Training as a serious powerlifter for the past month and a half has been highly rewarding for me. Not only have I expanded my knowledge of fitness tremendously, but also I've applied everything I've learned and can confidently say that I've become stronger and more athletic in general. Rather than going to the gym solely out of habit to improve my health, I now have a direction to place in powerlifting meets which has been very exciting for me.
Jonnie Candito, one of the strongest powerlifters in my weight class and also on YouTube, generously posted his workout routine online for free. I've never been an advocate of reinventing the wheel, so I plan to stick with his routine until I hit a plateau. However, I've made some minor modifications as I've added cardio (which he also highly recommends but did not post on his routine), weighted dips, ab workouts, and more.
I've added cardio because Lyle McDonald, one of the most knowledgable people in the fields of nutrition and exercise science, stated and cited on his website, "Strength/power athletes (including bodybuilders) might want to include a moderate amount of aerobic work (2-3X/week at low intensity) solely for that purpose, to improve glycemic and insulin responses to carb intake." Astoundingly, according to the research, it takes very little low intensity cardiovascular training to reap the benefits of improved glycemic and insulin responses to carb intake which, as someone who tracks calorie intake and macronutrients, is highly important. So, on Candito's rest days, I do low intensity cardio in the form of swimming or jogging. Occasionally, I'll do higher intensity cardio such as uphill sprints to train my fast twitch muscles.
This has all been very exciting for me, and I can't wait to continue training. With dedication and a strong diet, all of my primary lifts have been steadily improving, and I'm looking forward to competing in the 183 lb weight class at my first USA Powerlifting (USAPL) meet on July 25 .