Top 3 Reasons Why Your Peaking Block Goes Wrong

There is a reason I took over 5 hours to do a 3 part series on peaking on Powerlifting Now. It is a complicated topic and there are a lot of variables that go into properly setting up peaking blocks for athletes. Within that though, even with coaches and athletes who have a great foundation for programming, there are 3 common things I see that often derails training within a peaking block. So in my latest KZbin video, I break down the 3 reasons I commonly find peaking blocks not going as planned. And to clarify, this means the actual training preceding the taper, not the peak. We often see athletes at the end of prep complaining how beat up they are, more aches and pains, and sometimes strength even being down. And while peaking is inherently going to have additional variables than a regular block, if you feel like you are dieing and fatigue is so high that top end strength isn't progressing as planned, or even trending down, you very well could be making 1 of these 3 mistakes. What are those 3 reasons? Overly periodizing secondary days, changing rep work average intensity too much, and/or hitting heavier absolute/relative intensities earlier in the block than you normally would.
#peaking #powerliftingprogram #powerlifting #powerliftingpeaking #peakingblock #powerliftingprogrammging #powerliftingcoach #squatprogram #deadliftprogram #benchprogram
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[@TheSwolefessor]

First. They aren’t trying to learn like me.

[@troyleigh5565]

I am

[@PRsPerformance]

My boo 😘

[@kaguya3564]

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

[@PRsPerformance]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed!

[@mikerodriguez556]

I love your videos. This is the 2nd time I watched this one. I learn something new every time. Thanks

[@PRsPerformance]

Awesome to hear, glad they’ve been helpful!

[@CristianGarcia-ro6nr]

So much free game in this video Thank you

[@PRsPerformance]

You are welcome!

[@alexcano9382]

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.

[@PRsPerformance]

Great example! Found what worked, and then just kept doing vs the myths of having to periodize and increase specificity.

[@CooperativeStrength]

Thanks for your content, extremely helpful for other coaches!

[@PRsPerformance]

My pleasure!

[@CooperativeStrength]

Is the average intensity in the 3rd blocks the same as the intensity of the backoffs alone because you do not count a single as a set?@@PRsPerformance

[@StephColbertsonStrength]

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.

[@PRsPerformance]

Yep, I think most people would find repeating secondary day setup block to block an just periodizing the primary day would work really well for them.

[@mattcave9159]

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.

[@PRsPerformance]

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.

[@zachbird2465]

Ok ok I’ll join Powerlifting Now

[@PRsPerformance]

😘

[@user-kt7zv5lc4p]

thank you for your video，I have a question about BLOCK3 total average intensity of rep work，Why is the intensity 75%, not 79.3%?

[@PRsPerformance]

I am not counting the single because I am not considering that rep work, that's a single rep

[@Smithster80]

do you ever undulate reps for top sets or back off sets during a block? or do you keep reps and number of lifts static?

[@PRsPerformance]

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.

[@Smithster80]

@@PRsPerformance super useful thanks man. Keep up the videos.

[@modybakr440]

Why don't you make new programming series? It will be great

[@PRsPerformance]

I did a 5 part series this year on Powerlifting Now