Why Do I Program Heavy Top Singles?

If you follow any of my athletes or have generally just followed my posts, you probably notice a lot of top singles, so why is that? It’s not just an excuse to lift some heavy weight, but instead has some very distinct purposes within training.

I originally started having people do these top singles almost 4 years ago before it was even the popular thing to do, with the thought that they gave a potentiation effect that would improve performance on back down sets. While I still think that was a decent application in theory, it didn’t work out like that. 88% or more for a single is fatiguing, so I believe that fatigue masked any potentiation effect, and something like preceding squats with box jumps would be a better application of the PAP principle. With that being said, I still saw benefit but at the time couldn’t explain completely why. But after seeing these implemented for the past 4 years and gaining understanding of the sport and its demands, I think I can dive into a better reasoning of why these top singles can be of value for most lifters. While there are more, I see 3 main reasons that these top singles are beneficial and that I keep programming them for the majority of my athletes.

Skill Practice

The fact is that we compete in a sport that tests our ability to generate our optimal levels of strength in the form of a 1 rep max squat, bench press, and deadlift. It is also a fact that training specificity is a main factor in the progress of any goal, and it does not get any more specific than a 1 rep max when it comes to powerlifting. The issue is though that a true 1RM is fairly fatiguing and carries a high injury risk, so most people are not programming weekly 1 rep maxes for all their lifts, and many just try to stay away from heavy singles altogether except for close to the meet. I’d rather be somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. A top single programmed in the general range of 88-93% is something that even on someone’s worst day they should be able to hit fairly easy, so it keeps athletes away from grinding through reps and or even worse, failing a rep. 

The fact is that a top single is a different mindset than setting up for a set of 5. The cues we process, the mental strategies, and the knowledge of having only 1 rep to perform to our best is a different approach and something that needs to be practiced. So for this reason, for most of the training year I have a top single programmed once a week for squat, bench press, and deadlift. This helps to continue the skill practice of a 1 rep set to the point that it just becomes second nature. The problem I have found with the “stay away from heavy singles” group is that come meet day those athlete’s will be scared and nervous. They haven’t touched weights in this manner in training, and now going out to hit an opener that maybe they’ve hit 1-2 times this entire training cycle is a bit nerve wracking. But if that athlete instead has been practicing a top single with that opening weight every single week for the past year, it will be second nature, just another day in the gym. Confidence breeds strength, and top singles help to instill confidence in intensity ranges that many are scared of.

Adaptation To Heavy Weights

One of the biggest arguments against heavy top singles is the fatigue they induce. And I agree, if you are not used to doing them and all of a sudden start adding them in, they will be fatiguing. But that is the exact reason to do them. Our body adapts, and as we continually perform these top singles week after week our body starts to become more efficient at recovering from them to the point that they feel just like any other set. This also will translate in being able to recover better once a peaking block comes around. I usually find my athlete’s do not get overly beat up during a peaking block like some do, and I believe one of the main reasons is because that every single week for months they have been hitting a top single in the 88-93% range on all 3 lifts, so that intensity range is nothing new to them.

Use To Gauge Training

Not only can these top singles have a training effect, but I find them to be of great benefit in programming and auto-regulating training. If you are trying to estimate your 1 rep max off a set of 6 that was taken to a 7 RPE, good luck. But if you are trying to gauge your 1RM off a top single at a 7-8 RPE, well that might just actually give a pretty decent estimate. I would probably say 70% of the athlete’s I currently coach are having a top single each week that then is used to calculate their training for the rest of the week. With the benefits of Excel, this is as simple as the athlete rating the RPE of the top single in the document, and the formulas I have programmed then calculate a 1RM based off that top single and automatically recalculate their training for the week based off the projected 1 rep max. As an online coach I cannot be there to adjust training when it needs to be, so this top single instead does this for me and acts as the “coach” when I cannot. While I have some people on percentage based programs, I find autoregulated programming to be far superior because we can account for strength gain and loss. You are not stuck to a training max for weeks on end, but instead this top single can adjust training weekly to each individual’s current strength levels.

