Program design for powerlifting is equal parts art and science. As a coach, you have to balance the scientific principles (progressive overload, specificity, etc.) with the lifter’s individual differences and your own coaching instincts.
There are many variables to manage, with some of them more important than others. The biggest ones are:
- Exercise selection
- Intensity
- Volume
After that, the importance of each variable drops off considerably. It’s easy to get caught up in the minutia and lose sight of what really matters in terms of helping a lifter get stronger. Today, we’ll break down three training variables that I believe are overrated and make very little difference in the results a lifter achieves.
Rest Periods
It’s a running joke that powerlifters could take a full lunch break in between sets. That’s because heavy low-rep strength training is both mentally and physically exhausting. Even if you’re only doing heavy singles, it takes time for your body’s physiology to “recharge” before another heavy rep. So the typical recommendation in most exercise science textbooks looks something like this:
| Goal | Rest Period |
| Muscular Endurance | 30-60 sec |
| Hypertrophy | 30-90 sec |
| Strength | 2-5 minutes |
| Power | 2-5 minutes |
This is pulled straight from exam prep material published by a popular strength and conditioning association. However, research continues to show that even longer rest periods are favorable for strength and hypertrophy. One study in particular compared 60-sec rest periods and 3-minute rest periods, with the longer rest period resulting in significantly-greater improvements in muscle growth and strength gains.
I used to tell all my lifters to rest as needed during their heavy strength work, but then would often prescribe strict rest periods for accessory exercises where hypertrophy was the goal. I’d give 90 seconds of rest for larger muscle groups (lats, pecs, quads, etc.) and 30-60 seconds of rest for smaller muscle groups (delts, biceps, calves, etc.). Now, I rarely prescribe rest periods at all unless it’s some kind of finisher where we’re trying to create a big metabolic disturbance.
The bottom line: it seems like more rest is often better for strength and size. As long as your schedule allows for long workouts, rest as long as you need between sets.
Tonnage
Tonnage refers to the actual amount of weight lifted during a session, calculated by multiplying load by volume. For example:
45 lbs x 10 reps = 450
135 lbs x 5 reps = 675
225 lbs x 4 reps = 900
315 lbs x 3 reps = 945
405 lbs x 1 rep = 405
455 lbs x 3 sets x 3 reps = 4095
Tonnage: 7,470 lbs
Some coaches believe that total tonnage is important to track and that increasing tonnage over time will lead to strength gains. I see a few issues with this.
First of all, how much of the accrued tonnage is actually meaningful? You can see in the above example that the 10 warm-up reps with the empty bar contributes more tonnage than the single at 405. For a powerlifter aiming to improve their 1-rep max, do we honestly believe that the empty bar warm-up set is contributing to their strength gains in any meaningful way?
Second of all, it’s easy to get caught up in pushing tonnage via “junk” volume, where you just do more for the sake of doing more. But remember, more isn’t better – better is better. For example, you could nearly DOUBLE the aforementioned tonnage by doing something like:
45 lbs x 20 reps = 900
135 lbs x 15 reps = 2025
225 lbs x 10 reps = 2250
315 lbs x 8 reps = 2520
405 lbs x 5 reps = 2025
455 lbs x 3 sets x 3 reps = 4095
Tonnage: 13,815 lbs
But you can’t convince me that the second approach is going to be more beneficial. In fact, all the warmup volume is probably going to be fatiguing to the point of taking away from the quality of the working sets, leading to worse technique and decreased bar speed.
Don’t worry about tracking total tonnage. Focus on the number of quality challenging sets you complete. If strength is your goal, make sure the weight on the bar is gradually getting heavier. And if hypertrophy is the aim, increase volume by adding additional challenging top sets over time.
Phase Potentiation
Phasic training, also known as block periodization, refers to planning out periods of training to focus on one specific physical quality. These phases often start with less intensity and more volume, then invert to higher intensity and lower volume as you approach a competition. For example:
- Hypertrophy
- General Strength
- Power
- Peaking
Phase potentiation refers to how effectively these blocks of training lead into the next. In other words, the hypertrophy phases builds enough muscle tissue to improve general strength, the general strength block builds enough force output in sets of 3-5 reps to aid in the sets of 1-3 reps developed in the power phase, etc.
I do believe the general principles of block periodization make sense. Hell, we’ve got an entire series of powerlifting programs centered around block periodization.
I see the value of building a solid base of muscle before moving onto heavy training. And I think general strength blocks of submaximal training in the 3-5 rep range are beneficial for many lifters. You can’t just smash heavy singles all year long and expect to make significant progress. That’s TESTING your strength, not building it.
However, there’s no need to strictly block your training into specific phases, especially if you don’t have a long, predictable amount of time between competitions. And there’s certainly no advantage to designing training blocks to have a finite number of weeks to completion. What if a lifter is still making great progress doing sets of 5-8 reps after 6 weeks? Do you shift gears and potentially rob the lifter of gains because on paper the block is supposed to be over? Or what if a lifter is 3 weeks into a peaking block but their strength is regressing? How long do you slog through an ineffective approach before you revert to what was working before?
As you can see, sometimes the strict nature of block periodization ignores the ever-important variable of individual differences. Every lifter is going to respond differently to a similar stimulus. The essence of coaching is communicating effectively with lifters in order to steer the program in the direction that gives them the best results. Following a pre-written, long-duration training plan to a ‘T’ no matter what is NOT good coaching.
That’s why the majority of the programs I write for my lifters use a concurrent approach rather than a blocked approach, meaning that we’re focusing on multiple strength qualities all at once, but shifting the emphasis on each quality depending on their proximity to a competition. We’re probably hitting heavy top sets of 1-3 reps all year round (i.e., “peaking”), doing backdown sets of 2-5 reps at lighter weights (i.e., “general strength”), and doing plenty of accessory exercises to build muscle and eliminate weak points (i.e., “hypertrophy”).
Yes, sometimes logistically it makes sense to follow a pre-written program. Hiring a coach is expensive and not everyone has lifting aspirations that justify the cost. So I sell pre-written programs as a cost-effective alternative. All these programs have built-in autoregulation to help the lifter make the best possible training decisions week in and week out. And even though they’re named after block periodization phases, they’re still actually concurrent by definition; the names simply illustrate the point that the programs are designed to be run back-to-back for the best possible results.
The idea that you have to strictly block your training based on strength qualities is somewhat antiquated. A concurrent approach makes more sense for the majority of lifters. And the best-case scenario is to have a coach to help make important decisions via a program that is malleable to the lifter’s current situation and goals.
Focus on the Big Rocks
The most important training variables are exercise selection, intensity and volume. The manipulation of those based on the lifter’s response to smaller doses of training (e.g., week-to-week) will help light the path to long-term progress. Don’t get caught up in the tiny details such as rest periods, tonnage and whether you’re perfectly linking together training phases.
