Hi guys. Really appreciate what you do for the fitness community. My question is, for an intermediate powerlifter, what are your thoughts on doing singles year round? Maybe keeping the singles slightly lighter in volume phases (1@7) to produce less stress from the single and allow a little bit more volume work, and a little heavier closer to comp (1@8 or 9) for specificity reasons.
My concern is the RBE with the singles. Of course we won’t be adding 5lbs to the singles each week, but when I started incorporating singles @8 I was getting some great results. I’m afraid this won’t produce much result if done year round (or for the majority of the year). How do you guys go about this? Do you do singles year round of just closer to competition? Thanks!
In general, I do not program singles year round as I think they end up being best placed in training where more resources are available for/directed to getting stronger. Lighter singles (1@ 7 or less) are unlikely to help the things involved in getting stronger and they can’t really predict strength levels for a given day accurately.
Also, you want the RBE from the movement and rep ranges you’re working with so that you can tolerate them better.