And while this is a loose interpretation and application of this, if you are familiar at all with Bondarchuk’s training systems, he had certain exercises that were his gauges/tests for progress. His athletes would perform them weekly to see how training was transferring to the things he really wanted to see improvement on. These top singles are acting in that same way for my athletes. While it matters how they perform on all their movements, the fact is that these top singles are their weekly “tests” to see how the program as a whole is transferring to their ability to output maximal force during a heavy top single.

There are more reasons top singles can be of benefit such being able to see if there is form breakdown at heavier weights, seeing someone’s confidence with at higher intensities, and even just a small ego helper when athlete’s just want to feel something heavy because they are powerlifters. But the main reasons really boil down to the training effect they can induce and the ability to use them to gauge training. I do not thing it is an end all be all to training, but I also wouldn’t have programmed them for the last 4 years if I didn’t think there was a great transfer effect. We are powerlifters and our goal is the achieve the highest 1 rep max squat, bench press, and deadlift, so let’s practice that!

USPA vs. USAPL: One Federation To Rule Them All? No

So while I am sure you came to this article hoping to hear some bashing and controversial discussion, I am sorry to say that is not the angle I am going to take. Instead my goal is to “clear the air” in the areas I see hate being thrown around and how I feel that both sides are misunderstood in these areas. I have competed in both the USPA and USAPL, I have athletes I coach competing in both, and while I personally now compete and direct meets through the USAPL, I honestly have the highest respect for both organizations and in the future plan to probably compete again in the USPA at some point. So without further ado, let’s dive in! (If you are unfamiliar with the fundamental differences between USPA vs. USAPL, read What is the difference between USPA vs. USAPL? before reading on)

The “Elitists”

This is the one issue that is stemming from both sides, and is the only area here that I may be a bit “controversial”. We have competitors from both sides bashing the other and stating that there is only one real federation, and out of everything else this is what is giving these respective federations a bad rap. The USAPL is not any better because it is drug free and known to be stricter in regards to the competition movements, and the USPA is not any better because they have the highest totals and don’t “rob” lifters of their good attempts. No federation is going to be perfect in any sport and from the USAPL/USPA to the NFL to the NBA, there is always going to be good and bad. But the reasons these federations stand out and are successful is because the good outweighs the bad. So in my opinion, the only right and wrong in this whole discussion is that if you are one of the “haters”  or “elitists” on either side, you are the ones dragging the powerlifting community down versus raising it up.

USAPL Approved Equipment List

Probably the biggest knock on the USAPL and IPF is the “IPF Approved Equipment List” and the fees that are charged to companies wanting to be a part of it. While I don’t think it is out of the question for the IPF to charge a fee, as being on this list automatically helps increased sales for these companies, I as well as most anyone associated with the USAPL agree the fee is too high.

So why do I feel this is misunderstood? If you have never competed in the USAPL, you probably don’t realize that this equipment list is only utilized and enforced at national and world level meets. If you are competing at a state or local meet, the equipment only needs to  meet USAPL standards and does not need to be on this approved list. I’d guess probably 90% of those competing in the USAPL are not competing at the national or world level meets, so they are not subject to this list, therefore they are at free will to purchase from a vast majority of different brands. So the next question is what is equipment that meets USAPL standard? Basically the same brands and equipment that is allowed in USPA. So before you hate on the USAPL/IPF for their equipment rules, make sure to understand that around 90% of the people competing can use any brands they wish, not just the “IPF Approved Equipment List”.

USPA Judging Criteria Not Strict Enough

An argument that comes from many USAPL “elitists” is that USPA judging is not strict enough and that competitors are getting away with high squats, short pauses, and non-locked out deadlifts too often.

