SBD Days: Worth the Hype?

If you'd rather get this information in video form, click here. If not, keep reading below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3BXrN9_Ps4

An SBD day is when you train all three powerlifting competition lifts (squat, bench, and deadlift) in the same session.

Doing multiple SBD days per week is currently trendy - but that and other high frequency, hyperspecific training styles that are popular right now aren't the best training approaches for most people.

Here's why you probably shouldn't be doing multiple SBD days per week. Strength comes from two big factors: one is muscular size, and the other is your ability to recruit and utilize that muscle all at once (that is, your technical and neurological efficiency). Having most of your training volume devoted to just barbell lifts and variations of the big three may address the efficiency component of strength pretty well, but it's not the best way to put on muscle mass. To do that, you need an exercise that takes the target muscle close to failure and through a fairly full range of motion. The barbell lifts don’t meet these criteria because they don't take a specific muscle close to failure, and in a powerlifting context we’re often minimizing range of motion to allow us to lift more weight. Well-chosen accessory exercises are much better for this.

So SBD days may lead to progress for a while as you get more efficient at the lifts from practicing them frequently, but in the long run you will be bottlenecked because you haven't prioritized putting on muscle.

The Importance of Muscle Mass

A study by Tromaras et al., done specifically on powerlifters with 3+ years competitive experience, showed significant correlation between lean body mass and one rep max strength (on squat, bench, and deadlift), as well as significant correlation between changes in lean body mass and changes in one rep max strength 1. This is evidence that not only is muscle mass closely tied to powerlifting performance, but also that increases in muscle mass are associated with improved performance.

Another study by Ye et al. looked at the relationship between skeletal muscle mass and performance in male, national level, drug tested, single-ply powerlifters (with an average of 9 years experience). They found strong linear correlations between muscle mass and lifting performance in all three lifts and the total, in all weight classes. Their study suggested that in male powerlifters, increasing 1 kg of skeletal muscle mass might be comparable to increasing 5-8 kg on squat and deadlift and increasing 3-5 kg on bench press 2. Let's switch over to talking in pounds and scale those numbers up: that's saying if you added 20 lbs of muscle mass, you could reasonably add 100-160 lbs on your squat and deadlift and 60-100 lbs on your bench press!

Also, just pause and think about it for a second - most world class powerlifters are JACKED. They may not be as lean as a bodybuilder who is about to step on stage, but in terms of general muscular size they are on par with bodybuilders. As examples, we have recently seen some powerlifters hop back and forth between powerlifting and bodybuilding and do quite well in both. Brianny Terry and Hunter Henderson, some of the strongest women ever, have both recently won IFBB pro cards in bodybuilding and set all time world records in powerlifting.

So, whether you want to rely on scientific evidence or observation of trends amongst top performers in the sport, everything points to the importance of muscle mass for being a great lifter.

Technical Skill and Neural Efficiency

Muscle mass is one component of strength - but how well does doing multiple SBD days address the other component, technical and neurological efficiency? It seems like they would do this well, since more frequency means more chances to practice. However, practice is only really useful if it is above a certain weight and difficulty threshold.

The goal of powerlifting is to get better at heavy near maximal lifts, so for the practice to transfer back to lifting maximal weights well, a certain level of intensity is necessary. It's not possible to draw a hard and fast line of what is or isn't useful practice that's likely to carry over well, but I would generally say that sets should be at least an RPE of 6 (aka 4 reps in reserve or less) and at least 70% 1RM 3. A set below this minimum level of intensity is likely too light and too easy to really transfer well to lifting maximal loads from a skill perspective. Similarly, in terms of the neural adaptations to training, your body's ability to lift maximal loads is probably best improved by lifting fairly heavy and challenging loads, not super light ones.

This leads us to another problem with doing multiple SBD days. In order to do really high frequencies you have to start reducing intensity. If you are going beyond 2-3 times per week frequency on a movement, generally some of the days need to be significantly less intense. But is it really even worth doing more days at that point if you need to scale down the intensity just to allow for more frequency? Probably not, since now it isn't as stimulative for what you need in terms of skill and neural adaptations. You're likely better off with fewer days at greater intensities rather than fluffing your program up with more days that include intensities too low to be useful.

Why Are SBD Days Popular?

