This will be my training log for the meet I have coming up in Dec.

I just started the Russian 9-week program and will only be able to finish 6 weeks of it before the meet.  Call me crazy !!!!

Five days out from the meet I will hit my openers and then take the rest of the week off or do some light work.

I will also be participating in the military bench meet here at virtualmeet.

Will post my first two sessions later this evening.

Squats:
2x6 @ 390 lbs

Bench:
3x6 @ 290 lbs

Weighted Crunches:
10x2 @ 95 lbs

Band Pushdowns (1-arm at a time):
8x3

1-Arm OH DB Press:
5x3 @ 85 lb db

Deadlifts (no belt):
3x6 @ 465 lbs

BB Rows:
5x3 @ 225 lbs

Band Face Pulls:
10x2

Threw in some BB Curls and BW Pull-ups at the end just for fun.

BB Curls:
3x1 @ 135 lbs
5x1 @ 95 lbs

BW Pull-Ups:
6x3

Here is what I was thinking for my openers:

Squat ----> 420
Bench ----> 320
Deads ----> 530

I will be lifting unequipped and may wear knee wraps if I can get used to them by then.

I'm hoping to hit 450+ squat, 350+ bench, and a 600+ dead.
Those are my hopes anyway, if my nerves don't screw everything up

Those are good numbers, especially basically done unequipped. Which weight class do you plan to compete in?

My personal experience with wraps was that they do not take too long to get used to. However that also depends on the length of the wraps I presume.  However, be sure that at the meet the same person wraps your knees as in the training max attempts and with the same tightness.

I hear you regarding nervousness. That is an issue for me as well. Especially when I lift next to really seasoned lifters . I do think that more lifting events hopefully take care of that. I found that after the first two squats the nervousnes was much lower because of all the adrenaline.

What meet is it?

It's the CAN-AM POWERLIFTING CHAMPIONSHIPS here in North Dakota.

I think last year there were maybe 20 or so competitors.  So it's not that big of a meet.

I'm not sure what weight class.  It will probably be 220, but I may just bump up to the 242's.  I'm almost pushing 230 right now.

I forgot to mention, I did a small State games Push/Pull meet back in June/July.

Mostly to get used to commands, except on the squat of course, and try to bring my training and stuff back around, (had really been slacking on the training and such).

Didn't go in looking to hit any PR's or anything, just for experience and to meet other local powerlifters.

Hit an easy 300 bench and 500 Deadlift.  I went for 330 on the bench and missed and went for 560 on the Dead and missed.  Had the Dead at right about my knee and just couldn't go any further.

Here's a link to the results and some various pictuers

In training here lately, I've done rack pulls right below the knee with 645.  So I hope I can at least break 560 this next time.

Squat:
3x6 @ 390 lbs

Bench:
2x6 @ 295 lbs

Weighted Abs:
8x2 @ 105 lbs

1-Arm OH DB Press:
5x2 @ 90 lb dbs

Here's a video of my 6th set of squats.  Any comments are welcome.
I still feel very uncomfortable with squats, but I feel better with a narrower stance than I do with a wider stance even if I could use more weight with a wider stance.

Matt, great to see your journal back.

A quick question on the squat: are you planning on pulling in your stance for the competition squat as well? FWIW, for me the sumo style combined with IPF depth was really murder for the hips (plus it would exaggerate my forward lean even more), so I settled for going narrower and staying in one piece.

Matt, great to see your journal back.

A quick question on the squat: are you planning on pulling in your stance for the competition squat as well? FWIW, for me the sumo style combined with IPF depth was really murder for the hips (plus it would exaggerate my forward lean even more), so I settled for going narrower and staying in one piece.

Yeah, I'm gonna keep the closer stance.  I think if your gonna squat suited then taking a wider stance is better because you have that extra hip support, but for unsuited competitors I think shoulder width or a little outside to be more beneficial and safer.  There are people though that can squat with a super wide stance and be fine, I'm not one of them.

I think if your gonna squat suited then taking a wider stance is better because you have that extra hip support, but for unsuited competitors I think shoulder width or a little outside to be more beneficial and safer.

Yeah. Personally, I also think the extra inches IPF depth introduces is a big factor. I can hit parallel sumo style quite easily, but going clearly below is a whole different matter. It also doesn't feel very safe as this is more or less as low as I can go; with a narrower stance, I know I can easily go rock bottom and not require hip surgery afterward... always a bonus in my book. 

Christian: I may remember incorrectly, but didn't you also take in your stance a bit earlier?

Matt's squat look deep enough. I now squat about the same stance as Matt in the video. When I train in my powerlifting club I am told to bring the stance in even more but I am not feeling good doing that. Squatting narrower attacks the back even more in my view.
My main focus on squatting is keeping the arch till the bottom position. Due to hip immobility I tend to round forward in the lower back below parallel. This is very bad for the discs there. Doing a lot of stretching to address that.

Matt could you post a squat video from the side. I find that view instructive as goes feet position and rounding in back and depth.
How deep do you need to go in your federation?

Matt's squat look deep enough. I now squat about the same stance as Matt in the video. When I train in my powerlifting club I am told to bring the stance in even more but I am not feeling good doing that. Squatting narrower attacks the back even more in my view.
My main focus on squatting is keeping the arch till the bottom position. Due to hip immobility I tend to round forward in the lower back below parallel. This is very bad for the discs there. Doing a lot of stretching to address that.

Matt could you post a squat video from the side. I find that view instructive as goes feet position and rounding in back and depth.
How deep do you need to go in your federation?

I wish I would have read this earlier, before my training.  I will get a side shot on my next squat day, which will be Thursday.

I think in NASA you just have to hit parallel, but I'm going to go as deep as I can to make sure I get the lift.

I would have to agree with the narrower stance working the lower back to a greater degree.  Of course the volume of squats and deads I'm doing probably contribute a lot to that too

Squat:
2x6 @ 400 lbs

Bench:
4x6 @ 290 lbs

Band Pulldown Abs:
10x2

1-Arm OH DB Press:
6x2 @ 100 lb db

Yes more training videos:

400 x 2 squat (this was the 6th set of 2)


290 x 4 bench (6th set of 4 with a very wide grip)


100 x 6 1-Arm OH DB Press

Deadlift:
4x6 @ 470 lbs

Power Shrugs:
6x2 @ 385 lbs

That's it for today which was suppose to be yesterday.