Hi all,
I have entered into a powerlifting comp which is 8 weeks away and want to run the strength 1 template going in. What is the best way to reduce the number of weeks in the template going into comp?
I can’t access my copy of strength 1, so I’ll give you the rundown on how I’d approach it.
In my limited experience, (I own but haven’t run Str 1, or maybe it’s “HLM” I own… I bought it a couple years ago…) BBM programming tends to have a first and second half with the first half ratcheting up volume over time at moderate intensity. Then there is a switch where the volume goes down and the intensity goes up with the rep count per set going down. With this, the sets/volume again starts going up, but the reps per set also go down, with the intensity continuing to climb. This is a form of peaking, although peaking usually also involves some ratcheting down of the volume near the end to allow for recovery and expression of the adaptations that have been achieved in the preceding work. The volume half is the general strength driver, and the peaking half is more specific strength development towards a 1RM.
If you just finished a low stress week in your current training, and your new training block opens with a low stress week (The Bridge opens and closes with a “low stress week”) generally, you can cut out one of those low stress weeks.
Next, If Str 1 has a volume oriented first half and peaking oriented second half, identify them, and which week the volume section ends. I expect the volume section ends ~3 weeks out from the end of your 8 week timeline. I would then cut off the back half of the Strength template and plug in the appropriate free Peaking Template to finish out the last few weeks. If the weeks don’t quite line up, and you have an extra week, or 2, repeat the last volume oriented week of Str 1 before starting the peaking Template, ESPECIALLY if they are still resulting in gainzZz. If instead those choices leave you with an extra week or 2 too many weeks of training, then where you are in your training might determine where to trim… Hopefully the above gives you a base on figuring out where to work it out though.
That’s how I’d do it.