Phil Horwood Training Update

Having followed a Westside Template for several months I have decided its time for a change.  I have been doing a lot of box squatting and good mornings, but not a lot of free squatting and deadlifts have not been a weekly occurrence for a while.  I have been thinking about which powerlifting federation I would like to compete in and have decided that the IPF is the way to go for me.  This decision happened after changing training partners as I am now training with a competitive IPF lifter. Obviously this influenced my decision, but in light of the facts the IPF seems the way to go, due to the fact less lifting gear is used, and it is actually drugs tested.

This change in direction has meant I have had to make a few changes to my training.  A friend of mine has said "pick a sport and train for it" and it has now become very relevant as although the BPO and IPF are both powerlifting federations there are so many differences (mainly on the squat) that training for each federation will need to be very different.
Seeing as I have decided to compete in the IPF / GBPF I will have to make the following changes to my training.

Bench - Ensure heels are fully flat on the floor (already train with heels flat so this not a problem)
           - Get used to bench shirt training, something I have never really done before.
           - Start training with a brief pause at bottom of movement.

Squat - The biggest changes need to be made here.
          -  Get rid of Metal Pro Squat Briefs (as not IPF legal)
          -  Bring in stance to narrow/moderate as opposed to the wide stance I have been using.
          -  Buy a narrow stance squat suit (looking at a Titan super centurion)
          -  Get used to squatting very deep (well below parallel as opposed to just touching parallel)

Deadlift - Going to switch from Sumo (with briefs) to conventional stance raw.

             -  May consider getting deadlift suit depending on how conventional stance goes in first few    
                weeks.

I have a Titan F6 Bench Shirt, and will probably be buying a Titan Super Centurion Squat Suit.  I have also invested in a pair of Metal silver knee wraps and wrist wraps (all IPF legal) and will be, when it comes into stock in the UK, be buying a Titan Toro Bench Belt.

In light of the changes that need to be made, the current Westside template I am using is not suitable.  I have decided to simplify things for a period and use Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 for Powerlifters.

This template uses the following structure

	Week 1		Week 2		Week 3		Week 4
Intensity	Moderate		Heavy		Maximal		Deload
Warm up Sets
Set 1	70%	3 reps	65%	5 reps	75%	5 reps	40%	5 reps
Set 2	80%	3 reps	75%	5 reps	85%	3 reps	50%	5 reps
Set 3	90%	3 or more reps	85%	5 or more reps	95%	1 or more reps	60%	5 reps
Top sets	Heavy Singles (use shirt/suit if lifting in gear in comp)				Heavy Singles (use shirt/suit if lifting in gear in comp)

I will be changing up my training days from Mon - Max Lower, Tuesday - MAx Bench, Weds off, Thurs - Speed Lower, Friday - Speed Upper to the following:

Monday - Deadlift + glute hams + back + bicep training

Tuesday - Off

Weds - Bench + chest + triceps

Thursday - Off

Friday - Squat + legs

Saturday - Mil Press + shoulders + traps + triceps

I have also decided to add in a sub maximal squat session every day.  This will just be done with whatever load feels right on the day.  Largely this is being added to practice the new technique of squatting deep and to drill it in until it becomes second nature.  It is to build consistency.  An added benefit of the extra squat session is that I will probably see some hypertrophy from the added leg work.  Seeing as I am sitting right in the middle of the 93-110kg weight class at 100kg gaining weight is not a problem providing its muscle.

On the whole this extra squat session will only be for 3-5 reps per set, and will only be in the 40-70% 1RM range.

My first week of training with this template I established some 1RM's and some rep maxes to gauge the numbers that I needed to plug into the programme.  Wendler's 5/3/1uses 90% values of actual 1RMs for the programme percentages to enable more consistent progress, so I needed my actual 1RM's to make this calculation. 

My additional squat sessions ranged from 80kg - 150kg and I performed these Monday through Saturday (Sunday I took as a day off).  The 150kg squats were done the day before my max effort squat, which arguably was maybe not the best day to do them, but I kept thinking back to John Broz's notion of squatting to max every day, so I was not put off.  In the end on Friday, I managed a much better squat that I'd predicted. 202kg was my top set for a single rep.  I also stopped before I reached an absolute max and left a few kg in the tank.  This was to build confidence for next week knowing I can push past 200kg without too much trouble.  

I have used the original 5/3/1 template before with a lot of success but found that there was not the opportunity with the original template to hit heavy singles as often as I would have liked.  The Powerlifter version seems to be exactly the right blend of controlled progression and maximal effort work that I have been looking for.  So thanks Jim for producing such an excellent programme.  I look forward now to developing all my RAW lifts with the 5/3/1 sets and learning how to successfully use some single ply gear at the same time.

Phil

As always, any questions, email them over to info@bridgeroadbarbell.co.uk

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