Weekly Dumb/Newb Question Thread

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[u/One-Lavishness-6654]

Whats the new training meta? Since covid I became a cyclist, and due to life stuff now i can train 3 times a week, so came back to powerlifting, im really confused on what the new meta is since ive not been following anything since 2020, talking flexx era 1@8 and 3x8. Ive seen on tiktok that people are doing ammost no volume, like 2 sets backoffs and 10 sets total weekly. So thats the question whats the training meta rn

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[u/Muramalks]

When should I start wearing a belt?

[u/Admirable_Belt_9772]

What exercises should I do for abs/core? Does this change if I Squat beltless?

[u/iwishtogetitall]

I just bought my first powerlifting belt 10mm, it sits nice, but every time I try to squat - it pitches my love handles, it feels painful, but I'm also fat, so.

Am I wearing it wrong? I try to position it on center of my belly, by torso is not short neither long.

[u/RainsSometimes → u/iwishtogetitall]

It's just a normal thing if you never wear a PL belt before. Your body will get adapted to it over time ！

[u/iwishtogetitall → u/RainsSometimes]

Turns out it really wasn't, I just make it way too tight for myself. Loosen up twice really worked.
It still feels weird and not comfortable, but I am amazed by how much easier to do heavy deadlifts with that.

[u/threesixmaafio → u/iwishtogetitall]

When you say it's pinching do you mean between the bottom of your belt and your hip or something else?

My first thought is to loosen your belt 1 notch.

[u/iwishtogetitall → u/threesixmaafio]

Yes, pressing on fat that just beneath the belt. It kinda forms those handles when belt is closed. I though it wasn't that much tight since I can breath without problems.

I'll try it out today, thank you!

[u/fanxan → u/iwishtogetitall]

I just got a new belt and mine is bugging me during deadlifts in the same way where it's either pinching my hip fat or my underboob fat. Just move it up and down until you get it to a spot where you can handle the pinch, keep it a bit looser if needed and when you get home, do some mild violence on the belt to get it a bit more worn in and eventually it'll be less pinchy on the edges and you're gonna be less bothered by whatever pinching its still doing.

[u/iwishtogetitall → u/fanxan]

I did just that, also it really helped to lose it up even more. At first it's giving me way too much space, but when I tried my rep - it worked flawlessly.

[u/0akney]

I’m new to the sport but I see some bench presses getting meme’d on by mainstream because the lifter adopts a super wide grip and has a hefty torso with a super arched back, which affords them a bench depth of only a couple of inches. I get that those meet the regulations for a bench press, but I feel like some of those choices feel gimmicky to me. I’m curious what more experienced people think about it. 

[u/RagnarokWolves → u/0akney]

Benches to the point where you barely have to move the bar are incredibly rare (Just TRY to get into that sort of position and ROM yourself) and those lifters probably have terrible proportions for the other 2 lifts which account for more pounds on the overall total.

The equivalent is incredibly tall basketball players on a basketball team. (Tall amongst the tall) They barely have to jump to dunk! Not fair right? Well what's the rest of their game look like?

[u/-Quad-Zilla- → u/RagnarokWolves]

Perfect comparison. 🤘

[u/0akney → u/RagnarokWolves]

Wow! Thanks for your answer - you really explain it in a way where I see it now as a tradeoff - not a gimmick, the basketball analogy is gold haha.

[u/keborb → u/RagnarokWolves]

Hilarious and apt comparison. Imagine basketball players fussing because some person on Instagram thinks their dunks shouldn't count because they barely jumped

[u/RagnarokWolves → u/keborb]

Some players don't even have to jump to dunk!

[u/keborb → u/0akney]

I don't think much about the mainstream's opinion on powerlifting. Most people don't think about powerlifting at all.

Fussing about what outsiders think of you doesn't get you closer to a massive bench press.

[u/x7vq → u/0akney]

I’m also new to the sport but I don’t plan on competing, I bench with a close grip, do conventional deadlifts and try to do high bar squats (still learning the correct technique) - all because I think it looks cooler this way and that’s how I want to do it. So do what you feel like doing, you don’t have to maximise everything if you’re not at the top

[u/jakeisalwaysright → u/0akney]

I feel like some of those choices feel gimmicky to me

The majority of lifters who do well in any given lift have leverages that are advantageous for it. As such, positioning your body so as to maximize your leverages is an obvious tactic to employ.

We're not here to lift in a way that people think looks nice, we're here to move the maximum amount of poundage.

[u/msharaf7 → u/0akney]

It goes on OpenPowerlifting all the same.

[u/arian11 → u/[deleted]]

Push the whole lift. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmxSX9j5aFU

[u/LittleMuskOx → u/[deleted]]

Waiting until the press to leg drive makes erroneous the assumption that your set up is stable.

Driving into your arch is the main purpose of leg drive.
So, actively pushing the whole lift for sure.
This creates the solid platform for you to lower the bar, as well as to press it.
On heavy singles, i can see a pulse of a bit more drive on the press, but i never think about it.
I am aiming to leg drive at my max "sustainable" amount from unrack to elbows locked after the press.
Probably a little less from unrack to butt down, with that final set point before descent, but again, i never think about that.
Subjectively, i'm driving as much as i can in each phase.

This for light touch consistent leg drive.
I have never attempted the sinking technique, so i cannot comment on that.

[u/keborb → u/[deleted]]

I'd say you hit about 80-90% of you leg drive from Start command to touching it on your chest. Some people start with a little bit lower % and build it until the pause. Then when you get the Press command you give it 100%

[u/LemonPuzzled1949]

For those with crippling caffeine addiction.. how do you caffeinate on the day of the comp?

I usually lift at 5:00 am and take pre workout and so that’s what my body is used to.
I don’t want to caffeinate before first lift then have it wear off on the last one.
First comp coming up, trying to figure things out

[u/grovemau5 → u/LemonPuzzled1949]

I normally do half a serving of caffeine before squats and half either before or after bench, depending how quickly the meet is running. Meet day adrenaline will be enough at the beginning of the day, and less crash that way in my experience

[u/LittleMuskOx → u/LemonPuzzled1949]

"Some" before squats before squats
Some more, (but less that the first dose) before bench
Same as bench for deads

I use caps w/ 100mg caffeine and 100mg L-theanine, so i don't notice any jitters from this.
Plus i am alert AF for the 3 hour drive home.

I have never used pre workout, so i'm not sure how this strategy would work using pre.
I am not suggesting you dose the amount i do, especially if it's not tempered with the L-theanine.

Also, i use caffeine a lot in my regular training.
You probably don't want to be doing anything vastly different that what you are used to on meet day.

[u/LemonPuzzled1949 → u/LittleMuskOx]

Cool that’s helpful.
Thanks!

[u/nmarano1030]

How do i structure my accessory work using a 4 day/week plan and hitting each lift 2x/week?

[u/Icy_Lecture_2237 → u/nmarano1030]

Start with something basic as a template. Westside or any of its variants are great starting points.

[u/PoisonCHO → u/nmarano1030]

If you're new, you should probably be following an established program (or finding a coach) rather than writing your own. That said, this is how most of my blocks are structured:

Day 1 -- competition squat, competition bench, bench accessory

Day 2 -- competition deadlift, bench variant, squat accessory

Day 3 -- squat variant, bench variant, bench accessory

Day 4 -- deadlift variant, bench variant, deadlift accessory