Powerlifting has become very popular. Find out all the features of the training process in this sport. Powerlifting may seem like a simple sport at first glance. For success, you only need to visit the gym and work with iron. After the results appear, it is necessary to increase the working weights and you can start thinking about the categories, and there you may be able to get on the cover of a colorful magazine. However, it is only at first glance that everything is so easy. Often, athletes quit training after six months or even a year without achieving results. Why this is happening and how is it better to build your powerlifting training, now we will try to figure it out.
Possible mistakes in the training process for powerlifting
Gyms are mainly visited by people who just want to pump up their muscles and give their figure a beautiful look. Often, before starting a visit to the gym, many try to find information about the training process. The easiest way to do this is from the same sports magazines. There is no point in criticizing the advice they give, such as the required number of approaches and reps, at what angle to lift the barbell, or how often to train. However, it should be noted that the good in them is only the vivid pictures themselves, the advertisement of a huge amount of sports nutritional supplements and, oddly enough, the exercise technique.
Other recommendations, such as those of renowned athletes, should not be followed. Champions give all these recommendations based on their own training program. But they've been training for ten years, maybe even more. During this period of time, they managed to find the necessary technique, but before that many mistakes were made. It is only through experimentation and mistakes that one can find those exercises and powerlifting workouts that will bring results to an individual athlete.
Beginner athletes do not need the advice of famous athletes. By following their training method, you can only reach a state of overtraining. The main signs of this condition are:
- Lack of progress or decline in the effectiveness of the training;
- The desire to visit the hall disappears;
- Sleep is disturbed;
- Appetite decreases;
- Injuries appear.
The main indicator of the incorrectness of your chosen approach to training is pain in the knee and elbow joints, aching sensation in the ligaments, as well as lumbago in the spine. Most of the people who come to the gym are sure that if you use a training program other than the champion's, then the result cannot be achieved. Also, many believe that it takes 3 or 4 exercises to develop each muscle group.
Remember to do three sets of 5 or 6 reps to get enough load. When this kind of work is repeated two or three times during the week, then this is a sure way to a state of overtraining. A fair question arises: what to do in this situation? The first step is to find a good coach. If this cannot be done, then it is necessary to pause in the training process for a duration of 7 to 10 days. In this case, special attention should be paid to sleep and proper nutrition. If you have injuries, they must be healed. After that, you can move on to powerlifting training.
How many times a week to train powerlifting
Most athletes, after numerous mistakes, as a result, come to the understanding that they should achieve results in three main exercises: squats, deadlifts and bench press. A well-planned vacation is a very important factor in your progress. Your body must have time to fully recover from the training field.
Very often athletes believe that if yesterday the muscles of the legs were involved in training, then today you can work on the upper body, and tomorrow you can swing your legs again. But the body is not divided into parts, it works as a whole. To better understand what is at stake, we can use the example of the wires covered with hoarfrost. If you hit them, the frost falls. Almost the same situation occurs with muscles. Gradually, they accumulate energy, which is subsequently expended in training. It takes time for its stocks to replenish.
Between workouts, you should pause at least 72 hours, and you should visit the gym two days later on the third. As a result, one week you get two workouts, and the next three. For example, on Monday you did a bench press. The next workout should be on Thursday and work on the leg muscles. Again we rest in two days and on the third a new workout, in which we again work on the press. Therefore, every 144 hours (once a week), upper body and leg exercises should be done.
A few words should be said about rest. First, watch your sleep, and secondly, monitor your diet. Massage helps recovery very well. But in any case, do not help the body to recover with "light training". Do not think that if you stick to the described training scheme, then soon you will become a champion. It is also important to achieve the result and the division into muscle groups and competitive movements. Let's say doing a deadlift to develop leg muscles and taking a 72 hour rest followed by an upper body workout. When the turn reaches the feet again, it will not be possible to repeat the previous result.
How to Create a Powerlifting Workout Program
The fact is that during the deadlift and squats, a large number of muscles are involved in the work, which has a serious effect on the central nervous system. As a result, you will not be able to establish personal achievement in any exercise for any muscle group.
To avoid this, you should make your training routine. To put it simply, make at least a five-session plan for developing your leg muscles and for the same amount of workouts for your upper body. In this case, one should take into account not only the time required for the muscles to rest, but also for the restoration of the central nervous system. In other words, it is necessary to alternate light, medium and heavy workouts for each movement. Representing it in the form of a diagram, we get the following: T – L – S – L – T. This is a lesson plan for one movement, but there is also a second. And in this case, our scheme will take the following form: heavy top - legs - middle top - legs, etc. Through the presence of light and medium training in the training program, the central nervous system will be able to recover. It is best to start with the bench press. It is necessary to select those muscles that, when performing the bench press, lack the load, namely the biceps, triceps and latissimus dorsi. So here's a rough powerlifting workout plan:
Heavy training
- Bench press in the prone position 3 sets of 5 or 6 reps, with the last rep to be performed to the limit, but without assistance.
- Exercise for the development of triceps is performed in three sets of 12-15 repetitions.
- Biceps training is two exercises in one approach, and the number of repetitions in them is from 20 to 30.
- Exercise for the broadest muscles of the back is performed in three sets of 12-15 repetitions.
After that, do not forget to take a rest for 72 hours
Light workout
- Bench press in the prone position in three sets of 8 or 10 reps. In this case, the load should be reduced. For example, if in the last lesson you used a weight of 100 kilograms, now about 55 or 70 will be enough.
- Exercise for the triceps, biceps and latissimus dorsi is performed in the same volume and with the same load as during heavy training.
Average training
In this case, high-speed barbell presses and with chains in three sets of 8 repetitions will be appropriate.
If you adhere to the recommendations described above, then not only your muscles will rest, but also the central nervous system, which is also important.
For information on how to regularly gain strength, how to rest between sets and make a training plan, see the video:
