What should you do post powerlifting competition ? The three major questions that should be addresse

Leading up to a competition , you may have been prepping for weeks or maybe even months. Many questions may be popping up in your head of what you should do now. That being said, I have had many questions regarding what should be done post powerlifting competition and how to go by it.

In my opinion , I believe these three questions should be addressed:

When do you plan on competing next?

If you plan on competing in the near future you definately need to figure that date out. This allows you to periodize accordingly for your future meet and allow you to taper correctly. Make sure you always have a plan and give yourself the appropriate amount of time to reach your goals without injury.

How much volume was I doing pre-comp?

If you plan on competiting a few months post competition , you will have to slowly build your work capacity back up to where it was prior to the realization stage. Meaning, you will not be able to keep hitting PRS post competition ( maybe if you can hold your peak for that extra week , hand full of freaks can) . Go review how much volume you were doing prior to the beginning of your taper , add your accessory exercises back in and work on your weanesses. You will want gradually work your way up to above that work capacity to obtain the principle of overload/progression.

Do I take time off and if so how much?

If you just had a major competition and trained 6 days a week, for months straight , I would say a complete week off would probably do you good. Give yourself time to recover fully and focus on some things you didnt have time too while training all those months. On the other hand, if you just used this as a "mock meet", meaning that there was no taper , just going in that day of the meet and seeing where you stand. I would continue on with your program and dont just "take time off" because you just had a meet.

So the take home message would be : make sure you plan ahead and make sure you have your next competition date in mind , put in the work to achieve the result you want and give yourself time to recover but not too much that you lose your edge.