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Three Basic Tips for Beginner Powerlifters

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Three Basic Tips for Beginner Powerlifters

If you’re thinking about starting to powerlift then you’ll need to consider everything from how to structure your program to tips for your first competition. It can feel somewhat overwhelming, but in this guide, I’ll share exactly what you need to know to be successful in the sport of powerlifting.

1. Always squat below parallel

How many times have you seen lifters in training squatting high and saying ill get depth on the day, then the comp comes around and everything falls apart because you haven’t trained to the depth.

Now in the grand scheme of a training cycle is one or two high squats going to ruin your prep? Absolutely not! This is mainly aimed at people who are squatting high week in and week out.

2. Practice the pause in the bench at least once a week.

Just like the squat I’ve seen loads of people saying they can bench this and that but when it comes to a comp and pausing the lift there numbers are way back. Do practice the pause enough and it becomes second nature, my pause bench is even bigger than my touch and go bench at this stage.

3. Never touch and go deadlifts or worse bounce them

By killing it dead once again like the other two lifts your practicing the competition movement and re-enforcing your start position which in turn makes you stronger from that position. I worked with one lifter in particular who claimed a 180kgx8 deadlift yet could only pull 190kg for 1. I asked him to show me his deadlifts and there it was, touch and go every rep. All I had him do was dead stop them, within weeks he was pulling over 200kg.

Seems simple but so many people get it wrong! You could go one further and have your training partner or coach give competition commands to really get you use to what’s to come at competition.

Give it a go and I assure you you’ll be much better off on the day of a competition.