So why do I feel this is misunderstood? Because USAPL “elitists” incorrectly lump the USPA with the rest of the untested federations way too often. The fact is the judging criteria for the USPA is pretty darn similar to those used in the USAPL, and where the bad rap comes from is the other federations that are giving white lights to blatantly incorrect lifts. While the USPA is a tad less strict than the USAPL even though they use the same guidelines, at most USPA meets if you get white lights it was a good lift. Just like in any federation there is politics and friends that may be judging and passing lifts they shouldn’t, but the USPA rose up to give untested lifters a federation that was more consistent and stigent on calls and I fully believe they are succeeding in doing so. So before you hate on the USPA for not being strict enough, make sure you realize that the USPA does not encompass all untested federations. Just because some untested federations are giving themselves a bad name doesn’t mean the USPA is.

USAPL Judging Too Strict

Vice versa the USPA “elitists” hate on the USAPL for being too strict with their judging criteria, in particular when it comes to squat depth.

So why do I feel this is misunderstood? The USAPL has the same rules as the USPA, they are just more consistently enforced. There are for sure calls in the USAPL where someone hit depth on squats and got “robbed”. But for every time that happens there is someone in the USPA getting gifted white lights when they cut their squat high, and even vice versa.. I am a USAPL State Ref and I am human and will make errors. We will not get every call right. But the reason that both the USAPL and USPA have become so popular is that no matter where you compete in the US, the judging criteria is fairly consistent. And for someone who coaches athletes in both federations, I hold even my USPA athletes to the same stringent rules because come game-day I do not want any “ifs” when it comes to a good lift. So before you hate on the USAPL for their judging being too strict, instead give them some credit for being honorable in their efforts of consistent judging across the board, and understand we are all humans and not every call is going to be the right one.

USPA Uses A “Cheater” Deadlift Bar

Since the USPA allows a deadlift bar, its cheating because your total will be higher because of it.

So why do I feel this is misunderstood? Barring that your name is Yuri Belkin, that deadlift bar really isn’t making that much of a difference. And in reality if you haven’t trained with one leading into a USPA meet, you may actually pull less on a deadlift bar than a stiff bar due to it requiring a different tension and technique during the initial pull. Go to local meets around the US and the majority of the deadlifts you are going to see are in the 500lb. range or less. A deadlift bar maybe adds 5% to your deadlift at most,  so to call it a cheater bar is just a way to cover up your insecurities about your own poverty deadlift. While I agree a 600lb. deadlift on a deadlift bar versus a stiff bar is not the same, getting “elitist” because you use a stiff bar is not doing anyone any good. So before you hate on someone for using a deadlift bar in competition, maybe you should be able to pull 600lbs. or more first so that the bar actually will make a difference.

USAPL “Drug Tested Does Not Mean Drug Free”

The USPA “elitists” and the USAPL “elitist” like to fight over the whole drug free versus not drug free debate, which is just ridiculous. To each their own, as being drug free or not does not make you any better of a human being than the other. The typical argument coming from the haters of the USAPL is that “drug tested does not mean drug free”, which is 100% true. Professional sports is littered with performance enhancing drugs even though they are “drug free”. People cheat and it sucks. I have zero hate in any way for someone who chooses to take performancing enhancing drugs just as long as they compete in a federation that allows for that.

So why do I feel this is misunderstood? It mainly comes down to USAPL “elitists” bragging that they are drug free, so the USPA lifters come back with the “drug tested does not mean drug free” argument. But the fact is that at the highest levels of the USAPL, with the lifters who are winning national championships, I fully believe those lifters are drug free. For a good perspective on why, listen to the Juggernaut podcast where Chad Wesley Smith dives into this subject after Jesse Norris got popped at nationals for stimulants. CWS gives a great breakdown to why most of the top USAPL and USAW lifters are drug free. So if drug free guys are the best in the country, then who cares if “drug tested does not mean drug free”. You are not going to catch everyone, and if guys who are cheating can’t even win, then that is just embarrassing for them. So before you hate on the USAPL because “drug tested does not mean drug free”, make sure to realize that in every aspect of life people are going to cheat, and the USAPL is not going to magically be free of that and be morally perfect.

USPA Is Just A Lot Of Drugs

After the “drug tested does not mean drug free” argument is thrown out then the USAPL “elitists” come right back with that the USPA is just a bunch of juice heads, so of course they are stronger.

