An important consideration when determining training
frequency and the implications of SRA on this is how to
adjust your training when moving into a Peaking Phase.
Peaking is unique from Hypertrophy and Strength, in that
due to the higher intensity loads, neural fatigue will be very
prominent which means that overloading sessions cannot
be as frequent BUT since technical prowess is among the
primary goals of a peaking phase and Technical SRA is very
short compared to Neural SRA, we have a problem to solve.
The solution to that problem is the Technical Session. A
Technical Session will provide the opportunity for technical
practice in the competition lifts performed at a low enough
intensity to actually help decay fatigue through improved
blood flow.
Typically, reducing your number of overloading sessions
by 1 from your Strength Phase and replacing that with a
Technical Session is appropriate. So if you had been squat-
ting 3x/week during a Strength Phase, now during Peaking
you would have 2 Overloading sessions and 1 Technical
Session. The Technical Session should be anywhere from
10-50% lighter than an Overloading session, the bigger,
stronger and more advanced an athlete, the greater re-
duction in intensity is appropriate. As an athlete becomes
more advanced and experienced, they are able to get good
technical practice from very light weights because they are
more in tune with very subtle changes in the lift. If you have
an athlete who can squat 225# and has been training for
1 year, it is very unlikely that they would be able to notice
small shifts in their bodyweight forward or backward or
change in knee position with even 75% of their 1rm (170#).
While a very experienced lifter who squats 700# and has
been lifting for 15 years should be adept enough to notice
technical faults in their own lifting even at 315# (45% of
1rm). All lifters should strive to focus on the details of their
lifts at light weights so they can move toward this skill and
be able to get more quality work out of less load.
Determining Frequency
In addition to the Individual Differences we must consider
when determining the frequency, you must also take into
account Time, Special Work Capacity and Phase. Time is the
first consideration because while we can design the most
scientifically sound program possible, it will never work if
the athlete isn’t able to adhere to it.
When an athlete’s training time is limited to only short
training sessions, more frequent sessions, which are less
overloading by nature, may be necessary. If the athlete’s
time is limited in how many days per microcycle they may
train, they will need bigger sessions to satisfy overload and
train with their optimal frequency (or close to it).
An athlete’s Special Work Capacity is their ability to perform
more training in a given session, so while we may find that
based on the athlete’s MRV and Optimal Frequency, they
should be performing 8-10 overloading sets in a session,
they may lack the Special Work Capacity to complete this
much work, so they’ll need to spread their Weekly Volume
out over more sessions.
