DB v. BB use in prep for a meet...

[Smitty77]

what's up, all...

first meet in november and was wondering thoughts related to the title.

wanted to see who might use DBs exclusively in their training leading up to a certain point before the meet, maybe switch to BBs about 8 weeks out to test my max in each of the lifts and work from that point.

my thoughts are that it would help isolate weaknesses, especially in the bench.

current max in each of the 3 would be 325/455/510... not impressive, i'm sure, but i'm 33, a newb, and would be competing in the 198 class in both the B and DL.

[SRS2000]

Using DB's exclusively for any length of time for a powerlifter is a bad idea unless it is absolutely necessary because of an injury. The problem is that it will often take several weeks to get your barbell strength back to its max if you haven't handled any BB weight in a while. The good news is that you don't have to do anything exclusively, so you could include a healthy dose of DB work while still doing some BB training as well. I would recommend do BB work in the 1-5 rep range and doing DB work as assistance work. I prefer DB work of 10+ reps simply because if you go heavier than that it's awkward to try and get the DB's in place and you increase your injury risk if a heavy DB gets out of the groove.
I will also tell you what I tell everyone before their first meet. Learn the rules of performance of the lifts (SQ depth, pause on the BP, no DL hitching, etc...) and make sure you perform to those standards in training. Also start including commands (SQ, press, down, etc...) in training. For example, I will hold every BP and DL at the top for a couple seconds at the end of every set in training so it's habit and I don't beat a command in a meet.

[Smitty77]

thanks, man.. makes perfect sense.

my left shoulder is prone to easy fatigue, but i may take your advice and adopt something like wendler's 5/3/1 with the BBB assistance; so i'll mimic the BB movement with a higher rep DB movement afterward. it'll also help with keeping me strict to 3-week blasts and a deload to save my shoulder a bit.

you may be familiar, but an example: bench, work up to 5rm; flat DB, 5/10.

also, thanks for the advice... a lot of PL'ers i've been speaking with have mentioned the same thing, so i'll be sure to focus on commands, too.

[CJPopovich]

DB's for accessory work only might be a decent idea, but terrible overall for strength pre-meet. I use them on my deload weeks only wrt bench work, but use them nearly every week for overhead work.

[SRS2000]

thanks, man.. makes perfect sense.

my left shoulder is prone to easy fatigue, but i may take your advice and adopt something like wendler's 5/3/1 with the BBB assistance; so i'll mimic the BB movement with a higher rep DB movement afterward. it'll also help with keeping me strict to 3-week blasts and a deload to save my shoulder a bit.

you may be familiar, but an example: bench, work up to 5rm; flat DB, 5/10.

also, thanks for the advice... a lot of PL'ers i've been speaking with have mentioned the same thing, so i'll be sure to focus on commands, too.

That sounds like a reasonable plan. You should get the benefit of both the BB and DB work that way.

[brownstown89]

DBs for 1st choice for assistance work or for deloads

[Smitty77]

thanks, guys... looks like that's the plan. DBs for assistance work only.

[MongoSS]

db one time every three weeks maybe. Try alternate bench presses with full and partial range of motion.
ex. incline press week 1, floor press week 2, db presses week 3.