Yessss, I've been waiting so long for this video. Honestly, this is by far the most amazing channel for powerlifting. There's no other place which just gives the info straight with no tweaks. Never stop man
I had someone compete recently where 4 blocks out we did a block with tempo lowbar topset 1x4, 3x6 highbar squat with a consistent progression model. Noticed the carry over to comp squat was a lil different so we didn’t change any volume or progression. Just variation. 2 blocks out Didn’t change much but made the tempo top-set to a paused paused topset 1x4, but highbar squat volume and progression stayed the same. Lowbar pause 1 block out didn’t change anything since pause squat worked so well and was closer to comp squat . It became a programing mainstay as that was the best block ever. Then the peaking block resulted in a pr! Little to zero secondary changes, and little primary changes only changed periodization in that had a fatigue single on primary vs top ascending set setup.
I’ve been having good success not changing the secondary day much at all, even week to week. Like top set based on RPE but keeping the back down load the same the entire block.
Hi Steve, interesting video. I’m curious whether in the back off sets some of that could be avoided by using % of e1RM rather than % drops from the absolute load used on the top single? Shouldn’t this (theoretically) smooth out the spikes/drops according to what RPE the top single is programmed for? This is how I program my own training quite often (for comp lifts). Just want to check I’m not missing something stupid here. Edit: I see that’s somewhat suggested on problem number 3, in fact. FWIW I don’t ever program maxing out (singles or rep work) as I know I don’t handle that well, and in practice am good at sticking to that as well.
Yes, I believe I said exactly this when going over point 3 and why I included the % based back offs as a fix to some of these issues. With that said, that still is not going to always fix the issue some people have from starting progression from a heavier starting point during a peaking block, but it is a piece of that puzzle.
I have a lifter 2 weeks out from a meet, primary squats are on mondays and he's lifting on friday, should I flip flop his last heavy squat to be taken 8 days out (on thursday) and have his secondary squat on monday ? Thanks Steve
I would need more info to say for certain, but likely would not flip, I’d just have them do a light day Wednesday the week of the meet. I’ve got a lot more info on this in my full peaking series on Powerlifting Now and how to shift days like this.
@@PRsPerformance Thanks for the speedy answer, will look into it ! Lifter has history of knee tolerance issues so we assumed a longer taper would be needed but all of a sudden he is recovering super fast session to session so I'm afraid he detrains if he squats his last heavy squat 11 days out (secondary doesn't go above 75% he is senstive to volume)
I typically keep the reps static, I explain that in more detail in a video on Powerlifting Now “Updated Approach To Block Periodization”. It’s mainly about not messing with variables week to week to create predictability. Only time I’ll not be static, is for people who just do not do well with singles, I’ll have someone do rep work until just the final week, and then make the top set a single.
