Beginner lifters and powerlifting meets

[d12]

I coach at a high school in Texas and have been charged with revamping the girls' powerlifting team.

They are all following the SS model. They started lifting about 8 weeks ago and our first meet is second or third weekend of January.

Do I change their programs or continue following the SS model all the way through the season? Obviously, conditions are not ideal and high school powerlifting is more or less a joke, however I would like these girls to do as well as they can given the circumstances.

Luckily, they are hooked on getting stronger and I have no trouble with keeping them showing up three days a week (at 6am nonetheless).

Age ranges from 14-16, weight ranges from 95lbs-240ish-lbs

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

They can lift heavy right up to the meet for the most part. Have them do a normal workout on Monday. On Wednesday have them add a little bit of weight and do just one main set of 3-5 reps. So if they did 150x3x5 on monday then they would do 155x5 on Wednesday. So you are keeping up intensity but backing off volume which which will help with a small taper combined with an added day of rest before the meet on Saturday.

Use that single set to determine attempts. Probably open with whatever they did on Wednesday (this makes your job easier). Then go up maybe 5% for attempts 2 and 3. This is a good way to do this for a large group of kids.

Remember with females: their 1rm's will be closer to their 5rms than with males. So a girl might squat 150x5 and then miss 175x1. So just don't be overly aggressive when planning out their attempts. Make the focus on having as many of them as possible go 9 for 9 rather than trying to win the meet. Having the least amount of bomb outs will put you in the run for a winning day.

[d12]

Thanks!