The World-Record Peaking Program – Ben Pollack

The World-Record Peaking Program – Ben Pollack

The World-Record Peaking Program

Smash PRs with the Same Principles I Used to Set My First World Record

Peaking — whether for a meet or just to set a 1-rep max — is one of the most difficult parts of powerlifting. Just think about it: you’re trying to plan two or three or even four months ahead of time to be your absolute, 100% best on one particular day. If you’re anything like me, you don’t even know how you’re going to feel tomorrow morning, let alone some random morning four months from now.

On top of that, when you’re getting ready for a meet or 1RM, you’re under a lot of pressure, both mental and physical. That makes sense: the desire to be at your best when you do test your limits causes you to push your body harder in training, too. As I explain in Unf*ck Your Program, you only have a limited ability to deal with stress — and your body doesn’t care whether it’s mental or physical stress. They both can wear you down and burn you out.

So it’s not easy to peak, and you’ve probably realized as much in your own training. How many times have you crushed high-rep sets and volume training, easily cranking out more reps with more weight than ever before… only to attempt a new 1RM and fail miserably, or have a lousy meet, or even get injured? Yeah, that could partly be due to just bad luck, but it’s more likely the result of a suboptimal peak.

A great peak, on the other hand, can help you to far exceed your expectations. If you push your body just hard enough, but not too hard; if you take enough rest, but not too much; and if you pace yourself appropriately, you very well might find that peaking is easier than other types of training, and yet at the end of the program, you set huge new personal records. It is possible.

The course below proves it. I’ve used this same structure – a simple, no-nonsense approach – with myself and with my athletes (lifters of all levels, from beginners to world champions), and I’ve refined it to the point where I’m confident that it has the potential to maximize your potential.

How is that possible? Well, first, it’s not just built off of experience and broscience — it’s grounded in the principles of periodization, just like all great programs. It has the balance of volume, intensity, and frequency needed to help you achieve your goals. But more importantly, it’s flexible, so you can fit it to your body and your situation just by following the guidelines provided in the course lessons.

This is not a one-and-done program. There’s an old cliché in the lifting world: everything works, but nothing works forever. Over time, you’ll need to employ new methods to continue to progress, and even in the short term, trying different methods can help you learn more about your body and how it responds to training. And, if you pay close attention to the videos, train diligently, and stay conservative, this program will allow you to do exactly that.

The program is based on linear periodization, although I have thrown in a few twists, both to keep things interesting and to help you gauge your meet performance a little bit better.Now, I don’t want to give too much away, but here are the highlights:

• 12 weeks of peaking divided into 2, 6-week blocks. This can be easily modified for peaks as short as just 6 weeks.
• Training 4 days per week using an upper/lower split (2 days each) for 9 weeks, and then 3 days per week using a lift split (bench/squat/deadlift) for the last 3 weeks.
• Moderate volume/intensity, with a fairly high amount of supplementary/hypertrophy work.

The course also includes:

• Guidelines for deloading and setting 1RMs.
• Flexibility with regard to training days of the week and loading parameters.
• Explanations of the reasoning behind each phase of training.
• Tips for cutting weight prior to a meet.
• Other meet-day advice.
• Lifetime access and unlimited downloads.
• Mobile access (iOS only for now).

Still not sure if it’s right for you? Check out the introductory video in the free lesson below!

Course Curriculum

About the Course

• Is This Course For You?
• How It Works (9:01)

The Program

• Excel Download
• PDF Download
• How to Perform Your Reps
• Assistance Days
• Adjusting the Program
• Exercise Substitutions

Special Protocols

• Performing AMRAPs
• Deloading (Optional)
• Testing Your 1RM (Week 12)
• Cutting Weight
• Meet Day Advice

Get The World-Record Peaking Program – Ben Pollack at Tenlibrary.com