EDITOR’S NOTE:
Welcome to the Athlete Journal of world champion powerlifter Chris Duffin. Follow Chris as he trains and competes in various events over the coming year. Chris’s journal will be posted every Tuesday. You can also read about Chris on his personal website KabukiWarrior.com.
Final Meet Prep Phase
This last week is all about winding down leading into the meet so there is very little in the way of actual lifting to report on. I did have to deadlift again, which normally I try not to do for the three weeks leading into the meet. Typically I’ll just work up to my opening lifts and then do minimal if any assistance work.
Outside of training my focus is on getting everything staged so that I can make my weight class. This involves an increase in water intake for two weeks along with an increase in salt intake. I will reduce both leading into weigh-ins and generally have it timed so that I make weight by a quarter-pound.
My normal diet involves a fasting period every day. Leading into the meet I continue with these methods but also drop out nearly all carbs for 3-14 days depending on where my weight is. This allows for some additional weight loss from the glycogen depletion, as well as a super-compensation post weigh-ins that gives me a boost of extra glycogen stores on meet day.
MONDAY
30min stretching and mobility work
Bench Press
135×10
225×5
315×5
Add the old school Inzer blast shirt
455×1
This shirt doesn’t give me much support and there is also significant concern that it may rip wide open when I use it, so I set my bench opener low enough that if the shirt rips on me I can just finish the lift regardless.
WEDNESDAY
Squat
165×5
275×5
385×3
495×1
Add suit
605×1
715×1
Add knee wraps
803×1
Nice and easy and felt very solid. I do need to work on taking it down faster so that I get some rebound out of that polyester suit. The faster you drop the more responsive it becomes on the way up.
Deadlift
No warmup
635×1,1,1
Now time to rest up and get physically and mentally prepared for some fun. In all seriousness this is the part I hate the most about competing. I hate slowing down my training but I know the results it yields on competition day.
Here is a picture of the 803. For those not familiar with looking at a wide stance squat from the front, it looks much different than a narrow stance in appearance of depth. The 3D visibility of hip position doesn’t transfer well with the wide stance, making them appear higher than they are. Not making any excuses, just a quick explanation for those outside of powerlifting who may not be aware of this.