There are currently some successful and famous IPF lifters doing multiple SBD days, and that leads viewers to consider doing the same. However, just like in any sport, there are going to be professional athletes who are successful in spite of something they do, not because of it. Therefore it is better to look at what has helped the majority of athletes reach a high level in that sport rather than picking out or listening to a few individual anecdotes, like the small handful of lifters doing this style of training currently.

The most famous example of someone who does many SBD days per week is Agata Sitko, so let's use her as an example for a minute. For starters, her doing 6 SBD days per week was not her coach's idea or perception of the optimal training style for her; it was her own request, and he was simply willing to work with it 4.

Agata Sitko also has multiple different factors in favor of being able to handle more frequency. That is because one of the biggest considerations when determining how much training stress someone can handle (from some combination of frequency, intensity, and volume) is the absolute load they are lifting. She is drug tested, around 140-165 lb bodyweight, and a woman. Generally, being drug free, smaller in bodyweight, and/or female are all factors that mean lighter absolute loads relative to a similarly world class, untested, heavier bodyweight, and/or male lifter.

Additionally, she is short and she further minimizes range of motion with her lifting technique, so the bar is not traveling much distance each rep. Someone taller and/or with different technique may be moving the bar two or three times as far, and that starts to add up over the course of multiple sets and workouts. Shorter lifters with less range of motion, like her, may be able to handle more volume and/or frequency because of this.

Agata Sitko deadlifting

If you compare Agata to the polar extreme - untested, heavier bodyweight, male powerlifters of a comparable caliber - you will see that NONE of them are doing a similar 6 SBD day approach. That is because when the absolute load and range of motion are greater, the training stress increases and recovering from that high frequency becomes unrealistic.

For example, let's contrast this with Colton Engelbrecht (the biggest raw powerlifting total of all time) and Danny Grigsby (the biggest raw deadlift of all time in a powerlifting meet). Both of these guys only squat, bench, and deadlift once per week each, and these lifts are spread out over separate days rather than all on the same one.

The main point here being, while I still don't think 6 SBD days is the best approach for Agata Sitko, she is one of the few people who may be able to do it with good results. Lifters can handle more training stress if they are using lower absolute loads and shorter ranges of motion. Relative to other world class powerlifters, she embodies these factors. However, if these factors do not apply to you, then this training approach probably isn't advisable for you.

Conclusion

The current high frequency and specificity trend in powerlifting is leading many people into a race to reach a glass ceiling as quickly as they can. Yes, it may work for a while, but you will likely plateau because you run out of room to get significantly more efficient and you'll realize you should've been prioritizing adding muscle mass all that time. Additionally, the more days per week you do the main lifts (beyond 2-3x/week), you will need to start dialing down the intensities, and it may no longer be as productive for skill and strength.

Doing multiple SBD days isn't the answer. Finding a more moderate frequency that is specific to your individual factors (plus pushing lots of accessories hard) is!

Even if you are someone who could benefit from high frequency, don't skip straight to doing multiple SBD days - there are better ways to do it. Just disperse the frequency that seems best for you over the days you have available to train. I'll give a few examples below.

People lifting higher absolute loads, or who are a combination of other factors like: being untested, male, more experienced, or older... will often do well with 1-2x per week on all three lifts.

People lifting lower absolute loads, or who are a combination of factors like: being drug free, female, less experienced, or younger... will often do well with 2-3x per week on all three lifts, generally leaning towards 2 for deadlift and 2-3 for squat and bench press.

If you train four days a week, you would probably be well served with an upper/lower split that looks something like this:

Day 1 - main squat plus secondary deadlift

Day 2 - secondary bench

Day 3 - main deadlift plus secondary squat

Day 4 - main bench

If you train three days a week, doing upper/lower plus SBD day may work well (so you still get 2 squats, benches, and deadlifts per week). It might look like:

Day 1 - main deadlift plus secondary squat

Day 2 - main bench

Day 3 - main squat plus secondary deadlift and secondary bench

You'll notice I included an SBD day in the second example! This article isn't saying SBD days are terrible and never have any applications. In fact, I do one SBD day per week for the UAH collegiate team that I coach, so I can see all the competition lifts at our weekly team practice. However, for the reasons we covered in this article, doing ALL of your workouts as SBD days is probably not the best.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email or Instagram DM.

If you're looking for a training plan, I wrote the Powerlifting Fundamentals Program with a moderate frequency of main lifts (2 squats and deadlifts, 3 benches per week) and an emphasis on accessories to put on muscle mass. It checks all the boxes we discussed in this article in terms of what's necessary to help you become a better lifter. If you'd rather get something tailored to you, to best suit your goals and needs, I also offer online coaching and custom training plans. Please reach out if I can ever help you on your powerlifting journey!

