Hi, I was planning on running the new peaking template (advanced slow version) for a soft peak, and then move into a volume phase again (I compete in about 5-6 months, plenty of time).
Since I’m far away from competition, I was wondering if I could add maybe 3 extra sets of pull ups (on top of the 3 sets of rows), and 3 extra sets of arm work and deltoid isolation (3 sets of lateral raises and 3 sets of face pulls) to the program, or if it will hinder recovery too much. I know is a peaking program but I don’t wanna be at 100% peak performance neccesarily, just a soft peak to see where my maxes are at.
I have plenty of time to train and sleep 8 hs per night.
That probably won’t be a problem. Just be reasonable about the work you’re adding to the program and try to keep it as consistent across the weeks as possible.
Thanks! One more thing, I saw there’s not any unilateral leg work… shouldn’t it be some bulgarian split squat for instance to work on differences from left to right? Also, I see a lot of 1@8… but I don’t see an actual progression from week to week, such as 1@7 week 1, 1@8 week 2, 1@9 week 3 or something of that sort. How do I actually make progress (been lifting for 2.5 years) if there’s not a clear progression in the program? Thanks!!
You can’t predict performance with much precision, therefore you can’t plan progression. Your x1@8 will change every week based on your physical abilities on the day. That is the entire point of autoregulation.
Yes I get it. I’ve been using RPE this year. If I constantly do 1@8 (and I think the week’s 1 and 2 of the template are the same) isn’t that just like a linear progression? Just instead of 5’s like in starting strength, there are multiple rep ranges. But the reps, sets and rpe’s continue to be the same.
No. It seems that you are stuck on the commonality of unchanging exercise protocols for a period of time, and associating this with the concept of linear progression.
As @Austin_Baraki mentioned, x1@8 does not prescribe a specific load. It is simply whatever you can do on a given day for one repetition, with the ability to complete that load for two more repetitions before reaching failure. Furthermore, it does not reference any load from the previous week. If this protocol followed a linear progression, it would look something like this:
W1 - x1@8
W2 - W1 x1@8 + 5lbs
This satisfies the criteria for linear progression/periodization because the W2 protocol specifies a load (W1 load + 5lbs) that has the potential to continue increasing in this direction, without deviation from this upward trend, for a period of time.
Performing x1@8s can reveal unintentional linear progression, linear regression, undulation, or no change in performance across any given mesocycle because this protocol does not specify a load or the trend of this load from week to week. This differs from the program you mention because it specifies the trend of a variable (in that case: load) from microcycle to microcycle. Trend is undetermined when the x1@8 protocol is prescribed. A linear trend can only be noticed upon completion of the program if the lifter just so happens to progress linearly.