Peaking for a Powerlifting Meet: The Final Week

I've  highlighted three approaches to the final week before a meet. The first, from Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 for Powerlifting.  He recommends no lifting at all the week of the meet:

"-Week before the meet so no training

 - Assistance work/conditioning (minimal, if at all)

You can end the meet preparation training however you want. You can have a one-, two- or even three-week deload—whatever you want. I usually recommend only a one-week deload (so week four will lead right to the meet on Saturday). You can really do nothing on that week (actually recommended) or just the bare minimum to keep your mind healthy. This isn't the week to retake your openers. You‘ve already done that numerous times, so don‘t be a pussy."

Lyle McDonald highlights the "classic raw powerlifting" approach that has the lifter benching relatively heavy in the final week before the meet, but ends heavy deads/squats much earlier:

"-10-14 days out: last heavy dead
-7-10 days out: last heavy squat 5 days out: last heavy bench. So Monday, maybe to the opener (90% max) for a single. So light squat before it since squatting does hit the shoulder girdle and will affect your bench.
-5 days out: last heavy bench. So Monday, maybe to the opener (90% max) for a single. So light squat before it since squatting does hit the shoulder girdle and will affect your bench.
-2 days out: light squat,bench,dl. Maybe 60-70%, it should be a warm-up and get someone to call competition commands for the practice. It'll keep you loose, keep your groove, etc."

Finally, in Jack Reape's Cycle, Peak, Taper, Dominate, he recommends an approach somewhere in between the two:

"Gene Bell once told me that you can't make yourself stronger in the last two weeks, but you can let yourself get stronger... 

For a Saturday meet, on week 14 you'll do a light bench press workout on Monday. This is a great time to use chains over bands for speed work as they're easier on the body. Do some light and limited raw squats, and some lat work. Tuesday and Wednesday, don't do a thing but relax, walk a bit, and stretch. These are two days to review your training and make your final meet plan.

You had goals at the outset of the cycle and laid out a plan to get there. If your training went well or not as planned, adjust accordingly. Get it right in your head because after Wednesday night you're done thinking about it. Thursday you go to the gym and do your first two warm-up sets of bench and squat which will feel good.

Friday, you do your first three warm-up sets of bench and squat, preferably at the meet site. These will feel better than the day before. You'll feel amazingly fresh physically, and your adrenaline will rise. You need to suppress this adrenaline rush by distracting yourself and by putting the meet forcibly out of your head. I strongly advise wearing regular clothes and not warm-ups until you weigh in or start to warm up the next day."

So who is right?  Well, it obviously depends on what type of training you've been doing in preparation for the meet.  Low frequency, high intensity training (like 5/3/1) likely benefits from a total week off, or at least an extremely light week.  Each individual workout in 5/3/1 is stressful on the body.  Thus, one need significant time away from the barbell to recover from the high intensity sessions in the weeks immediately preceding the meet.  Keep in mind that Jim Wendler's powerlifting background involved heavily equipped lifting.  Training with gear almost certainly requires extra time off due to the stress of supporting supra-maximal loads.  Westside type training will fit into this category as well.

The "classic raw powerlifting" approach calls for heavier lifting the final week.  Classic powerlifting routines were simpler and focused on performing the competition lifts at high frequency.  A common routine was a Mon-Wed-Fri split, with all three competition lifts performed every day (excluding the deadlift).  See e.g., Bill Star's 5x5 routine.  Training intensity is likely to be lower on an individual day, thus less time is needed to recover from a a single workout.

Sheiko, and Smolov, classic Russian powerlifting routines, have the lifter performing considerable volume in the final meet week.  Sheiko has moderate volume on Monday and Wednesday working up to 75% of the lifters max.  Smolov is just insane - requiring the lifter to perform 4 triples at 95% the Monday before the meet.

After reviewing a cross section of the "spectrum" of powerlifting styles,  a couple of trends emerge.  First, almost all of the plans drop frequency by one third to one half in the final week before the meet.  Therefore, how many days one should lift (if any at all) is dependent upon training frequency leading up to the meet.  It is no surprise that intensity is lower across the board the final week (except Smolov).

Second, almost all accessory work and GPP is dropped during the final week. This makes sense.  Supercompensation works best during both reduced workload and intensity.  You aren't going to bring up weak tri's or a weak core during the last week, but you can inhibit supercompensation by introducing stimuli your body must recover from.

The takeaway seems to be the weight one uses is less important than simply performing the movements in some fashion the final week.  This is especially important in high frequency routines where neural efficiency has greatly increased in the weeks leading to the meet.  The final week should be used to let body heal, and give it a gentle reminder of the bar path it will follow Saturday morning.