Best,

Michael Elrod-Erickson

Founder and Head Coach, Premier Power & Performance

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References:

1. Tromaras, K., Zaras, N., Stasinaki, A. N., Mpampoulis, T., & Terzis, G. (2024). Lean body mass, muscle architecture and powerlifting performance during preseason and in competition. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 9(2), 89. https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk9020089

2. Ye, X., Loenneke, J. P., Fahs, C. A., Rossow, L. M., Thiebaud, R. S., Kim, D., Bemben, M. G., & Abe, T. (2013). Relationship between lifting performance and skeletal muscle mass in elite powerlifters. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 53(4), 409–414.

   
   

3. Nexus Performance Australia. (2025, May 1). S1E8 - Should you do “SBD” training days? ft. Thomas Lilley. YouTube. https://youtu.be/BLPY5SzwhHk?si=Eza9ZYpw28_ag8WF&t=2021 (33:41)

   
   

4. Reactive Training Systems. (2024). Powerlifting paradigms: Coaching Agata Sitko and managing volume with Pawel Jurczynski. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_HGL6FAiFI&t=276s (4:36)

   
   

5. Nuckols, G. (2016). Powerlifters should train more like bodybuilders. Stronger by Science. https://www.strongerbyscience.com/powerlifters-should-train-more-like-bodybuilders/

Understanding RIR and RPE: Autoregulation for More Effective Training

Introduction

If your strength training program doesn't include either RIR or RPE, it probably should. Without one or the other, your training plan is incomplete, and this article will explain why.

RIR is an abbreviation for Reps In Reserve, meaning how many reps shy of failure you are stopping. For example, 2 RIR is stopping when you think you could've done two more reps.

RPE is Rate of Perceived Exertion. In the powerlifting world, it is generally a value on a scale of 1 through 10, where RPE 10/10 is maximal. RPE is often used similarly to reps in reserve, so RPE 10 means you couldn't have done another rep if you tried, RPE 9 means you could've done one more, RPE 8 means you could've done two more, etc. So RPE is basically ten minus the number of reps left in the tank. However, not everyone uses RPE this way - some people simply use it as a one through ten subjective difficulty rating, so you should always make sure you know which definition is being used when discussing RPE or following a training plan based around it.

RIR is my personal preference for two reasons. First, there's no possible confusion as to which version of the RPE scale you're using (subjective difficulty or reps remaining). Second, if you're describing how many more reps you think you could do, why not keep it simple and just say that value rather than complicating it and saying ten minus the reps remaining? RIR wins for simplicity.

Many people's first response to RIR/RPE is something like "Aw dude, that sounds complicated," but I promise it isn't. Whether you realize it or not, you've used RPE before. Your first day ever in the gym, you grabbed a weight and went "Woah, that was a little too heavy" or "Yeah, I could go up a bit more." These are both perceived exertion. RPE/RIR just aims to quantify and clarify this in a way that can be easily communicated between people.

Benefits of RIR/RPE

Here's why every training plan should have either RIR or RPE - they are prescriptions of difficulty. They tell you how hard the set should be.

You may be wondering, "Can't I just use percent of one rep max for that?" But no, it isn't the same. Percent 1RM simply prescribes a specific weight, not a desired difficulty level. There may be an assumption behind that percentage of how hard it will be, but there are some factors that can influence whether or not it actually is the intended difficulty.

For example, imagine you went on a really long and tiring hike yesterday, stayed up all night preparing for a presentation, and/or your significant other broke up with you and you're distraught - all of these things may impact your performance in the gym (likely negatively). Conversely, imagine you are super well rested, fed, and relaxed, because you've been having a perfect week - you might be ready to perform extra well. If your training plan only includes percentage of one rep max (1RM), you're expected to do the same weight regardless of which of these two situations you are in, even though the difficulty of that set would likely be different in the two scenarios.

In the negative scenario, you would probably want to dial it back a little bit since you likely won't be performing your best. In the positive scenario, you may be able to push a little extra if the weights are moving really well. This is the concept of autoregulation - having your training adjust to your performance on that given day.

