel, do not even bother (one you can do more weight when not going parallel, its bad form and cheats any gains, it can screw up your ligaments and knees not getting the full range of motion, and ITS NOT A REAL squat, anybody can do 400lbs "slightly closed to parallel" but in reality they can only do 325lbs for a real squat). Lower the weight until you are absoultely parallel and can hold it there for a second (like most power lifting compeitions require you to do). It may feel like you are parallel but you are not, get an experienced spotter to tell you until you get used to the hip flexion and can tell yourself.

Also you are going bareback right?

What is your supplementation currently besides the HSN stuff, vitamins, creatine etc? What foods do you eat? How much sleep do you get, and what time is the compeition?

Also I can give you some more tips on how to boost your squat (stetching, other leg movements and exercises) but I need some more info.

Hope I can help.

 

[SVT Cobra]

up for syringer

 

[SVT Cobra]

bump

 

[Sukhoi]

PM Spamela he might know.

And Syringer how tall are you?

 

[simms]

Koing is also into this...

 

[TuffGuy]

I won it in '96-'97 in the 149-164lb division. As long as you can do over 650 lbs combined, you should be alright. How much can you bench?

It's bare back and no gloves. At least it used to be, dunno if they've softened up. There used to be a powerlift category too, but they dropped it.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Um, you'll probably be competing against former football players and other athletes. The 300s-400s aren't sh!t to these guys. If you seriously hope on competing you gotta up your game dramatically.

 

[Czar]

Koing knows it all.

 

[Spamela]

Originally posted by: Syringer
On May 25th there'll be a bench/squat competition at my school that'll either be divided into weight classes or a formula based on weight/weight lifted that will be used to determine winners..

I can't bench all that much (relative to others) so my focus will be on squats. I have no idea what my 1rpm is right now, but today I did 335 for 10 reps as part of my HST program (read more here..and in my last HST cycle I did 5 reps @ 365 (I weigh just under 170)..so I think my 1rpm is close to 400. I'm really curious though as to how they judge the squat though..if it has to be completely parellel or what as mine aren't 100% parellel.

I'm a graduating senior here at UCLA and I would absolutely love to be near the top, and think I have a chance at being competitive. Currently I do a 3-day week HST program, but for the next month I really want to focus on my squats to prepare..so what would be the best method to do it?

Should I only do squats (currently that's all I do) or throw in deadlifts, leg presses, etc then? Should I also continue to focus on my upper body as much either (it might be advantageous to lose upper body strength/weight because of the way the competition works)? Any other advice?

powerlifting competitions are vastly different than lifting in the gym.

first, find a copy of the rules.
here are rules for one powerlifting
federation (there are several)

if it's a "real" competition, for squats the usual sequence is something like:
1 take bar off rack & stand still. there are rules about where you can place your
hands & the location of the bar, but we'll ignore them for now.
2 WAIT for head judge (there are 3) to say "Squat."
3 you squat DEEP. you don't have to pause at the bottom.
4 you rise without the bar ever going down
5 you stand erect & wait for the judge to say "Rack"
6 you take at least 1 step toward the rack (e.g., attempt to re-rack the bar).
the spotters will grab the bar & help you rack it, so don't waste your energy,
but you have to make an obvious attempt to re-rack it.
7 for #2-5 you don't ever move your feet.

for bench you have a similar set of very well-defined rules.

if you don't have to squat deep, then it's an informal competition.

stop working out 7-10 days before the competition. this will feel weird, but do it.
don't start doing any exercise you haven't been doing (in particular, leg-presses
are nearly worthless for squat training).
choose your starting weight very conservatively (you should be able
to do it 3 reps with good form even if you're sick).
you may wish to get some ammonia caps, but try one in the gym BEFORE the meet.
you may wish to get some knee wraps & practice with them (here).
there's an art to wrapping your knees & there are videos on the net.
the wrap is usually tighter than anything you've ever experienced. walking with
them on is a challenge & they hurt & suck a lot.
get a powerlifter to help you wrap your knees, put on your belt, pop the ammonia cap
for you just before you do the lift, and shout some encouragement. he also
takes your knee wraps off immediately after the squat.