Need some powerlifters' opinions on squat/deadlift program

[deadweight]

I think what the big man is saying there is keep your training balanced... Switching between a powerlifters type training and a bodybuilders training periodically will cover all of your weak points. DW's opinion on training from what I gather just by reading his posts is leave no stone un-turned. If you can train it and that training leads to a heavier squat, then do so. Don't stay in one mind-set.

Kinda like the bodybuilders from Arnold's day. They would do the normal 12 rep range for hypertrophy, but would periodically hit their one rep maxes to keep strong on all of their lifts.

U pretty much hit the nail of the head...I feel every lifter should have some balnce in there outfit...Strenght and power i feel are linked together....Power is for one explosion lift and strenght comes down to pushing heavy weight for reps....Wile training power u need the strenght to push out the reps...They also hit the same muscle fibers...slow twich fibers and muscles.......This is how i know they are linked together..U need the strenght to build up for the power....Even BB use strenght training to build mass during a bluking faze...A lifter without any strenght training would not be putting up big numbers...U have the type of BB that never train low reps..Its high reps all the time...And those are the ones that have no bench or no sqaut...No way in hell a lifter that has only built up fast twich muscles will be any big lifter...So u see we have a host of diff lifters..To label them all would be impossible and im getting way out base right now..
Anyway heres my scale which shows what reps to use to build power and strengh
1 to 3 reps...Is best for building power.
5 to 8 reps is the best for building strenght
Anything above this to me is fast twich training.
and yes i do allways throw in fast twich in my training as rep out sets...But the core of my training comes down to 1 to 8 reps a set...and most the time 8 reps are done with
assistance lifts such as barbell curls which have no impack at all with a stronger bench..Its just for looks.
dw

 

[deadweight]

I will say 5/3/1 is boring.There are days that I walk out thinking "that was it?" .But I will say that I have seen my lifts steadily go up.I personally do my own accessories .I try to keep them to a 3 x10.But as you can see there are even some 20 reppers in my journal.I vary my accessories often and try to target what i think needs some work.

I can not deadlift more than once a week either without frying myself.
I went to 5/3/1 with the help of Amma's husband.I failed miserably at nationals and came in with a serious case of being overtrained.Now that I have slowed down I have seen my lifts consistantly go up.

Live and learn RR...It very easy to over train i know..It very hard to sit back when u ready to bang some weight around and its hardly anything to it...So,most the time we want to keep adding to it...Not good when we are trying to build power.I will say after i have finished up on a power cycle it feels good to get back to building strengh and after a strenght cycle im ready for power again...It seems i get it all out my system both ways....and i pretty much have been throwing down this way forever now...And as i go on i find those weak spots and new concepts and i work it.Anything i feel that will help out my lifts i will try and master it,
Well anyway, i know one thing is for certain..u have other chances RR...U have the drive to reach the nationals...and its only a matter of time i know....Your one class A act....I got MAD LOVE FOR U...dw

 

[porky little keg]

deadlifts need to be rotated around a lot. My team has 2 equipped guys over 800 ( one going 900 in the gym) and 3 raw guys pulling over 800..... our programming has taken me from low600's last year to 700+ this year.... there will be times when we hit deadlifts twice a week for two weeks in a row, but alternating what type of work we are doing. The first day of the training cycle might be heavy pulls from the floor, the mid-week day would be overload pulling from pins or blocks, the next weekend would be speed pulls from the floor and against bands, the next mid-week would be using your alternate style ( sumo if you pull conventional like me) and more rack work. Followed by a week off then a heavy day. Train like that all the time and you won't be able to walk, but starting that work once every two or three months has helped me a lot.

I have to disagree with DW though. I DON'T like reps at all for the deadlift. The negative down and bounce off of the floor helps through most puller's weak point too much ( right off the floor).... most of our guys prefer to do sets of singles with limited time between sets. For a 700 puller we'd do 5 singles with 600-650 separated by 30 seconds of rest. or 10 sets of 500 separated by 10-15 seconds. Completely deloading on the floor.... To each their own though. I do agree with DW's recommendation of finding your weak point and concentrating on that. it sucks but will un-suck your deadlift the best......

 

[deadweight]

deadlifts need to be rotated around a lot. My team has 2 equipped guys over 800 ( one going 900 in the gym) and 3 raw guys pulling over 800..... our programming has taken me from low600's last year to 700+ this year.... there will be times when we hit deadlifts twice a week for two weeks in a row, but alternating what type of work we are doing. The first day of the training cycle might be heavy pulls from the floor, the mid-week day would be overload pulling from pins or blocks, the next weekend would be speed pulls from the floor and against bands, the next mid-week would be using your alternate style ( sumo if you pull conventional like me) and more rack work. Followed by a week off then a heavy day. Train like that all the time and you won't be able to walk, but starting that work once every two or three months has helped me a lot.

I have to disagree with DW though. I DON'T like reps at all for the deadlift. The negative down and bounce off of the floor helps through most puller's weak point too much ( right off the floor).... most of our guys prefer to do sets of singles with limited time between sets. For a 700 puller we'd do 5 singles with 600-650 separated by 30 seconds of rest. or 10 sets of 500 separated by 10-15 seconds. Completely deloading on the floor.... To each their own though. I do agree with DW's recommendation of finding your weak point and concentrating on that. it sucks but will un-suck your deadlift the best......

More or less your just pauseing each rep...to keep from bonchin the bar off the floor...Thats a good drill....And i have trained that way many of times...I have many little sercert to building a good deadlift...And of course it takes years to cover every aspect to power and strenght training...I find the most helpfull lift that has got me pass sticking points is to train the point where you are weak at..This is why the power rack is so usefull...I like to train half pulls and quater pulls were most people enconter there sticking point in deads...Plus deep pulls has helped my deads alot...I like to stand on a block about one foot off the gound and pull from there...That also can help a lifter get pass sticking points...Plus most the time i dont train deads from a hard surface..I like to pull in a mud pit where the weights sink into the gound and it also keeps the bar from bounching....So reps are soild reps and the gravity of the pull is much harder..More or less its like useing PIG IRON...Like i said there is so much to expose in having a good pull...Ive done it all...And really everything that is done today is just a reflexion of old school except they put a diff label on it....dw

 

[porky little keg]

...And really everything that is done today is just a reflexion of old school except they put a diff label on it....dw

exactly this.... my coach has been around more than a little while so we hear this a LOT! Every 5x5, 5/3/1, russian, etc... program that comes along. I'm sure it'll all come around again during my career as well. LOL...

 

[400Lb Gorilla]

thanks guys and RR alot of helpful info in here.

@DW, yeah i know where 2 of my major weakpoints are right now. my conditioning sucks and my grip strength sucks. today i am going to try a few different things for conditioning. and tomorrow for the benchpress day kroc rows are going as an assistance to start helping grip strength come around again. as for any other weakness i tend to do what you are saying and when i find it i get it fixed no matter what i have to do.

 

[400Lb Gorilla]

just bumping this to get the other thread out of the "top view" and reiterate my thanks to POB, RR, PLK, and especially DW. good to see people willing to take time to answer questions that they have probably answered a million times before and NOT get impatient