RIR and RPE allow for autoregulation because we are saying how challenging of a set we want rather than what specific weight to use. Your set of three reps with 2 RIR may be 350 lbs on a good day, but could be adjusted down to 330 lbs on a bad one. This gets the desired training effect even on that day you are fatigued, rather than using a fixed weight that would've been extra hard compared to intended. Furthermore, if you are having a rough day but force the fixed percentage weight, you're beating yourself up with a harder than intended session and fatiguing yourself even further, potentially making the situation worse.

It's important to realize though that autoregulation should be done based on performance and not emotions. There have been many days where I felt tired or just not 100% when going into the gym so I may have expected to dial back, but then the weights still moved amazingly well so I stuck to the plan or even pushed it. There have been other days where I was excited to train but the weights just weren't moving as quickly or easily as normal, so I had to pull back a little bit. Make sure you're autoregulating based on how lifting is feeling rather than on your generalized emotional feelings. We want to adjust training IF factors outside the gym are reducing performance, not on the assumption that they will, because oftentimes you'll still perform okay. Therefore, regardless of how you expect the session to go, it is important that you pay attention to how your warmup sets are actually moving so that you can make the right call for what weight to use for your work sets. The very first few light warmups sets are much less important, but as you get closer and closer to your working weight the warmup sets should get more telling as to how the day will be.

There are a few other benefits to RIR/RPE beyond just autoregulation. First, you won't know your 1RM for every exercise. You likely have some idea on squat, bench, and deadlift, but how about variations like a floor press or a tempo squat with a 4 count lowering and 2 count pause? We don't need to know a 1RM for every exercise and variation, and we definitely don't need to test it every time before programming a new exercise - instead we can just prescribe a desired difficulty with RIR or RPE.

RIR/RPE also adjusts for progress in a way that %1RM doesn't, which is especially helpful for beginners who may make rapid progress as they start lifting. Similarly, even if you aren't new to training but you start doing an exercise you haven't done much before, you may make lots of progress on it quickly. In either of these scenarios, the RIR/RPE is a target difficulty rather than a specific weight, so it adjusts with your changing strength level.

Additionally, there is some individual variance in terms of what %1RM someone can do for different rep ranges. Some people are better at higher reps, and others better at lower reps. For example, newer lifters tend to be disproportionately good at higher rep ranges because their lower rep, heavier weight sets are still limited by their developing coordination and movement patterns rather than true strength output. RIR and RPE can adjust for these individual differences in ability at various rep ranges because we are prescribing a desired difficulty for the set rather than weight.

If you plan to compete in powerlifting, another benefit of using RIR/RPE is that it teaches you to be reflective of how much more you think you've got. This is incredibly helpful on meet day when you need to choose a weight for your next attempt.

How to Use RIR/RPE

So how do you know what weight to use for a target RIR/RPE?

Well, how do you know what weight to use on any exercise? You estimate it based on what weight you've done before, how many reps that was versus how many you're after today, and how hard it was the last time versus the target difficulty today.

Here are a few useful pointers. Generally, 1 RIR or RPE point is going to be about 3-4% of 1RM. To illustrate this, your max double is probably about 96-97% of your 1RM, your max triple is probably about 92-93%, and so on.

So if you did a set of three reps at 3 RIR last week, and you're after a set of three at 2 RIR today, you can likely go up about 3% of 1RM.

Also, there are charts for getting a rough estimate of what weight might be about right for your rep range and RIR/RPE target, like this one.

However, it is important that you don't rely only on a chart like this for determining what weight to use every time. If you do, you are just turning the RIR/RPE back into a percentage based program and losing all the benefits that we have already covered. This type of chart is intended as a tool, not a crutch. Use it to get a rough idea what weight might be right to use, but then adjust based on your performance.

The key to getting better with RIR or RPE, like most things, is practice. That requires you take a second to reflect after each set, including warmups. Right after you set the bar down, take a split second to think about how well it was moving (speed, ease, and cleanliness of the reps) and how many more you think you could've done.

Sometimes you will "overshoot" and choose a weight that was heavier than intended, and after the set when you reflect you'll realize you probably couldn't have done as many more reps as the target RIR. However, you live and you learn for next time.

Other times you may "undershoot" and the weight you chose was easier than planned. If it was within about one point of the target and you feel fatigued, you can call it close enough and move on. Just know to go up a little more the next week. If you don't feel too fatigued and/or it was more than one point away from the target, then just add weight and take another set to hit the target difficulty.

