Powerlifting Basics: An Introduction to Powerlifting

A proper training approach will maximize your strength gains and reduce your chance of injury. I've had a great deal of success with my training and not had a major injury in 20 years of strength training by following a few simple principles:

• Technique

I used to joke that I lifted weights because I had no real talent in sports. My attitude was quickly corrected when I began to train for competition. In a single squat session, I had a world champion powerlifter identify mistakes I was making, and give me a few pointers. My squat jumped 50 pounds that week. That first year of competition training I broke the 400 and then the 500 pound barriers on the squat and deadlift. Proper lifting form will return greater strength gains, lower your risk of injury, and result in fewer red lights in the meet (2 out of 3 red lights results in a missed lift). You need to use proper form from your first warm-up set, to your heaviest working set.

• Keep it Simple

Building strength doesn't require fancy equipment or complex lifting routines. You can build great strength by focusing on the core lifts and the right supporting exercises, maintaining consistency in your training routine and diet, and using proper form.

My routines always start with the key compound lifts first (bench press for chest, squat for legs, deadlift for back, and military press for shoulders). I use isolation exercises at the end of the workout to finish off the muscles (leg extensions and curls, tricep extensions, etc.). I don't use any “shaping” exercises (cable crossovers, flies, etc.). I focus nearly all my effort on exercises that will increase my strength. Even though I have few if any body building components to my routine, my training has resulted significant muscle mass, as well as burned off a good deal of body fat.

The primary goal of a powerlifting cycle is to peak in strength at your competition. The cycle I use is very basic-early in the cycle use higher repetitions with lower weights. As the competition nears, I reduce the number of repetitions and increase the weight. Not only does this assist you to hit your peak at the meet, the constant change in your workout prevents you from hitting training plateaus.

As an example, if you have a three month training cycle until the next powerlifting meet, start with sets of six to eight reps with 60% of your best lift (called 1 rep max, or 1RM). Every two to three weeks increase the weight five to ten percent, and reduce the number of repetitions. The core strength building phase is the weeks lifting four to six reps. This is a good repetition range for building strength. The final two weeks of training working sets should be above 90% of your 1RM for one or two reps. You shouldn't have any lifting sessions the final week before the meet. Rest up and go in strong. Since I can't stay out of the gym myself, I usually do very light cardio work that week, such as walking on the treadmill.

I will concede that progressing from a good lifter to an elite lifter requires more advanced techniques. These techniques could include using bands and chains, adding speed workouts to your routine, lifting from boards (bench press) or a box (squats), and more complex training cycles. These techniques are beyond the scope of this article.

• Balance

To get the maximum performance out of your body, you have to train with balance. Your bench press isn't going to improve if you neglect your lats or triceps. Your squats aren't going to improve if ignore your lower back. Neglecting muscle groups will reduce the overall effectiveness of your training routine, and increase your chances of injury. You are training to lift a tremendous amount of weight. If you've skipped a muscle group, you could be creating a weak link, and can expect to get hurt.

My current training split consists of four sessions per week. My leg workout kicks off the training week, anchored by long squat sessions. Chest day follows legs, and includes a tricep workout at the end. Back day is split into deadlifts for the lower back, and at least four lat exercises. Time permitting I add a bicep workout to the end of my back day. The week ends with a shoulder workout. I try to add an extra arm workout if I have time in my schedule, triceps first, then biceps. I've found that if you lift in an equipped federation, the tricep is at least as important as your pectorals for a big bench press.

• Resist the Ego Set

This is the hard one. It's good to continually push yourself to a higher level, however lifting beyond what your body is ready for is asking for trouble. If you can't perform a lift with good form, you're not going to get results from the lift, and sacrificing form will likely increase your chances of injury.