So... a plan for this year.
Currently, at least.
Kein Operationsplan reicht mit einiger Sicherheit über das erste Zusammentreffen mit der feindlichen Hauptmacht hinaus. von Molkte 1871
So, the plan.
Competition 1:
WCPA Regional Powerlifting Championships
29/30th April 2023
Competition 2:
NZPF National Powerlifting Championships
6/10th September 2023
Competition 3:
NZPF National Bench Press Championships
14th October 2023
The first two are 3-lift, and obviously the third is bench only.
So, the three lifts require a little more balancing of my program so my shoulders don't die. The last block I have found a couple of things manageable. The bi-weekly singles on squat/deadlift, as well as the reduced loading frame for the hypertrophy squat day.
So, I will adopt a little more of that, but also bring it into bench. Plus, instead of singles, I am using rep sets as my "top set" and then doing a good backdown volume.
I believe that this will let me do more work, without hammering my body excessively.
I will also reduce the loading on both my Monday and Wednesday bench workouts. One to mean less stress but more volume, but the Wednesday is just to have a weight that is challenging, but then doing more power movement focussed. So closer to the Sheiko style. I would love to bring in the volume pyramid work for Sheiko but that may be another block.
So squat will follow a biweekly top set of reps, followed by backdown, at a slightly increased volume over my current work. Hypertrophy will be a lower RPE. Will still add in stepups and things like this to get the movement in. My current plan is first day will be comp squat and second will be high bar. But this could be my top set as a low bar and then drop to high bar for the others, depending on the recovery across the week.
Deadlift is planning to be conventional, but it will vary. It will be biweekly top sets, alternating with the squat day, and then downsets. The second day will alternate between paused deadlifts and pendlay rows. Potentially my downsets on the first day could be sumo, if the overall recovery is insufficient.
I will peak into the competition with a normal style peaking cycle for squat/deadlift, so down the week before, and then some simple light work the week of, while bench I am taking a more aggressive route, and doing heavy work right up until. This is taking previous experience into account where my best bench was the week before the competition. Before the 2019 Regionals I benched 205, and before the Nationals I benched 215 (and could have hit 220).
Bodyweight was relative stagnant over the Christmas period, not entirely unexpected, but it means I haven't gotten as far as I was hoping. Currently have dropped 10kg off my peak, and should be into the 116s in time to maintain through to the competition. I have been using the Macrofactor app as a tool to track, since MFP decided to be dickheads. Its not terribly different than what I had been doing previously, but just automates it through their app rather than having to do my own spreadsheets. So the overarching plan will be to get to the 116s and then maintain into the regionals. Then in the break between the competition cycles drop a little more (113-115), and then maintain/grow slightly into the Nationals. Then the goal will be to continue the drop to ~110-108 into the new year. Potentially stepping into the 105kg class in 2024.
Whole lot of things between now and then, but that is the plan.