Starting with RIR/RPE

Every set you do has an RIR/RPE and is also a percentage of a one rep max, regardless of whether you choose to pay attention to one or both of these. I got this concept from Thomas Lilley of ZeroW and I love it. Just because you aren't programming with RIR/RPE doesn't mean that they aren't there, and the same goes for percentages. They will both always be present.

If you want to use RIR/RPE for the benefits we've discussed, the simplest way to get started is to begin paying attention to it. If you're using a percentage based program you can continue following it, but take a moment after each set to reflect and score it on the RIR or RPE scale. Then, as you get better over time at assessing this, you can decide if you'd like to switch to a program centered around RIR/RPE rather than percentages.

Conclusion

RIR and RPE are prescriptions of difficulty rather than weight, so they allow for adjusting loads in order to get the desired stimulus of the day. They let you autoregulate for fatigue and fluctuations in strength. They adjust for individual variances in strength at different rep ranges, account for rapid progress on movements you're new to, and can be used on movements where you don't know your 1RM. And as a bonus, using them gets you better at reflecting on how much more you have in the tank for when you need to pick attempts on meet day. If you're used to using %1RM for your training plan, RIR or RPE could be what you need to take your training to the next level!

Feel free to reach out if you have questions. Also, if you're interested in trying an RIR based training plan, you can check out my Powerlifting Fundamentals Program. It has all the key elements we discussed in this article built into it to help you become a better lifter. Or if you want something tailored to you, to best suit your goals and needs, I also offer online coaching and custom training plans.

Best,

Michael Elrod-Erickson

Founder and Head Coach, Premier Power & Performance

Peaking & Tapering for Raw Powerlifters: Combating the 3 Most Common Mistakes

If you'd rather get this information in video form, click here. If not, keep reading below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D60hGP65708

As a powerlifter, you want to be as strong as possible on meet day. That's the goal of peaking - structuring your training to try and maximize performance on that specific day. Part of maximizing your performance is backing off training before the meet - that's the taper. But you have to know how to do it right.

When we train, we are increasing our fitness, skill, and strength; however, we also get fatigued. The goal of tapering is to cut back on training in the right amounts and at the right time relative to the upcoming meet to reduce this fatigue while keeping fitness, skill, and strength high, so we can have our best performance possible. We are after that goldilocks sweet spot. If you taper too little or too late, you may still be fatigued, and that means you can’t fully express the strength that you have. And if you taper too much or too early, then sure you’ve gotten rid of fatigue, but you've also detrained (lost a significant amount of strength and skill).

Many powerlifters are unintentionally ruining their meet day performance in the last few weeks of training because they're tapering too much or too early. Often this is because the advice on how to peak and taper that they're following is outdated and/or misapplied. A lot of advice on peaking was originally intended for equipped lifters (single or multi-ply suits), not for raw. Equipped lifters need a longer, more aggressive taper because they are lifting heavier weights (and more than their bodies could without the equipment). However, following similar advice and tapering timelines will cause a raw lifter to seriously detrain by meet day.

Peaking is a balancing act, and the strength and skill component is more important than the fatigue one. Consider this – If you’ve been hitting PRs in the gym during meet prep, then you’re already performing well despite carrying some fatigue. If you taper too much/too soon, you could very well ruin the good thing you’ve already got going for yourself. I would rather go into the meet with a little fatigue left (similar to how I train in the gym the rest of the year) than taper too much, detrain, and end up low on skill and strength but with minimal fatigue. As an extreme example: someone who never worked out in their life would have very little fatigue, but they’d still be a shit lifter on meet day. Don't be so worried about getting rid of fatigue that you also detrain a lot and suck.

There are three common errors that cause people to detrain. Fix these for better meet day performance:

1. Taking your last heavy lifts too far out from the meet

2. Cutting accessories too far out from the meet

3. Not doing anything the week of the meet

Mistake 1: Taking your last heavy lifts too far out from the meet

Taking your last heavy lifts too far out from the meet means that the skill of lifting heavy, and those strength adaptations, are detraining for longer and so have dropped off too much by meet day. I would rather take my last heavy lift a little lighter but closer to the meet than too far out.

When you should take your last heavy lift will be dependent on variables like strength and skill level, age, sex, body size, whether you use PEDs or not, and training history. However, the majority of these can all be boiled down to absolute load – the more weight you lift, the further out from the meet your last heavy lift should probably be. Another way to think about it is to ask how long will it likely take you to fully recover and get back to peak performance. If you’ve ever taken a really heavy deadlift and the next week felt weak and tired when you went to deadlift again, then you know what I’m talking about. In that case, it clearly takes you more than 7 days to recover from something of that level.