So why do I feel this is misunderstood? First, not all lifters competing in the USPA are on performance enhancing drugs, so we shouldn’t all be rushing to assumptions just because someone competed in the USPA. Second, Greg Nuckols wrote an excellent article on this, so instead of going into every detail, I’ll give the summary and if you’d like the full breakdown read this:

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/steroids-for-strength-sports/

Basically what it comes down to is that steroids do a great job of helping someone get bigger, but not necessarily stronger. This can be seen particular in the middle-weight men’s classes of 181-205lbs. The fact is some of the strongest guys in the world in these classes compete in the USAPL/IPF. John Haack switched over last year to compete at the US Open and he ended up tieing for first overall, getting second only due to the bodyweight tiebreaker. If an exceptionally strong 205lb. lifter goes from being natural to taking steroids, the first immediate change will be that he won’t be a 205lb. lifter anymore. He is going to gain size and probably move up a weight class, which is why you see so many freakishly strong powerlifters in the 220-275lb. weight classes in the USPA. So just throwing out the argument that someone takes steroids so of course they are stronger is ignorant for the fact that pound for pound strength should not be affected nearly as much. Does performance enhancing drugs make a difference? Of course, or else people wouldn’t use them, but I think it’s less of an effect in powerlifting than you might think. So before you hate on USPA lifters for taking drugs, realize that the USPA is untested so it is not cheating, and also realize that if you’d like to compete against natural competitors, then just stick to the USAPL. There are two different federations with different drug testing rules for a reason.

Hopefully this shed some light on the issues that arise and maybe gave you a different perspective than you had thought about in the past. If we want to grow this great sport, hating on each other is not the way to go. Instead supporting our fellow lifters in every way possible, no matter what federation they compete in, is why this sport is so great and is the way it will continue to grow. Please feel free to engage in any productive discussion topics you might have, as the more we talk about these issues the more we can come together!

 

An Approach to New Athlete Programming

A long time lifter, but looking to be a first time powerlifting competitor, Austin came to me in hopes of getting on track to competing in his first powerlifting meet. Looking to compete at the 83kg class, I’ve got some very high hopes for Austin and am confident by the end of this year he will be putting up some very competitive numbers on the platform. Our initial goal for Austin is to regain the strength he has lost since a slight setback with some knee pain that occurred late last year. And after just 2 weeks you can see the neurological adaptations happening every workout as his strength progression has been phenomenal. Probably by the end of this first training block he will be back to his previous numbers which were projecting out to a 1,350 total, and from there we will build.

Austin has 10+ years of lifting experience, so he is a case where there wasn’t a ton to work on. He has a significant amount of muscle for his frame, only some slight tweaks to his form are needed, and he is already pretty darn strong.  More what it comes down to for me as a coach is now taking him to that next level. Finding what we need to do to not just be strong, but to possibly break him into that elite status. A lot of his past experience comes in bodybuilding, and while he has trained for powerlifting, it came more from template based online programs versus really finding a individualized approach that was going to be perfect for him. But what does individualizing a program for a new athlete like Austin even mean?

1.) Austin has been lifting for 10+ years, so he understands his body. Unlike most, I put Austin immediately on a fully auto-regulated program where I give him top sets to a certain RPE that then auto-calculates the numbers for his working sets. So instead of giving him numbers to work to, he has a top single or top sets such as 1×1 @ 7 RPE or 1×6 @ 7 RPE that then determines his training. This allows the training each week to be adjusted to him. And due to his experience, he already is doing a great job of assessing and gauging RPE, which lifters with a low training age  on the other hand may struggle with.

2.) I took into account Austin’s past training history. He competed in 4 bodybuilding shows and did high volume bodybuilding workouts, so I knew he would be able to handle a bit more volume on accessory movements than most. Also, the powerlifting template he ran last year was a bit too much in regards to competition squat volume, which resulted in some patellar tendonitis. So taking that into account we adjusted squat volume and variations to account for a more optimal approach to his squat training.

