Hello all,
I did my first powerlifting contest this week, i weighed in at 74,3 kg. I lifted 120 kg i the squat, 75 kg in the benchpress and 145 kg in the deadlift. All of this was raw, except for a belt for the squat.

I had alot of fun and now I want to get a higher total, there is a competition this fall, early september.

What kind of training program do you experienced lifter think that I should do? I know I'm know very advanced so I was thinking maybe http://www.geocities.com/.../Linear_5x5.htm advanced version of this program. But I don't know it's good for powerlifting purposes.

My weakpoints that I need to adress are the following, but I really don't know how to fix them, thankful for help.

1. I have little or no legdrive when I benchpress, how can I fix this? I have my feet under my knees and as close to my body as my mobility will allow, but still nothing happens.

2. I stiffleg my deadlifts, and my ass is high up in the air. Any way to get around this, I have been trying to get lower and pulling with my legs more, but it's not very pretty.

3. When I squat and I am at the lowest position I have a tendency to lift my heels. Is this a flexibility issue? I squat in chucks, but am thinking about getting weighlifting shoes, will that help the problem?

4. I am going too low when I squat, is this something to fix or will the heavier weights fix this "problem"?

Thanks for anybody that read this long post :)

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/...ad.php?t=920894



Upper Body Max Effort
A. Bench Press Variant 3-5RM
B. Horizontal Row 4 X 5-10
C. Supplemental press 3-4 X 6-10
D. Upper back variant 2-3 X 12-15
E. Weighted Abdominal work 3-4 X 8-15

Lower Body Max Effort
A. Deadlift Variant 3-5RM
B. Squat Variant 3 X 8
C. Weighted Hypers 3 X 8
D. Ghetto GHRs 2 X 8

Upper Body Repetition Effort
A. Repetition Effort Bench Variant
B. Vertical Pull Variant 4 X 8-12
C. Medial Delt or Trap Variant 3 X 10-15
D. Triceps Supplemental Variant 3-4 X 5-10
E. Curl Variant 3 X 8-10
F. Abdominal circuit training

Lower Body Max Effort
A. Squat Variant 3-5RM
B. Pull Variant 3 X 8
C. Weighted Hypers 3 X 8
D. Ghetto GHRs 2 X 8


I'd do militaries for supplemential press in the first day. switch abs to lower body days, use Oly variations for assistance pulls. And use a real GHR. Can also add calves if you so wish.

Even though I am still a newbie to powerlifting, I had a great coach who fixed a lot of my problems.

1. I have the same problem as you with this, sorry! :P

2. Something that really helped me was narrowing my foot placement. You might want to try that, it made it far more easier to start out with the hips lower.

3. It might be a flexibility issue, but I am pretty flexible so I never had that problem myself. It is often just a form problem though, so you might want to investigate and it might solve itself once you figure out what's wrong.

4. It is really hard to go much lower than parallel if you squat in a wide stance with the butt back. It is hard on the hip flexor a bit though... at least for me!

wiiwii wrote:
1. I have little or no legdrive when I benchpress, how can I fix this? I have my feet under my knees and as close to my body as my mobility will allow, but still nothing happens.

2. I stiffleg my deadlifts, and my ass is high up in the air. Any way to get around this, I have been trying to get lower and pulling with my legs more, but it's not very pretty.

3. When I squat and I am at the lowest position I have a tendency to lift my heels. Is this a flexibility issue? I squat in chucks, but am thinking about getting weighlifting shoes, will that help the problem?

4. I am going too low when I squat, is this something to fix or will the heavier weights fix this "problem"?

Thanks for anybody that read this long post :)

1: don't worry about this one so much. HOw much do you bench? If you're benching small numbers this isn't as important.

2:your body is going to use the best muscles to do a movement in a max attempt, given your form is part of the equation. Move your feet and grip around. Have you tried sumo AND conventional? for conventional a lot of people LOVE ATG squatting as assistance, this might help strengthen the legs more.

3. This could be the cause of many thing, it's very possible you just need to change your stance. My training partner has hamstring problems from something that happened before he was born. Hammy flexability may be the problem. Lastly, you may just need to learn to sit back better.

4. Then squat higher, If your heels are coming up and your going too low, but they don't come up when you're going low enough, I think this is a simple fix.

Thank for the ideas and tips, I will incorporate them in my training. Westside for vikings looks good. I talked to some people at the gym and they said I should work on form for a couple of weeks before starting any real program.

I noticed that I am weak in my posterior chain and thats why I lift my heels, I will do alot of work for my lower back and hamstrings.