Deadlift and squat both tend to take fairly comparable amounts of time to recover from, but maybe slightly more for whichever you’re stronger at. If you deadlift way more than you squat, then your deadlift probably needs a bit longer to recover. However, if your squat is significantly heavier than your deadlift, it may be the opposite.

Bench press tends to take much less time to recover from than deadlift or squat. This is probably because bench is lighter in absolute load, is upper body rather than lower/full, and is often trained with higher frequencies.

One other thing to keep in mind is that you don’t need to completely rearrange your training in order to get the last heavy lift to fall on a certain day relative to the meet. There’s a range in which it would be okay to take it. Also, you can extend that range a bit by going either a smidge lighter (if it is closer to the meet) or a smidge heavier (if it is further out from the meet). This way, you can keep training on your normal days of the week by scaling the intensity up or down as needed based on if it's on the lower or higher end of how far out from the meet you are. For example, if I wanted my last heavy squat to be 14 days out from a Saturday meet, but I normally squat on Wednesday, I could just take it 17 days out instead and bump it up 0.5-1 RPE rather than completely rearrange my program and what days I train.

An important note, especially for stronger individuals, is that “last heavy lift” can be a misnomer. If you are taking your heaviest lift of prep multiple weeks out from the meet, you may need another moderately heavy lift between then and meet day. Let’s use Eric Lilliebridge squatting 1000 lbs in wraps as an example. He may need to take his heaviest squat 3 weeks out. However, he should still work up to something like his last warmup (around RPE 6, or in this case around 750-800 lbs) the next week (two weeks out from the meet). Then one week out from the meet he may work up to just 500 lbs or so, sticking to something really easy and not very fatiguing but still getting a few reps in to stay sharp. However, if you squat 300 lbs and your last heavy squat is 10 days out, you might only squat once more with like 200 lbs the Monday of meet week and be done, in which case the 300 lb squat really is your "last heavy squat".

Lastly, your heaviest lift of prep doesn’t always need to be an RPE 10, maximal lift. We are trying to peak performance on the platform at the meet, not in the gym, so that often means leaving a little bit in the tank during training. We just want to go heavy enough to help gauge where your strength is at and to prepare you for heavy weight on meet day. Often times that means a single at RPE 9 / 1 RIR.

Here are a few example profiles.

These illustrate three things:

1)      How far out I would probably take the heaviest lift based on individual factors.

2)      How the heaviest lift doesn’t need to be maximal/RPE 10 every time.

3)      How you can scale the intensity up or down to move the heaviest lift further out from or closer to meet day to match your training schedule.

Lifter 1:

110 lb/50 kg bodyweight, 15 year old female with maxes of 138 lb/62.5kg squat, 77 lb/35 kg bench, 155 lb/70 kg deadlift.

Last heavy deadlift: 7-10 days out at RPE 9

Last heavy squat: 7-8 days out at RPE 9 or 5-6 days out at RPE 8

Last heavy bench: 7-8 days out at RPE 10, 5-6 days out at RPE 9, or 4 days out at RPE 8

Lifter 2:

182 lb/82.5 kg bodyweight, 20 year old male with maxes of 400 lb/180 kg squat, 265 lb/120 kg bench, 500 lb/225 kg deadlift.

Last heavy deadlift: 12-14 days out at RPE 9 or 9-11 at RPE 8

Last heavy squat: 10-12 days out at RPE 9 or 7-9 days out at RPE 8

Last heavy bench: 7-9 days out at RPE 9 or 5-6 days out at RPE 8

Lifter 3:

308 lb/140 kg bodyweight, 60 year old man on PEDs, with maxes of 600 lb/272.5 kg squat, 390 lb/177.5 kg bench, and 550 lb/250 kg deadlift

Last heavy deadlift: 12-16 days out at RPE 9 or 9-11 days out at RPE 8

Last heavy squat: 12-16 days out at RPE 9 or 9-11 days out at RPE 8

Last heavy bench: 9-11 days out at RPE 9 or 7-8 days out at RPE 8

Mistake 2: Cutting accessories too far out from the meet

A lot of people stop doing any sort of accessory exercises way too early - sometimes a whole month out from the meet. There are multiple issues with this. It drastically drops your volume and training stress, which often leads to people peaking well before the meet, and then by meet day their fitness and strength have already dropped off a lot.

