@Frank_C I don’t know the exact peaking program, although I do know it’s short: just five weeks. Most likely you rest for a week or so between meet day and the end of the actual peak.
@The_Myth we deload every fifth week. It’s just enough to let the body recover a little and then get back to work.
@FlatsFarmer gets it. Pretty much all the training is based around accumulating fatigue and eliminating weak points. There’s no goal to hit X weight for Y for any other reason than to generate fatigue. That’s why there’s a lot of focus placed on rest periods. Ditto with the accessory work changing pretty constantly. An exercise isn’t done long enough to adapt fully before a different one is substituted to hit the same target.
5xplate
3x2 plates
8x2x308 lbs, 10 second rests between sets. Some hook, some double overhand. All beltless. Started out fast, got progressively slower
10x308 lbs after 10 second rest after the eighth double. Holy hell. Not allowed straps, so mix of double overhand and hook. Last rep felt identical to 550 lbs, no kidding
All up four minutes or a shade under. Really fucking unpleasant. Hamstrings pumped to hell.
I think the new cues are good, but it’ll take a bit of grooving. Did the best I could in the short time.
RDL
2x10x308 lbs, mixed grip
Wanted to go home by now, or at least cry
DB split squats
2x15x45 lbs
DB rows
4x12x110 lbs - this took mental effort. I kept coming up with excuses to rest
Hamstring curls
50 total reps rest/pause at 33 lbs
Including helping a buddy out with his bench, an hour and 35 minutes.
I’m interested to see how this program works out for you because it goes against the “theory” of strength training in regards to the rest (or lack thereof). The whole idea behind longer rest periods between sets for strength work is to let the CNS recover fully.
The research study that compared sets of 8 to failure vs sets of 30 to failure showed that both achieved similar hypertrophy gains but the lower rep scheme led to improved strength (compared to the sets of 30).
Again, in theory, it seems that resting longer between sets and using more weight might (or should) lead to more strength gains.
Do you have anything from your coach explaining the reasoning behind the short rest?
As he explains it, all we’re doing is accumulating fatigue. Because we don’t want to get hurt, we use lighter weights, so we need to find a way to accumulate fatigue with those weights. One way is to reduce rest periods.
It looks like we cycle through different approaches too, and for different lifts. For instance, this week’s squats were heavier with a set for max reps. Two weeks ago, it was a similar setup to today’s pulls. Last week DL was had a set of max reps with heavier weights.
Pretty much exactly. From my understanding we accumulate fatigue for the main lift with the first couple of sets - main lift and then a variation - and then work on weaknesses with the rest of the session.
Mark, I know you’re following programming, but I don’t understand why your two worksets are 126x2x25. Help me understand the madness! Where does this fit in the training process? What are you accomplishing?
@IronOne@mortdk the idea is that the only really important thing outside of peaking is to accumulate fatigue, because recovering from it is what increases strength. The other key is to add muscle and eliminate weak points to prevent injury. Accumulating fatigue by bashing away with heavy weight just invites injury. So, we need to find another way to accumulate fatigue. One way is manipulation of rest periods - which is why I often get short periods over many sets - and another is to do high reps with low weight. Another key is technique, and using lighter weight makes it easier to maintain proper technique even with high reps. Make sense? I’ll admit that if Greg hadn’t been in the game for 20 years and set multiple world records in all the divisions I’d be sceptical. Except he has, and Swede Burns uses much the same approach and is one of the most successful coaches currently active. All the sets and reps are based around Prilepin’s chart.
In practice, Friday is usually an accessory day, and every few weeks it’s a bench focused day (like yesterday). Generally, a day seems to go like this:
Use the main lift to accumulate fatigue and practice technique, usually high sets with short rests or moderate sets with an amrap to finish;
Use a hard variation to accumulate more fatigue and target specific aspects of the main lift (pause work, deficit work, altered stance/grip, etc) with moderate reps for a couple of sets;
Hammer accessory work to get a pump and build muscle while accumulating more fatigue
