Peaking describes the process of working to the best possible performance on a given day. The term is important in powerlifting but also other elite sports where performance has to be the highest to win a competition. 

 

Before we go into the details of what a peak is, let me ask you a couple of questions: 

 

 

These questions are crucial for your success. Research shows that people who write their goals down and reflect on them are more likely to achieve them. So get a pen and paper and get going. Many people think about their lives like this: 

 

 

This is a good way to get fed up and frustrated. When you make what you want the center of your life you will tear yourself apart from the inside. What you want ch ages hundreds is times a day depending on who you are with, where you are and what you do. This way you will run in a hundred directions and never arrive at the finishing line. You will spread your resources thin and scatter your time between too many activities. Something interesting happens when you flip the order of these questions on their head: 

 

 

This way you will unlock your full potential and be happy with. You will put your innermost desires and wishes right in the center of attention and fill them with purpose. You will know why and when you do things. Your brain will make you act and think cohesively. The result is more success and prosperity while being happier. If you want to know how this works on a psychological level read Daniel Kahneman's thinking fast and slow. Simon Sinek's TED talk on the golden circle will change your life. 

 

A good start can be to start planning your days in a journal. Since I started using the self journal my life has taken a turn for the better. I feel more in control and ahead of the game. You should try it. 

 

Powerlifting is the sport of the total. Your goal is to establish the most possible weight moved between three lifts. These three lifts are the bench press, squat and deadlift. For each lift you get three attempts. The best attempt for each lift will be counted towards your total. 

 

A big difference to lifting in the gym is that you get judged in powerlifting. Three referees watch your lifts from different angles. They decide whether your performance was according to the standards of the federation you are competing in. You need two out of three judges to agree that your lift was good to count it towards your total. 

 

A powerlifting total splits into 20/40/40% for most lifters. Your bench press usually contributes about 20% to your total while the squat and deadlift throw 40% each in the pot. From these numbers, you can see that you should be interested in building strong legs over arms and chest to be successful in powerlifting. So how do you make sure that you are at your peak performance on meet day?

 

Peaking is a training concept in powerlifting to prepare a lifter for a competition. Marathoners and elite athletes use the same concept for competition days. At the heart of the concept is that you bring your training to a peak just before the competition and then taper towards the day. 

 

In powerlifting, this means that you train on a cycle of 3,6 or nine months towards new records on the competition day. Your training will be geared towards that on the given day you can do your best. Your training will successively getbharder until about one or two weeks before competition day. In the last weeks before the glory day, you will recover and get the accumulated physique out of your system while training light. 

 

It is called Peaking as you can think of it like the summit of a mountain. It is the best performance during the entire hour or even a career of a lifter.

 

Peaking is the concept of gearig your training towards a stellar performance on competition. When you chart your training intensity and volume on a graph you will see a significant peak in the drawing. This is what is meant by peaking, best possible performance on a given date.