So, I have done a lot of thinking after the mock meet yesterday, and I am thinking about some changes I want to make to my training. It's tough, because I am working with flawed data - Yesterday was clearly not a very fair test of how much stronger I have gotten in the past 7 weeks, and it is tough to make decisions about my training/changes to my training based on a very flawed testing day.
I agree with Paul on certain things, that's for sure.
However, this is the thing: Not just last mock meet, but almost EVERY time I have tested 1 reps this past semester I have underperformed, based on where I thought I should be. I have figured out a LOT of things - A style of training I really enjoy, technique on all of my lifts that seems to work really well for me, really good assistance exercises, etc. And overall, I have made some great gains this semester - for example, taking my front squat up 60 lbs, taking 365 from a 2rm back squat to an 8rm backsquat, being able to bench 225 x 7 - those are really big improvements. However, those improvements don't seem to translate to my 1rm attempts as well as they should. For example, taking 365 from a 2rm to an 8rm would, to me, suggest a gain of 50-60 lbs on my back squat. However, in reality I put 35 lbs on my squat. Still solid, great gains - but simply not as good as they a) could be, and b) SHOULD be, based on numbers I am hitting in training.
For squat specifically, but also to an extent bench press I am starting to think this is an issue with peaking. Yesterday, I wanted to hit 445 and hit 425. Last cycle I wanted 435 and only got 415. The cycle before that I wanted 415 and failed it. I NEVER seem to be my strongest when I go heavy. Rather, I am having my best, strongest workouts with the biggest rep-PR's a couple weeks before I test. For example: this past cycle, I did two weeks of really hard training where I just worked my ass off - no set numbers, no belt or sleeves, just working hard. I came out of those two weeks, and right off the bat had two of the best squat workouts of my life - 345 x 10, a 4 rep pr, and 365 x 8, a 3 rep PR. Then, the next two weeks, things dropped off - 385 x 4 and 405 x 3 were still good, strong workouts, but personally I would consider those good, not great workouts, and not really stronger than weeks 3 and 4. Finally, I tested in week 7 and only hit 425 x 1 - not even good, but "okay". When I think about that cycle, it seems to me like I didn't really build much strength at all in the latter weeks of the program. Rather, it seems like I built 75+ percent of my strength in those two hard weeks, that I was at my STRONGEST in weeks 3 and 4, and that in weeks 5, 6, and 7 I merely maintained or even lost a little bit of strength.
NOW, obviously there are different kinds of strength, and 345 x 10 does NOT magically "equal" a 435 or 445 lb 1 rep. That is the point of peaking - to take generally strength and hone it, so that you can move the most weight for one rep. However, CLEARLY I'm doing something wrong because these huge 3 and 4 rep PR's I hit in the middle weeks of my training, at SIGNIFICANT loads, only translated into a 10 lb PR. Before starting this cycle, my PR was 415. Say that on week 3, instead of repping out 345 I simply decided to work up heavy. What could I have hit that day? 415 seems likely. 425? 435? Even if it was only 425, that would be the SAME net gains, in less than half the time - 3 weeks instead of 7. I can't say for sure that I would have been able to hit a PR single in weeks 3 and 4, just because I hit my biggest rep PRs those workouts. And, I can't know what I MIGHT have hit yesterday if I had been healthy. Maybe if I had hit 445 or 455 I wouldn't even be considering changes. However, despite flawed data I still see certain trends that I don't want to ignore. Clearly, I made great gains this semester, and this training cycle in particular. But, it seems like MOST of my gains came from those two weeks where I just worked my ass off with tons of volume, minimal equipment, and no set numbers/sets/reps I have to hit. Slowly but surely over the semester I have expanded my cycle length from 3 to 4 to 5 to 7 weeks, but I have always been adding EARLIER weeks, where I am doing more volume/work. So maybe what I need isn't a longer cycle, but a short 3-4 weeks cycle where the emphasis is more on the base-building volume and work, and less on the heavy peaking weeks.
