How many days should I rest before I do my mock meet?
Absurd Poll
This reminds me of the story of aliens who go to a Basketball Game.
They report back what they learned was that playing Basketball makes you tall and sitting in the bleachers makes you short.
The Take Home Message
Taking a Snapshot of something doesn't provide the whole picture.
As someone once said, "The devil is in the details."
This poll provide numbers without any real context.
The Correct Approach...
take different amount of rests for each lift. I try to stop deadlifting heavy 12 days out, fewer days for SQ, yet fewer days for BP. I try to get some light days between the last heavy days and the meet.
Recovery Time
Muscle Groups have different Recovery Time.
1) Deadlift Rest Period
Lower Back Recovery from Deadlifts take longer than the Squat and Bench Press.
Most Powerlifters stop Deadlifting 7-14 day or longer prior to a Meet.
Steve,
"Stops Heavy Deadlifting 12 day out".
2) Squat Rest Period
Dr. Fred Hatfield's (
Finding The Ideal Training Split!) determined that Squat Recovery takes 5-6 days.
As per Steve, Recovery for the Squat vs Deadlift is "
Fewer days for SQ".
3) Bench Press Rest Period
Dr. Fred Hatfield's (
Finding The Ideal Training Split!) determined that Bench Press Recovery takes 4 days.
As per Steve, Recovery for the Bench Press vs Deadlift and Squat is "
Yet fewer days for BP"
Meet Taper
Prior to a Powerlifting or Olympic Lifting Meet, the Training Volume and Intensity decrease.
Doing so, increases Recovery; ensuring greater Strength and Power: Super Compensation!
Continuing to Train two weeks out from a Meet with too much Volume and Intensity ensures poor performance.
As per Boris...
you can't really get stronger but you could get a lot weaker!
There is no "Could" to it.
Mock Meet
The key in determining how well an individual perform in a Mock Meet is to simulate it as closely as possible to what occurs in competition.
The short answer is to follow the information that Steve provided.
Secondly, there needs to be a 2 Week Taper prior to the Meet.