Home › Forums › Main › Training and Nutrition

Question for equipped powerlifters

jstabile's picture
Sun, 06/28/2009 - 12:17pm — jstabile

How often do you train in your equipment, and why this frequently (or infrequently?)

‹ SSB is as good as Doc said :-) Free Heart Rate Zone calculator ›
Sun, 06/28/2009 - 12:45pm — Tony_Quist

I train in gear every other

I train in gear every other week. If I'm done with a meet I usually take it off for a month.
Week 1: Floor presses, raw squats and deadlifts raw
Week 2: Benching in ashirt, squat suit with straps down, deadlift raw
Week 3: Floor presses, raw squats, raw deadlifts
Week 4: I either take week 4 or 5 off. Or i'll lift in my gear.

The closer I get to the meet the more often I wear the gear. I find that I have to keep switching it up on the bench because of the heavy weight in the shirt really fries my cns. If I try to do heavy shirt benches two weeks in a row my next week will be bad.

I find the gear takes the stress off my shoulders as well.

I rarely wear my deadlift suit except for the last two weeks of a lifting cycle.

Before the raw guys come on here criticizing keep in mind I deadlift 777 conventional and I was benching over 475lbs when I was 20 years old. I've been lifting seriously for 16 years and I'm now 30.

Some of you guys have only been lifting seriously for 2 years. You then read a few books and think you know everything about lifting. Save that energy and go to the gym and get stronger.

Sun, 06/28/2009 - 9:44pm — MarcusWild

I mostly focus on 2-ply

I mostly focus on 2-ply lifting.

Squat:
Briefs almost always on DE day, and most of my ME days are raw.

Bench:
I wear my shirt every 2-4 weeks. I used to wear it every other week. I feel like I know my shirt well now, so I wear it every 3-4 weeks.

Deadlift:
I wear my suit once before each meet.

www.wildirongym.com
www.tinyurl.com/WildIronGym

Mon, 06/29/2009 - 1:27pm — The Stone

I generally go in full

I generally go in full competition gear the 8-12 weeks leading up to a contest. Lots of heavy triples, doubles, and singles. In the off-season, I go lesser or no gear.

Mon, 06/29/2009 - 5:22pm — wlewisj
wlewisj's picture

I am one that believe in

I am one that believe in getting a stronger raw total before going to gear. I put on my gear about 6-8 weeks out. I am gradually trying to get more time in the gear to learn the grooves better. A few years ago, I would only put on gear about 3-4 weeks out. The newer gear requires more practice to get the most out of the gear. Tighter gear and multi-layers require even more time.

Thu, 07/02/2009 - 7:16pm — Charles Izzo

For a while I trained in

For a while I trained in gear pretty much every week. Other than the fact that this is how my coach and team members teach me to do it, there actually is reasons for it. You get good at what you practice. And getting good with gear will make a big difference in your lifts. Often it is necessary to gain muscle in order to put more force into your lifts. But also often you can use tighter gear and that will make your lifts go up much more quickly. Thats much faster than gaining more muscle. But it isn't magic. You need practice and you need time for your bones to get used to that extra weight. Also, training with gear helps your raw strength go up as well.

So the way I see it, is if you are competing in a meet with gear then it is best to use the gear every week. The only exception I can think of is if you have problems with recovery.