Do’s and Don'ts the Week
Before a Meet

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By Phil Stevens

The following aren’t rocket science and aren’t anything new or cutting edge but I see it time and time again people fall off the boat on these. I am sure there are a few more but I believe if you stick to these big simple principles your sure to have the best meet you can resulting from whatever amount of devotion and intensity you gave your preparation.

Do Rest.

#1 above all else its time to rest. Do all that you can to eliminate stress. Get good sleep and preserve as much energy as you can. You want to be at 110% percent on the day of the meet. Expending any extra energy now is worthless - the best thing you can do to put up good numbers is rest.

Don’t Train Hard.

Its flat out he worst thing you can do, squeak in that last heavy training session. You're done. You will NOT get stronger in one week from one session. You're better off spending the time getting fully recovered so you can show the true gains in strength you’ve made from the training to this point.

Do Recover.

Whatever this means to you, and whatever it takes. Sauna, massage, contrast showers, a bit of stretching, supplementation, or just more rest. Take any avenue your open to, and have experience with, to help you get fully recovered. Again the best thing you can do for yourself now is to get rested and recovered

Don’t Try and Figure Out Your Openers Now

Try and figure out your openers Now. You should have tested them prior to this last week. Get your openers sorted EARLY and make sure they are ones you could land sick, tired, and half drunk all at the same time. If you did not test openers to damn bad. See above.

Just go back to your logs and pick a load you know you could triple if you had to. That will likely have you safe. I’ve seen it over and over and I cant believe it when it happens. There is NO excuse for bombing out of a meet aside from catastrophic freak injury. Get in the meet then go for a PR with the second and third, But get a lift first.

Do EAT

Eat food, Copious amounts of calories. This will lead to both of the above, Better recovery and better rest. Get your body as fully refueled and full of nutrition as your weight class allows.

Do Have Light Activity

Don’t be overactive but get some light training in, just technique based stuff to keep the blood flowing. Very light moves that are contest specific. I’ve tried it and seen it tried every way from being a total slug the last week to training balls out up to the meet. The best thing I’ve seen is limit the activity but do a few basic moves, Nothing over 50% for just singles and doubles nice and controlled and not taxing just to keep you moving right. I get more sore and bound up from a week of doing not a damn thing then I do from going all out. Just keep the work to a minimum but keep the joints lubes and ready to do the work you demand it.

Don’t Experiment

So many people decide im going to try this new thing during my next meet and its one of the worst things you can do. Don’t try anything new the day of the meet, or even the last few days. Anything you do now you should have done prior. It should be personally well tested by you and proven to work by you. Last thing you need now is undue stress and possibly B.S. from something going wrong.

Do Weight as Much as You Can.

Aim to get at the top of your weight class. Be it by cutting to exactly the weight needed or stuffing your face to add on what is allowed. You're going to be at your strongest if you are as close as possible to the top of your class when you weigh in. That bit more of a gut and body fat will really aid your leverages and power output. A six pack and veins never lifted a pound in their life. This isn’t who can get the lowest possible weight but who can be the strongest at a given weight class.

Don’t do Cardio

I don’t care if you're cutting. I firmly believe that you have NO reason to add cardio into a pre meet program. Its going to do nothing but sap your strength and energy. I’ve personally cut 28lb in 15 hours without the use of pharmaceuticals including diuretics, More then anyone should ever have to or even attempt and did so without hardly doing more then walking from one room to the next. Cardio is not a great thing for limit strength in the first place but even worse the week prior to a meet. I would only add it in as a last ditch effort on a cut if something went wrong.


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Do Over Prepare

Have your bags packed, organized, and all your ducks in a row. Have food set aside, meals planned, all your gear, entry, etc etc packed well in advance so your not running around. I would have all of this done at the minimum two days prior to the meet so the last days can be spent not doing a thing at all but resting, and either eating or making weight.

Over plan pack things that you think you won't need but for some reason it may just be needed. You never know when something crazy will happen. Try and anticipate the worst. The over preparation won't add any undue stress but in the case something is needed it sure will prevent it.

Last and But Not Least.

Do Have Fun

Go out there and give it your all and have a blast. Knowing you gave yourself the best possible chance to succeed in that final week.

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About The Author

Coach Phil Stevens is an accomplished strength athlete with considerable experience in both powerlifting and strongman competition. Phil is the 2007 APA World Champion in the 242-pound class (total). He currently holds the APF 275-pound class raw National bench, squat, deadlift, and total records. Phil’s marquis lift was his 700-pound raw deadlift, performed on February 14, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Phil has been ranked in the “Top 10” in the deadlift Nationally across all powerlifting federations, also serves as the Arizona State Chair for the North American Highlander Association, as well as the founder of Lift For Hope, an annual strength-competition with proceeds donated to Charity (www.Lift4Hope.org).