Hey. Just trying to reassess my peaking cycles for meets. I lift bench only.
What I have been doing on heavy bench day is the 3 week, just hit prescribed reps, then a single at 100% tm; 5 week just prescribed reps, no single; then 531 week, just prescribed reps and a heavy single at 100%. My main assistance lift has been following the template set out by powerliftingtowin - 5 x 3 @ 90% on 3 and 531 weeks, 5 x 5 @ 80% on 5 weeks.
My meet max is up around 1.8x bw, and my training max is around 1.6 x bw. Maybe not huge numbers, but I’m starting to feel the 5 x 3 @ 90% training max after the single at 100%. Missed a rep last time out, and I don’t like missing reps on assistance.
What do you guys think? Pushing too hard? My last peaking cycle went real well, but then come meet day I was flat. There was very little oomph to my lifts when I got to the platform. I figured I might have pushed too hard on my peaking cycles and left the best performances in the gym.
What about the peaking pattern Jim sets out in the beyond 531 strength challenge? 3 sets of 5 at 80%. Seem a bit better? Anyone have any other good systems they use?
I will give a rough outline of what I have done for the last few meets I have competed in for prep.
Take into account that I do full power meets, so I imagine our programming would look different regardless.
Weeks 1-9
5’s Pro while using BBS as Supplemental. Increase TM after each 3 week cycle.
Week 10
Deload. Work up to TM for single rep only.
Week 11
TM Test. See if I can hit all my TM’s for 3-5 reps. If not I adjust it accordingly. Here is where I pick my meet goal and openers. I may adjust if I feel different during my taper.
Weeks 12-14
3/5/1 Programming with PR sets on Week 12, minimum reps on Week 13, and Jokers for double or triples on Week 14. All main work is followed by 3-5 sets of FSL. Typically less sets in later weeks.
Week 15
Increase TM if its part of your meet plan. 3’s week for minimum reps. Then work up to your opener for a single. No supplemental. Some basic assistance.
Week 16
Squat and Bench with 5’s week for minimum reps, then compete on Saturday.
Now I am assuming you bench multiple times a week, so this might be useless to you, but perhaps some of the structure you could take away for something.
How many days were there between your last heavy bench session and the competition? Perhaps you didn’t give your body enough time to really peak.
Thanks for sharing your program with me, I can take a lot from that.
I’ve been totally overdoing it I reckon, which has left me flat on meet day. For my last meet I done this -
Wk 1 - 4
1 x heavy single at 100%tm after 3 and 531 sets. 5 x 3 @ 90% supplemental on 3 and 531 weeks, 5 x 5 @ 80% on 5 weeks.
Wk 5 - 8
More or less the same. Maybe amrap on 100% tm set if feeling good. Supplemental the same.
Wk 9 - 12
Deload wk 9.
Wk 10 - 3 week with single at 100% tm and single at 105 - 110%. Supplemental as above.
Wk 11 - 5 week, supplemental as above.
Wk 12 - 531 week with no supplemental or assistance
Wk 13 - meet.
My mistakes, I think, were pushing the supplemental too hard. I’m going to run 5 sets fsl for weeks 1 - 4 from now, then 3 sets second set last weeks 5 - 8. I am also going to run a deload week the week before the meet this time also.
Ya, I bench a couple of times a week. I have a slight disability, and I do bench only, so I’ve made a few alterations to the program to accomodate that. What I do is lift three days a week. Day one is a heavy bench day, and its a classic 531 day, no major alterations. Day two is a lower body day, alternating block pulls and high box squats week by week. Template is usually a pretty classical 531 day again. Day three is a second bench day, and is non 531. I use a typical Westside dynamic day that day. Dynamic works well for me. I’m more powerful than I am strong, if that makes any sense! I rarely succeed with grinding lifts, I really have to power it up with speed.