3.) While Austin has been training 10+ years, his powerlifting training age is significantly less. He has been squatting, benching, and deadlifting for a while, but commitment to long term training leading to a meet has not yet occurred. So what this means is that we don’t need to be fancy. Austin is probably going to gain strength at first fairly easy just from skill practice and neurological adaptations, so there is no need to overcomplicate things.

4.) And lastly, I had to take into account and individualize his programming to his lifestyle. Austin had just started a new job, so days and times to train were more limited than in the past. He had struggled with finding a new consistent workout routine, so we worked together to find the best approach that would allow him to be consistent and make progress while still having time for his other priorities.

Does his program still have aspects that probably look like some of my other athletes? Of course! Individualization doesn’t mean every athlete has some special program that is entirely different. What it does mean is that we take into account the variables that make each athlete different, and build a plan around that to optimize their training.

How To Correct Powerlifting Form As An Online Coach

To be blunt, if you have an online coach that isn’t putting a high emphasis on form, you don’t have a coach, you have a template maker. Technique and form is the single best place you can make drastic improvements to your total in the short term, and also where you can make drastic improvements in your resilience to injury in the long term. And from my experience being in the industry, coaches who ignore their clients form is usually not due to negligence, its more due to the fact that they don’t know how to fix it. So to save face they tend to ignore it rather than discuss something that they have no idea how to address. They give a couple cues here and there, but when those inevitably don’t work they move on and just hope the athlete figures it out on their own.

So how do you approach form changes with online athletes? Here’s my approach:

1.) Before anything else, you must figure out what the issue stems from, and that is not an easy thing to do and many times where most coaches get stuck. It is very much like many of the injuries powerlifters acquire. A certain joint hurts but we learn after consulting an expert that its actually a different area that is tight or injured causing that joint to hurt. The same happens with form. You see a very apparent issue, but it may be something else within the chain of movement that is causing it.  A very common example of this is when an athlete has trouble locking out a deadlift. Many times to correct this you see coaches doing overloaded lockout variations to work on the athlete’s lockout strength. But the fact is the inability to lockout stems from bad positioning off the floor, where their lower back is rounded from the get go and once the bar passes the knees, they are in a very inefficient position to finish the pull. Instead of working lockout strength, work on positioning, bracing, and strength from the floor.

2.) When it now comes to addressing form once you know the root issue, the first and most simple approach is providing them internal or external cues that may help to make sense of the movement. These work sometimes, but many times do not, as a person needs to feel what you are telling them and not just take direction on what you want them to feel. While this may not always work, it is still the first step to take as it is the easiest and requires no change to the written program.

3.) If those cues do not work, the next step you must take is figuring out how to put an athlete in the positions you want them in without you actually being there, and that will be through variations. As you breakdown their form discrepancies, you must decide what positions you want them in and choose variations that are going to force them into this pattern. Want them to sit back on a squat? Box squats and pause squats. Want them to use their legs off the floor on deadlift? Pause Deadlifts and Trap Bar Deadlifts? This is one of the areas where the individualization of programming should be very evident. Coaches have certain ways they like to program so obviously there will be similarities between all their athletes programs. But where there should be very obvious differences is in the variations assigned to correct form. I actually wrote a whole article on this for the squat, so instead of giving the same lengthy breakdown, head over to Using Squat Variations to Alter Movement Patterns and read about it there.

4.) Another step, or maybe just something to go along with adding variations into their programming, is to make a video for them of you demonstrating the exercise with how they are doing it versus how you want them to do it. Make sure to not only describe the changes you want them to make, but also what they should feel when those changes are made. People respond to feel, so athletes need to know what they should feel once they hit these proper positions.

5.) The last tool I use is pre-existing youtube videos, as there are some coaches much smarter than me putting out amazing content and many times your athletes may respond better to how those coaches describe things versus you. Have an arsenal of saved videos that you can easily sort through when an athlete has a particular issue. And maybe if you are the coach ignoring form, you should be watching these videos yourself.