Also, cutting accessories makes you much more vulnerable to injury. One of the reasons for accessory exercises is movement variability – to train and load some positions other than just the competition lifts to keep mobility and and motor control through a fuller range of motion than the limited bit that we go through in the competition lifts.

Lastly, you’re also stunting your long term growth. If you do 2-3 meets a year and you cut your accessories a month out, that’s 17-25% of the year that you’re missing out on the chance to be using accessories to build muscle and strength.

Realistically, you probably don’t need to dial your accessories back much at all until about one week out, or at most 1.5-2 weeks out. Most people just dial them back way earlier because they’re lazy. They don’t want to work hard on accessories after also having just done heavy main lifts. The fix to this is to push your main lifts harder during the offseason, so you’re used to doing hard work on both main lifts and accessories at once. However, during the offseason we don’t want to be just hammering away with heavy competition lifts year round, so use load limiting variation (like tempo, close grip, SSB) and higher reps, but keep the relative intensity high (like RPEs 7-10). This kind of offseason will prepare you well for the stress of meet prep.

I generally don’t change anything with the accessories till one week out, and then I cut almost all of them. I may keep just a few accessories for muscle groups that aren’t otherwise being trained (like one or two upper back movements towards the start of the week, for 1-2 sets at RPE 5 ish), but I cut all the work for things that are still being trained (like pressing, quads, hamstrings, etc.).

Mistake 3: Not doing anything on meet week

The last big mistake I see people make is doing literally nothing the week of the meet. Sure we want to dial back a good bit and not generate fatigue, but picture this – think back to the last time you were on vacation or sick and didn’t go to the gym for 5-7 days. Did you feel great the first day back, or did you feel kind of stiff and maybe a bit achy and/or uncoordinated?

You can still do a little bit of stuff the week of the meet to keep your technique sharp and your body moving and primed for the day without generating a ton of fatigue.

I like to have athletes take a few last squats and deadlifts on Monday, and some bench on Tuesday (like 3-4 sets of 1-3 reps with around 50-60% 1RM), with just a little accessory work as described in the previous section (such as one of the upper back movements they've been using recently in prep for 1-2 sets at RPE 5 ish, and maybe a little core and arms at a similar low volume and intensity).

These light workouts are also a good chance to try and prepare yourself for meet day by listening to some crowd noise audios from YouTube. On the platform you can’t wear your headphones like you’re probably used to doing in the gym. You won’t have control over what music you’re hearing and you won’t have the headphones to block out any surrounding noise. People will probably yell random cues at you – with supportive intentions, but rarely are those cues actually helpful. So you want to be prepared for this and able to just tune everything out. Switching from your music to a crowd noise audio right before doing your sets of squat, bench, or deadlift is one way to prepare for this. If you have a lot of athletic experience, this may be totally unnecessary; however, I’ve found it helpful for people who don’t have much of a sporting background and aren’t used to performing in front of a loud audience.

Similarly, if this is your first meet, consider wearing your singlet for one or both of these sessions. Try and get comfortable with the weird outfit, so on the platform isn't the first time you've ever had it on.

As for the rest of the meet week - on Wednesday, I'd suggest that you rest. On Thursday, do just some super light movements. Run through all your usual upper and lower body warmups, plus do 2 sets of goblet squats, dumbbell bench press or pushups, and dumbbell RDLs (all very easy, like 10 RIR/ 0 RPE at like 10% 1RM). This way you're not generating any real fatigue but you will feel good on meet day. On Friday, rest.

All of these days are assuming the meet is on a Saturday, like most are. If it isn't, simply adjust your timeline accordingly so they are the same spacing to your competition day.

Conclusion

If you’re hitting PRs in the gym, you’re currently being successful in spite of the fatigue from training, so you don’t need to make too drastic changes during your taper in order to do well on meet day. Don’t get so caught up in trying to reduce fatigue that you cut your training too much/early and end up also reducing your fitness, skill, and strength in the process and ruin your meet. Remember to take your last heavy lifts a little closer to the meet, wait longer to cut your accessories, and keep moving during meet week.

Hopefully you found this article helpful, and best of luck at your upcoming meet! If there’s any way I can help, please reach out. You can also contact me with any questions. If you’d like help planning your meet prep, I offer coaching services.

Best,

Michael Elrod-Erickson

Founder and Head Coach, Premier Power & Performance