Peaking for Powerlifting Competition: Magic? Misunderstood?
Far too often I see the term peaking misused in the lexicon of several lifters, mostly at the beginner and intermediate level. Here is what peaking is not:
Going heavy (you may go heavy in a peak, but peaking does not equal going heavy)
Different from normal training. Again, certain aspects may change but more now than ever I think a lot of coaches do not have dedicated peaking blocks that differ vastly from a developmental block pre-peak.
Magic. A peak with a subsequent taper 9/10 will not add 30-40lbs on a lift.
The same for everyone. Your peaking protocol should have some variables that are the same across the board compared to others but your peaking protocol as a whole may look very different in some aspects in the same regard.
So with that said, here is what peaking is in the context of powerlifting:
A plan to prepare you for the most specific task, in our case, this is a single.
A plan that dissipates fatigue, elevates or maintains fitness, and prepares us for expression of strength.
Takes the data from previous blocks and when revised creates a “best of” compilation of what worked during those previous blocks.
Individual. If someone says you NEED to be doing sets of 3 and under in a peak/taper, they are either dogmatic or are uninformed, both equally as dangerous to your training and competition aspirations.
Now that we have that squared away, let’s get into the ins and outs of peaking for a meet.
As mentioned, this concept is a way in which we can elicit the most specific adaptations to prepare us for the task at hand, in our case, this is the competition standard single. Notice how I did not say 1 rep max. Executing a 1 rep max is a skill, sure, but to me, you should not practice 1rms all that often as the trade-off is usually less training volume, less actual work. This is getting towards more opinion, I am aware of that, but this my blog damn it!
For many of us, especially my raw contemporary lifters, we utilize heavy top sets, pretty much year round for this reason. We never want to get too far way from the ability to express strength at maximal loads. For some this is through singles year round, for others this is heavy rep sets save for the final push into the meet. Depending on the lifter, both strategies are valid.
This may not be groundbreaking stuff but you would be surprised how far periodization for competition has come since I first began learning about it. As early as 10 years ago, periodization would look like this.
Weeks 1-4 = 10 reps per set
Weeks 5-8 = 8 reps per set
Weeks 9-12 = 5 reps per set
Weeks 13-16 = 3 reps per set
Then your first actual singles would be at the meet itself. You can theorize all you want, but for me, I know I would feel incredibly anxious using reps to predict my execution of a single. The thinking behind a preposed theory like this (linear periodization) would be working on hypertrophy and work capacity early on, translating that into pure “strength” building, then working on absolute strength with low reps at the very end. Again, good in theory, not so much in practice. You see, this is under the assumption that these gains are translated 1-1 from cycle to cycle AND that the person will be able to express whatever gains they made via singles. The fact of the matter is this, everyone is different. How you and I respond to 10s,8s,5s,3s is going to be vastly different. This is why I do not take rep maxes too seriously when accounting for someone’s top end strength and doubly so when we drift passed, say, 5 repetitions. This is also assuming each lift will respond well to a given rep range. I think we all need to do a better job of not stigmatizing certain rep ranges towards specific goals. Meaning if you have data that your 1rm gets stronger when you do 10s, do 10s. If you have data that when you transition to heavy rep work per sets, 7 sets of 3, 8 sets of 2, you just kinda fizzle out, then why would you continue to do that? Somewhere along the line preparation for a meet became dogmatic in that if you are doing 7s the week of the meet you must not know what you are doing, however, I think most coaches now are coming around to the idea that rep ranges are not specific to any goal besides singles, which are usually there for reassurance purposes for most of the year and to grease the groove on how to execute a single repetition.
Moreover, taking reps and applying them to singles without actually doing a single is a big no-no in my book. From an anecdotal perspective, I coach a few lifters who can rep out pretty high %s of 1rm that on a rep max calculator project out to some insane numbers but when it comes time to do a single they do not really touch that. Conversely, I also coach people who have the inverse of that, their single capacity is far higher than what they can hit for reps at a given %. So to design a plan based on something that might grossly over-predict or under-predict results is asinine in my opinion.
So, with those foundations laid, you can see the planning before the peaking cycle means arguably more than the final cycle itself. However, this is not about that, what does a peaking cycle look like leading into competition?
Here is an example of what I would do using a lot of the principles I talked about in the previous paragraphs.
Assess results of pre-peak cycle block. Were results on-par with where we want to be for the meet? Did we use singles in this cycle, if so, can we eek out anymore? Did we use heavy rep maxes, if so, it’s time to turn those to singles. Did the bulk of the rep ranges yield favorable results? Do we need to trend down to get a little more towards that “strength” stimulus?
Assess what this person’s meet PRs are and how attainable are they for this next coming meet.
Take what worked from said cycle, use it, take what did not work, scrap it.
Pace out progression to be geared to peak AT THE MEET and work backwards from there. I like to have landmarks for where someone needs to be via a hard % cap each week to prevent burning out and peaking too early. Ex. Lifter A is a good deadlifter, block before the peak was crazy and they pulled 500lbs for 3 @ 7 RPE despite it being prescribed @8 and it being a 20lb PR. This would lead me to think said person is capable of 15-20lbs more so I would pace back with a goal of 520lbs at the meet, which would be a 20lb meet PR. This might look like 20lb jumps each week for some, 15 for others, I would pace backwards from there. Best case scenario, we hit this number with room to spare or slightly exceed it. Worst case scenario, we had the right plan for the numbers wanted in place but for whatever reason did not get the same adaptation so we settle for something less which STILL could yield a meet PR.
Decide when to taper. This is another article in itself but in essence, every peak will feature a taper in which we look to dissipate the fatigue accumulated from the training cycle while either elevating or maintaining fitness (strength) and maximally elevating the ability to express the goal at hand, which again is the single. A good rule of thumb for MOST people will be to drop volume 2 weeks out, and then intensity the week of the meet. This is not a one sized fits all approach but in general these concepts reign true. There are some scenarios in which a lifter can and will benefit from, training with more volume deeper into a peak and others that will be more intensity sensitive and cannot go as heavy as close to the meet without fizzling out. This comes down to knowing your clientele and acknowledging training trends more than anything. I think this is something I have done very well for my lifters over the years.
Lastly, I want to reiterate something said in the beginning of all this. A peak and a taper are not magic and although you may have heard of stories where people hit X number in training and go on to hit 30-40lbs more at the meet, this is not the norm. You should expect a performance boost for sure but not something superhuman. Again, in general, the earlier on in your training career, the more likely it’ll be you taper into 20lb PRs. Why? Because relatively speaking you are still on the low end of your absolute potential. Meaning going from 250-300lbs did not take as much effort as 300-350, 350-400. As you go on, you will see a clear trend that with a taper, you can expect X,Y,Z. For me, I know with a taper I am most likely to match or exceed by 2.5-5kg what I hit on squat in training, exceed by 2.5-5kg on bench press, and match or exceed by 2.5-5kg on deadlift. This ratio looked vastly different 2 years ago.
Trust in the process but do not be under the false notion that peaking training is magic, it’s just the most optimal means to and end goal.
Hope this helped, stay lit.
Erik