Preparation for max-days

[Cort]

I don't do these often, and thus some of them tend to be really great and others I just feel like I'm completely out of whack and can't even lift 95% of my previous max. What do you guys do to prepare? I know we all have our sht days, but any ways to really make sure your planned max day isn't one of them?

Was hoping to hit a few PRs today but t3h w31ght+s pWn+ m3h I'm going to bump up my calorie intake back to at least 3000-3500 a day, I dropped to 2500 w/ this carb cycling diet but I don't want my strength to suffer as much as it seems to be.

[LifterMike]

Hey Cort, I'm actually doing my max lifts this week and heres a couple of good things to keep in mind when maxing, at least this is what i do.

1.) Do 3-4 light to moderate warm up sets for the exercise you are preparing to max in. For my benchpress warm-up i do 95 1x10 115 1x6 and 135 1x4..I drop the reps so I dont fatigue the muscle before maxing. :

2.) Eat some good complex carbs pre workout, approx 30-45min...Fuel for the workout... Dont forget any other supplements either.

3.) Drink a glass of water 15-20min before working out, not important to alot of people, but I always like to be hydrated, expecially if your taking creatine.

4.) plenty of sleep the night before, get your 7-8 hours in!

5.) Focus, play some music that will help you lift, or have someone that motivates you spot you on your lift, just do NOT worry about if your going to get the lift.

THese are the 5 steps I take to prepare for maxing :

[Cort]

Thats stuff you're supposed to do before any workout. I got my 8 hours, had a bowl of oatmeal and a chicken breast w/ a cup of peas, then my 2nd meal matched that, scept whey protein instead of chicken breast. By then about 32 oz of water, went into the gym did 2 warm-up sets with 45 and then 2 more with 95, then put 225 on for a quick 1-rep...but the 225 felt ridiculously heavy considering I was aiming for something over 260 for my max and nailed that only a month ago.

Then, feeling kinda lame after having 250 fall on me like a rock, I go get my deadlift station set. Drink some more water before I get started with my warm-up sets, then I put 315 on the bar to ease into my max. I was going to go for 385 today, but I barely pulled the 315 successfully, with horrible form, previous max was 350. 355 would be cool, my total would finally be up to 1000... In my workouts I'm repping 285-300 on a regular basis...so I'm going to just call this a really lame day, get some rest...eat tons of food, get back into my routine after 2-3 more days of rest and hope my next max day is better.

I'm thinking of increasing my rest time before maxes. My most successful days have been after at least 4-5 days of full rest from weights...my last workout was on Friday so I probably wasn't fully recovered...the 260 was actually after a full week up at camp w/ no weight lifting whatsoever for about 9 days.

[LifterMike]

yea i also take a week off from weights when doing max in that muscle group, i forgot to mention that.

[Cort]

Yeah, I used to but I felt really good yesterday...just wasn't up for it I guess. Then again I did a really heavy bench/deadlift day only 2 days earlier so it just wasn't a smart move.