"Raising the Bar" # 5 Peaking

Peaking

Peaking in sport is defined as an athlete’s ability to control when they will perform at their absolute best in a competitive setting. It turns out that you can’t perform your best all of the time. An adage in training and performance science is “show me someone who says they are performing at their peak all the time and I will show you someone who is performing under their peak all the time” In today’s competitive world of powerlifting, the peak is something that is well known and planned. There are multiple scientific disciplines of both mind and body that are dedicated to peak performance, but I have found that they come from the same roots. I will share my experiences now with three competitions and 15 months of intentional training under my belt. Several concepts have meandered their way into my habits outside of the weight room and into my daily life.

Tapering

There is no crest that doesn’t have a trough. In physical training, weeks of fatigue are built up over time. Inflammation, cortisol, and a plethora of other hormones accumulate in the bloodstream and inhibit performance. Over time, these will inhibit performance until you cannot train at a high enough level to induce measurable progress. In fact, if it is not intentionally addressed, performance can decline and result in injury and even permanent damage (see rhabdomyolysis ). I already spoke to the importance of deloading ; an important training concept in programming for sport and skill development. Tapering takes several concepts that are helpful from deloading to a whole new depth.

I am accustomed to walking around in a state of general muscular, joint, and ligament discomfort. I have become quite comfortable being uncomfortable. This is something my team and I teach as an important maxim for development in life, sport, and consulting. There is no adaptation without the introduction of stress. Hopefully this occurs in an intentional and controlled fashion. For most of us, most of the time, it does not. When it’s time to perform, tapering is a new technique I employ to ensure that I am able to bring my best to the table when I need to. As I reduce both volume, weight, and the intensity of my training, systems slowly heal and come back online. Several new adaptations present for the first time after this healing occurs. Progress is made. Before competition, I will typically go a few days without training entirely. With a little time to recuperate, I have found that when it comes time to perform, not only do I have a considerably easier time moving the weights I struggled with at the end of my last training cycle, but I discover entirely new capabilities. The end result is the ability to express newfound strength for the first time, usually in a competitive setting. This is tightly controlled in the sport and something a good coach will help you with in training.

The results are pretty awesome.

The Data

Over the last 14 months competing in Powerlifting, I have gone from unlisted in a rank of 6600 people to 2656. Starting the sport at 34 and competing against others in their early to mid-twenties does me no favors, but I am genuinely enjoying the discovery process as a coach and trainer in other fields. As an Amazonian, I am elated with the 13% increase in strength and 40% increase in ranking in the USA Powerlifting (USAPL) from my first competition over that time… but I also know that as I rise in rank the gap narrows and each lb impacts rank exponentially. An extra 100 lbs on the total lifted will put me in the top 20% of my federation. I’ve always liked numbers.

Outside of the Gym - Peaking at Work

I have found that I can use the taper in my everyday life too. I can coordinate my calendar in a phasic manner. I arrange passive and active meetings intelligently (as much as I can). When I am required to deliver meaningful input or analyze something with intentionality, I do my best to ensure there is some buffer time ahead of it so I give my mind some space to breathe. I like to think that my time spent in conversations and building with my teams is meaningful, but they will have to share feedback with you on that. If it’s working, thank the taper. I try not to rush anything when it comes to strategy. That’s not to say I enjoy lollygagging. Quite the opposite. I follow the maxim of another sharp dude when I try to maintain discipline in being “Strategically Patient, Tactically Impatient" and limiting the number of important decisions on any given day. I have been more intentional about this as my decisions impact more and more people over the years. It’s a privilege to do what I enjoy for a living and it’s something I don’t take lightly. But even if the work gets heavier, I think I’ll be okay.

How I got started and how it's going

I started this journey over two years ago after being motivated by an inspirational post on linkedin .

I am proud to announce that the lift in the photo was 530 lbs. With this lifting meet I have surpassed my initial goal of 500lbs. I started a "Road to 500" as an effort to beat my younger self and overcome some serious spinal injuries sustained in my misinformed training management practices in my twenties. I twisted during an ascent on a one rep max squat... I doubted the possibility of hitting my goal, so I made the effort public to heighten the stakes and focus the effort.

The learnings over the last two years have been a part of my daily conversations and there are even some fingerprints on some of the interactions with our sellers at AWS today. Practice, Practice, Practice!

Im happy to close this chapter in my adventure. I will never forget the learnings in performance management, training optimization, nutrition and making decisions on the best practices to drive towards a focused goal in a veritable sea of health and training information. My time was limited. Optimal was necessary. Especially considering I legitimately had skin in the game and injury was a potential outcome. I will carry these lessons wherever I go.

Even if where I go is, the "Road to Elite."