SPORTS
Shortly after competing in my first sprint triathlon at the end of August, I wanted to come up with a new goal with my training. I wanted to do something that I had not done. So in September, I embarked on a power-lifting journey to become the newest member of the #1000 total club. I was tired of feeling weak and figured the older I get the harder it would be. A total consists of adding up your 1rep max for 3 different lifts. Those lifts consist of the bench press, squat and deadlift. Since this journey is still on going, this is the first of two blogs. In this first blog I will go over how I got started, how the program was set up and recommendations if you ever decide to do the same. In the second chapter, I will get into the numbers of it all, my starting and ending total, and how long it took me to reach my goal.
How to get started
Put together a program that works for you.
I am very fortunate that I work with Ryan Correia, who is a PTA at Ortho RI -Foundry that put together a great routine that works for me. If you do not have the experience in putting together a workout routine, I highly recommend finding someone who has. If you are pretty comfortable in the gym and with these lifts, there are a lot of routines online. You may have to try out a few before finding one that works for you.
Find your 1 rep max
Make sure that you are comfortable with your technique with each lift. It would be a good idea to have someone around to spot you just in case you get into trouble.
Keep a Journal
This has been very important to me. Not only to write down your routine and how much weight you lifted on that particular day but to also write down how each session went, things that I need to work on and what I need to be careful with moving forward.
Program set up
Let’s actually get the vocabulary portion of the blog out of the way.
Periodization: A strategic implementation of specific training phases. These training phases are based upon increasing and decreasing both volume (reps x sets) and intensity (load of %of 1 rep max).
Macrocycle: Is a term that refers the entire training program. It can imply one year of training and is usually a bird’s eye view of your training program. For my routine, a macrocycle refers to a 3 month period.
Mesocycle: specific block of training designed to accomplish a certain goal. Usually refers to a 3 to 4 weeks block of time
Microcycle: Is the shortest of the training periods lasting approximately 1 week.
If you want to improve on a particular lift, perform that lift a lot. Its’ that simple. So I knew that I was going to squat, bench and deadlift a lot. Using the Periodization method, each workout was made up a heavy, moderate and lighter weight for each lift. For example if today called for a heavy squat, I would do a lighter deadlift and moderate bench press. The sets and repetitions depended on where I am in my mesocycle. The program consisted of 3 to 4 workouts each microcycle.
With each mesocycle, I would try to slowly increase the weight for each lift and decreasing the amount of repetitions for each lift but still increasing the total volume each time. There are 4 microcycles in each mesocycle, and 3 mesocycles in each macrocycle. I plan to retest my 1 rep max for each lift at the end of each macrocycle.
Recommendations
Stick to you program Once you find something you like, stick with it. It will be easy to veer away especially when you start to see some improvements you are going to want to retest your max every few weeks. Don’t do it. Work on technique and speed and add another set if necessary.
Need to add pulling exercises to routine. Make sure as some point in each microcycle you work on pulling exercises. That could be different variations of rowing, different pulldowns or good mornings. Whether that’s adding a fourth day or adding a pulling exercise to each workout, it is important to have a strong back not only for the squatting and deadlifting but to offset the amount of benching that needs to be done.
Work on mobility and prehab exercises It will be crucial to work on these things though out the program. Prehab exercises are performed in hope to prevent injuries later on in the program. Prehab exercises have included rotator cuff exercises for the shoulder as well as bridges, clamshells for the lower extremities. It will get harder to move around if you do not continue to work on you flexibility and mobility. I try to perform a dynamic warm up and do some foam rolling before each workout and use static stretching at the end of each workout.
I know that this is going to be a long process and expect some highs and lows but definitely look forward to the journey. Thank you.
