powerlifting routines

[peanut butter]

how come many powerlifting routines include only one day of: squats, deads and bench, per week. why is it more advantages to train one lift type per week rather than a few times a week, like olympic weightlifting routines which emphasize squatting 3x times a week, minimum. Can someone please elaborate?

 

[Mark Limbaga]

Training heavy taxes your muscuclar and nervous system a lot.

P.S. read the stickies

 

[Madmick]

Phenom, I don't think there's anything in the stickies that covers this.

PB, I can't adequately answer this. I've read the basics of the methodologies of both those schools, and mostly, it has to do with varying load and volume around the recovery of local muscular groups and more importantly- as Phenom mentioned- the CNS.

Perhaps it is that powerlifters require so much MxS training, which is heavily taxing (to repeat Phenom again), and because they compete in both deadlift and squat, there is no possible way to reasonablly work both for multiple days in a week at that intensity.

There's more speed and technique work in olympic lifting.

 

[vadrip]

I was thinking about this topic as well I figured it had a lot to do with rest & recuperation being the main reason for once a wk bodypart routines. I think most people here are really using a olympic weightlifting and a powerlifting rountine mix rather than just strictly powerlifting routines.

I think I'm going to start mixing pull/push exercises together with two upper & lower body exercises and one core exercise 3x a wk and splitting between two routines following a Routine order of Routine 1, Routine 2, & Routine 1 one wk and the next wk being 2, 1, 2. I'll be repeating the cycles like this over and over alernating between these orders every wk.

All those additional assistant lifts exercises leave more tired and I'm usually feel pretty wrecked after the each workout. I feel certain bodyparts need 2 or more workouts to really ensure strength and muscle gains without overloading muscle groups with too many exercises in the same workout while not receiving enough attention throughout the wk.

Better for me to have an assistant lifts be totally seperated in another routine and just being another bodypart exercise being spaced out over the wk so as not to be totally overexahausted by one compound lift for one bodypart followed by additional lifts for the same bodypart.

 

[Noskill]

Try it Vadrip, then come back and post your results.

I've been using a full body 3 times a week routine for the past three months and I've seen great gains.
I think it works fine if you don't do too much low rep stuff. That's what kills recovery.
Right now I'm deadlifting 3 times a week w/ 3 sets of 5, adding 5 pounds every workout and I did not stall yet. But I'm deadlifting w/ only plates of 25 on the bar, so I start lower to the ground and use less weight. It works for me. Try it and see if it works for you.

 

[peanut butter]

Training heavy taxes your muscuclar and nervous system a lot.

P.S. read the stickies

i realise that and i have read the stickies

 

[peanut butter]

isnt the olympic lifts just as taxing to your cns, as the big 3?

 

[datadog]

But I'm deadlifting w/ only plates of 25 on the bar, so I start lower to the ground and use less weight. It works for me. Try it and see if it works for you.

I'm curious, so you are saving a few inches so you can go lower. Two questions:
1.) How many 25s does your gym have? I honestly thing I outlift the number in my gym (then again it's a tiny gym and most of the folks are machine huggers).
2.) Why not do deads from a platform? If you want better range of motion for things like straight-legs deads it seems you should be able to grab a plyo step or an aerobics platform and use that.

// Really not trying to flame, just curious if there's something here I could integrate into my workout.

 

[datadog]

Sorry - I was getting the "no node available" so I refreshed and it double posted this one. My bad.

 

[Madmick]

isnt the olympic lifts just as taxing to your cns, as the big 3?

More, actually, I think.

But it's load and volume that determine taxation. Having more speed and technique days, the olympic lifters don't work as heavily in those ranges during most of their phases, I believe.

 

[vadrip]

Noskills, I definitely think you can't lift heavy all the time and need your higher rep medium weight days mixed in so you don't get overtrained. No to mention, a variety of different exercise selection to keep you interested as well as keeping you growing. It's all about moderation too much of one thing leads to overtraining and boredom.

 

[peanut butter]

i squat 3 times a week, using a 3x3 routine ( not including warm up ) as a foundation. after doing 3 good sets with a heavy weight, i try for singles at heavier weights, just to test the waters for the next session. i dont over train, and am making consistent improvements

 

[Noskill]

Datadog, I lift at home. I use 25'S and 22'S (10kilos). I own 8 25's and 4 22 plates, but then you can always add weight with 10's. With all the weights I have I could easily pack 450 on a bar that way.

And I do own 8 plates of 50, so I just use the 25's specifically to get my ordinary-height deadlift up. I plan on going to 363x5x3 on the 25's before new year, take a week off then start back on Deadlifts off 50's @ 365x5 (which shouldn't be too hard with the reduced ROM), again adding 5 pounds every workout for 4 weeks. If everything goes as planned, that should allow me to hit 420x5x3 in February.

I don't use a platform because I don't have one.

IMO very good to get strong off the floor.

 

[Mark Limbaga]

Its actually counter-productive if you train heavy all the time. Not only does it slow down recovery, but your body will qadapt to it.

 

[peanut butter]

Its actually counter-productive if you train heavy all the time. Not only does it slow down recovery, but your body will qadapt to it.

but arent u doing that when following a powerlifting routine?

 

[BAS_FAN]

not all the time....for example, in my program i train lower body twice a week and then upper body twice a week. I train bench 2 times however one day is a heavy bench (or similar lift) and the rest of the workout is light...using 4 sets of 10-12 reps. However, on my 2nd bench day i train the dynamic part of my bench and use speed. The rest of my workout is heavy using the other upper body muscles. That way i can train everything twice a week, still have time to recover and not burn myself out.

 

[Mark Limbaga]

Thats why you have to cycle weights and poundages

but arent u doing that when following a powerlifting routine?