The other side to this issue is that, perhaps, the only reason I built so much strength in those two weeks of ass-kicking is precisely because I don't normally focus on that stuff. Perhaps, the more I focus on it the less effective it will be. However, in a way I think that shifting my focus to that style of training has benefits beyond better strength gains. Not having to focus on the heavy weights, on hitting certain numbers every week means I don't feel obligated to eat like shit to survive the next workout, means I'm not afraid to do cardio and conditioning because, if I do feel weak for my next squat workout, it's okay! As long as I am working my ass off, it doesn't matter what I can/can't hit. The focus on higher reps, on working hard, will keep me in better shape. I want to feel healthy, I want to start working on losing some of this fat and replacing it with muscle, I want to keep my blood pressure down, and focusing on the base building will help me do all of those things. AND, I genuinely do think it may be a better way for me to get stronger. Two weeks of base building and two weeks of peaking where I eat shit and don't do cardio. is much healthier for me than 2 and 5. And If I am being honest, I think that maybe, if I had just gone heavy instead of hitting 345 x 10 and 365 x 8, I may have been able to hit a squat that was more than a 10 lb PR.
So here is what I am thinking: Shift the focus to base building, and then peak that strength SUPER fast instead of dragging it out over weeks where I get out of shape and eventually LOSE strength and underperform. So smash those two weeks, then probably do 1 week of hard peaking - belt up, throw on the sleeves, and immediately go heavy. From talking with friends and training partners, I am thinking that the best way to peak my strength fast is to move away from the "one, all out set" method of squatting, and force myself to do multiple sets at high percentages. So, for example, this first cycle I might immediately squat up to 405 and try and hit that weight or heavier for multiple sets - a few sets of 3, 2, a bunch of singles if I have to. Go up a little bit if I feel good, drop back a little if I feel bad, but just hit a bunch of sets at heavy weights in the sub 4 rep range. But force myself to get under heavy weight, over and over, hammer the form, get used to the heavy weight really fast. Probably do the exact same thing with front squats - work up to 365 and try and hit it for a few sets of 1 or 2. Then rest up hard, and max out the 4th week, either squat/bench or a mock meet. Then rest the rest of the week, and start over. That way, I'm not doing reps in those weeks where I feel like I am strongest - I build the strength with the base building weeks, peak really fast when I'm still in shape, hit a pr, and then back to the base building which will keep me in shape, getting stronger, feeling healthy, etc etc.
Now, I think that bench I have different issues than with squat. Similarly, I always underperform when I test bench, but part of that I believe is mental. However, I think my solution for squats might work really well for bench as well. Take the two weeks to just kill volume, which has definitely been helping my bench. focus on good technique, really controlling the weight, destroying reps, and hitting a bunch of hard assistance work for bench as well. Then, the week immediately after the base building, drop the reps drastically - work up to the mid 200's and hit a bunch of sets of 3 or so on tuesday, and then on friday work up even heavier and hit a bunch of set of 2. Get myself used to the heavy weight, to being confident under it and showing myself that I CAN hit it - maybe even hit some PR single weights for triples/doubles haha. I genuinely think I am capable of it, but I just don't perform well every time I try to max bench. But again - build the strength in those two weeks, go super heavy for lots of set in the 3rd week to force my body to adjust to the form and the weight, then hit a PR single before my gains start to dwindle.
Deadlift I am less worried about, even though I still performed badly yesterday. I still think that my deadlift will probably increase fairly proportionally to my squat, without too much focus. However, again the focus on 2 base building weeks might help me out - normally, I don't work very hard on deadlifts because I am focused more on recovery for the next squat workout. However, if I am just focusing on working hard, I can work my ass off a little more on the deadlifts without worrying to much about how much it might hurt recovery/my next squat workout. I also think I am going to try and focus a little more on lockout, perhaps with KB swings and more romanian deadlifts.
ANYWAYS, this post is very long because I needed to talk through some things and work some stuff out in my own head. I know that I have made great gains this last semester, that I have really figured out a LOT of what works for me in training. However, I think there are more improvements to be made, which will allow me to make the same gains or better, in less time, while having MORE fun and being healthier, happier, and looking better. Hopefully this shift of emphasis will be a huge step in the right direction. Hopefully the multiple, heavy sets will be a better way of peaking my strength than the one, all out set. And hopefully the shorter cycles will allow me to test my maxes when I am at my strongest, instead of feeling really strong in training and then underperforming when I do maxes/mock meets.
SO, lets rest, recover, get excited to work hard, and keep at it!
