Peak Week: Part 2
Training – Depletion, Not Destruction
In Part 1, we debunked the myths surrounding peak week: it's not a magic week, but the final 5% of your prep. Now, we dive into the first variable we adjust: your training. If you think you need to go all-out in the final week to "look harder," you're making a critical mistake that could sabotage your entire look.
The training philosophy during peak week is a complete reversal of your off-season mentality. The goal is no longer muscle growth (hypertrophy) through heavy weights and progressive overload. The goal is strategic depletion.
The Main Objective: Glycogen Depletion
Think of your muscles as sponges. To fill them up to their maximum capacity (with glycogen and water, for a full look), you must first wring them out completely. That is the purpose of your workouts in the first half of peak week: exhausting the glycogen stores within the muscles.
By emptying these stores, we create a "supercompensation" effect. When you start carb-loading later in the week, your muscles will essentially soak up the glycogen, storing even more than they did before. This, along with the water that glycogen attracts, creates maximum muscle fullness on stage. (1)
How Does Your Training Change Specifically?
Forget your logbook and PRs. The focus shifts entirely:
Intensity (Weight) Goes Down: You'll use significantly lighter weights, often in the 40-50% of your 1RM range. Heavy lifting causes too much muscle damage and systemic fatigue.
Volume (Reps/Sets) Goes Up: Because the weight is lighter, you'll perform more repetitions, typically in the 15-20 rep range. Your rest periods will be shorter. The goal is constant tension on the muscle and a massive pump, (at first) not failing on a heavy set.
Exercise Selection Becomes More Specific: The focus shifts to machines and cables. This reduces the need for stabilization, lowers the risk of injury (you are, after all, depleted and in a calorie deficit), and allows you to better focus on the specific muscle you want to deplete. Heavy, complex movements like squats and deadlifts are usually the first to be dropped.
Stop on Time: This is perhaps the most crucial point. You stop training 2 to 3 days before the show. Why?
Recovery: Your body needs time to fully replenish its glycogen stores.
Avoiding Inflammation: Training causes inflammatory responses and microscopic muscle damage (DOMS), which can lead to holding subcutaneous water. Exactly what you don't want. (2) By resting, you give your body a chance for this inflammation to subside.
A Common Mistake: Training Legs Too Late
Legs are a large muscle group that can cause a lot of damage and, consequently, a lot of water retention. It is therefore common practice to train legs for the last time about a week out, and focus on the upper body for the remainder of the week.
Conclusion: Train Smart, Not Hard
The final week of training is a strategic game. It's not about ego, but about physiology. You wring out the sponge, avoid unnecessary damage, and then give your body the rest it needs to prepare for the next step.
And that next step is the most critical of all: filling those depleted muscles. In Part 3, we'll discuss carbohydrate loading.
Small note: depending on the loading protocol you follow, the timing of depletion training may vary. More on that in part 3.References:
Acheson, K. J., Schutz, Y., Bessard, T., Anantharaman, K., Flatt, J. P., & Jequier, E. (1988). Glycogen storage capacity and de novo lipogenesis during massive carbohydrate overfeeding in man. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 48(2), 240–247.
Clarkson, P. M., & Hubal, M. J. (2002). Exercise-induced muscle damage in humans. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 81(11 Suppl), S52–S69.
