- Powerlifting Articles -

A complete starter guide for a those in quest for more strength and size.

Last updated on October 08, 2019

Have you ever seen the old strongman ads where the little guy gets sand kicked in his face by some big bully? He goes out and buys some kind of muscle book, and comes back HUGE to kick sand in the bully's face. To me that was and still is a perfect marketing tool for us. Powerlifting is the key to size and strength, period.

I'm going to give you some simple advice on lifting that my very first trainer gave me many years ago: Lift or compete in as many contests as you can afford. The more you compete, the more platform experience you will have by developing yourself into a seasoned lifter. Everything has to go your way to have that perfect contest day. The more you compete, the more obstacles you overcome by trial and error, making you a better lifter.

Powerlifting hurts… Powerlifting is painful… Powerlifting is even boring to watch sometimes if you don't know any of the lifters... But if it were easy, everyone would be doing it, right? If all athletes would do some form of strength training, I guarantee that they would increase their size, speed and power. The basic three lifts in powerlifting are the fundamentals needed for strength training.

I have trained a ton of people who hate to do squats because they have either hurt their knees or they hurt their backs while doing their leg workout. Guess what? They were more than likely squatting wrong, which is why they got hurt in the first place. Proper technique is extremely valuable when trying to lift maximum poundages in the squat, bench or deadlift. It's best to execute proper form before attempting to lift heavy singles.

The pyramid style of training is the best way to learn to lift correctly and develop maximum strength along the way. The following is an example of a lifting cycle that can be used to get ready for your powerlifting contest.

The great thing about powerlifting is that you don't need a commercial gym with all the latest bells and whistles to train with to get you ready for your contest. All you need is a 45 lb bar, some free weights, a bench, and a power rack or squat rack to start.

You can use this methodology to design all three training routines-squat, bench press, and deadlift. First pick the length of your training cycle: 8, 10, or 12 weeks. Next, let's say your max squat is 400 lb. For this example, I will use the 8-week cycle. Start your chart with Week 1, Week 2, and so on till Week 8. For Week 8, you should be doing 400 lb x 3 reps.

Now start counting backwards by 10 lb each week (Week 7 should be 390lbs). Week 6 should be 380 lb… all the way down to Week 1 starting with 330 lb. This squat cycle will look like this:

Week 1: 5 sets of 330 lb x 3 reps
Week 2: 5 sets of 340 lb x 3 reps
Week 3: 4 sets of 350 lb x 3 reps
Week 4: 4 sets of 360 lb x 3 reps
Week 5: 3 sets of 370 lb x 3 reps
Week 6: 3 sets of 380 lb x 3 reps
Week 7: 2 sets of 390 lb x 3 reps
Week 8: 1 set of 400 lb x 3 reps
Week 9: Contest

Make sure you always warm up with lighter weights, doing several sets, but not overdoing it¬-these are only warm ups. Use this same method for designing the bench and deadlift. On contest day, you will want to start with something that you have comfortably done 3 reps with in each event for your first attempt. Your second attempt should be about 20 to 25 lb more. Your third should be a new PR or "personal record" up to 50 lb better than your triple. Now powerbuild your body.

Thanks,