Recovery from a meet

[Jr_Geezer]

I competed in the USSF Fall Classic in Phoenix this past Saturday and thought I would get back into the training routine today, Wednesday. Plan was to go the gym over lunch and just start my HLM cycle over again. I would only have time for squats, so I set up for 345x5x3, which I had last done three weeks ago as part of the HLM cycling routine I was going through (the week after that I did 355x3x3).

Well, they were way heavier than I thought they were going to be and my form was lousy. For the last set I went down to 335 because I didn't want to continue to push and potentially hurt myself through a form issue. I was just beat after the three sets and my legs and to a lesser degree, lower back, eight hours later, are still feeling it.

So I don't know, is this because I wasn't recovered from the meet (I did 370, 176, 500), or it had been too long since I did this weight at this volume, or I didn't get enough sleep the night before, or didn't eat enough before the workout? There was a young guy on the platform next to me easily doing legit sumo deadlifts at 605 lbs. Turns out he's training for the WUAP World Championships in Chicago next month. I told him I had been in a meet on Saturday and he expressed surprise that I was back to training already. I dunno, I really didn't feel bad before the workout. How long have others taken to recover from a meet and get back to their regular training?

I was going to go to the gym this evening for bench and pull-ups, but I don't think that would have turned out well.

Thanks.

(58 y.o., 5'10" 218 lbs)

[Mark Rippetoe]

You are not young, you pulled 500, and you were not recovered. Your perceptions are unreliable. This is why RPE doesn't work. Now you know. Plan accordingly next time.

[Jr_Geezer]

You are not young, you pulled 500, and you were not recovered. Your perceptions are unreliable. This is why RPE doesn't work. Now you know. Plan accordingly next time.

All true. This was only my second ever meet, that first one being three years ago, so I wasn't sure what to expect in the days after. I'll take it easy for the rest of the week at least. Thanks for the input and insight.

[Bill Anders]

All true. This was only my second ever meet, that first one being three years ago, so I wasn't sure what to expect in the days after. I'll take it easy for the rest of the week at least. Thanks for the input and insight.

Thanks for posting this, RJPinAZ. I'm a few years behind you (turned 51 this week), but going into my first-ever meet this Saturday. I'm still in NLP, so it will be an interesting experience of seeing what I can do without completely falling apart. I had already planned on staying away from the gym until next Thursday, but I may tack on a day or two to that based on your experience. And I won't be pulling anywhere near 500. Good on ya!!!

[Jr_Geezer]

Thanks for posting this, RJPinAZ. I'm a few years behind you (turned 51 this week), but going into my first-ever meet this Saturday. I'm still in NLP, so it will be an interesting experience of seeing what I can do without completely falling apart. I had already planned on staying away from the gym until next Thursday, but I may tack on a day or two to that based on your experience. And I won't be pulling anywhere near 500. Good on ya!!!

Good luck to you, Bill, I think you'll enjoy the experience. My main takeaway from my vast experience in going to meets is that you can almost certainly do more than you think you can. My first thought as I was standing up on my third squat attempt was "Man, I shoulda gone heavier."

Let us know how it goes.

[Bill Anders]

Good luck to you, Bill, I think you'll enjoy the experience. My main takeaway from my vast experience in going to meets is that you can almost certainly do more than you think you can. My first thought as I was standing up on my third squat attempt was "Man, I shoulda gone heavier."

Let us know how it goes.

Will do, Rob. Thanks for the tip on "heavier than you think" (you sure proved that last weekend!). I do have a couple of stretch goals, so we'll see how it goes. I'll definitely let y'all know.