Roadblocks In Powerlifting
How to Identify and Eliminate Plateaus
Roadblocks
Every Powerlifter will find themselves at a plateau in progress at some point in their lifting career.
The competitive drive will be there but the answer can seem elusive, “What do I need to work on?” would be the question most of us have asked at some point. There are so many potential things to work on as a Powerlifter, you could require more muscle mass, more technical practice, greater neural drive or greater resilience when it comes to injuries. But how do you know what is the key thing to go after?
Why Do Powerlifters Hit Roadblocks?
Plateaus in maximal strength development will occur at different time points in your lifting career and also last for different length of time.
0-2 years, after the initial fast progress, roadblocks are usually very easy to identify as you still have some of the lower hanging fruit to pick
3-5 years, becoming closer to advanced lifting so roadblocks become slightly more complex and last longer as the solutions take longer to manifest
6-10 years, the most advanced roadblocks that may also involve an element of injury profiling due to time spent performing at a high level. These will take the longest to manifest on the platform
The big thing with viewing roadblocks/plateaus in this way is the fact that what worked early in your career will not necessarily work later in you career.
Conventional Approaches to Breaking Plateaus
I would see most lifters looking at this problem in a very reductionist way
“just do more”.
More volume, more frequency, greater intensity (bar load), greater intensity (arousal in training), using supplements to provide an ‘edge’ to the training or make up for deficiencies in their nutrition. I believe these solutions, although they may be effective are not targeted enough and once beyond the early years of training you will see diminishing returns on the strategy of more. Alongside the lack of results you may also see a sharp rise in overuse injury and psychological burnout.
The key is to identify the specific areas that are holding you back and strategically target them to see further improvements.
A Better Framework
There will be 4 key areas that could be limiting your progress and causing a plateau in performance, these should be viewed in chronological order when analysing the roadblocks to performance. Keep in mind I am referring to physical things that can be affected not all areas of performance. But these are the main areas that are very actionable.
Muscular Hypertrophy
There are very strong correlations with lean tissue and maximal strength. If you want to know whether you should be focussing on this metric use the following table. If you sit below the weight class for your respective height you should consider spending a good amount of time on hypertrophy and gaining lean muscle mass. The reason hypertrophy is first is because it is very easy to manipulate and change.
Neural Drive
If you sit within the weight class at the optimal heights you should then look at neural drive and the ability to use the muscle mass you have effectively and produce huge amounts of force.
Harder to analyse but if you were to rate yourself as a lifter but I believe there are 2 ways to grade yourself on a scale of 1-10 for high neural drive.
Coaches Eye
Do you lift explosively and move higher percentage weights with speed, or do you grind those heavy attempts out?
Recovery From Heavy Attempts
Do you find it hard to recover from heavy training days where the percentage or RPE is very high.
If you find you don’t exhibit these qualities you may benefit from more training that emphasises neural drive. More frequent heavy training, concentric only training and maximal isometric methods.
Technique
Again in a step by step fashion, if the first two elements are covered off, you have good amount of muscle mass within the class and you are able to use that mass effectively. You should then look at technical factors which could be holding you back.
Form Breakdown
Do you have specific areas of the lift that break down under the heavier loads? Modelling your technique against that of the best in the world can help identify technical deficits. But be sure to take out the outliers who display more than favourable limbs lengths.
Ratio of Competition to Secondary
If you have a high ratio of your competition lift to the secondary movements you could argue that you are achieving technical mastery over the core lifts and as a result find secondary exercises harder to complete.
To rectify this you can start with tracking the number of lifts (NOL). Which is a good metric that encompasses practice. How much practice do you have of the lifts that are plateauing, again if the first two categories are taken care of them you need to measure NOL and adjust by increasing the amount you practice. Keep in mind the refinement of technique and mastery oft the lifts is a long process.
Injury and Overuse
Not a follow on but something that runs alongside all three of the other roadblocks as it is independant of muscle mass, neural drive and technique but could be present in all three is injury and overuse injury.
This would be one of the main reasons I get given for lifters coming to work with me within the Podium Program or The Pain Free Powerlifter. ”every time I’m 5-6 weeks out from competition I break down, why does that always happen?”
Traditionally this would be the highest volume and highest intensity phase of training before starting some kind of realisation or peaking cycle. If you have underprepared for this work those old injuries will make themselves known. Whether that is joint pain, muscle pain or tendon pain, something has been missed in the early phases of training to build strength, capacity or flexibility/mobility.
The key here is to isolate the areas that are giving you problems, figure out the root cause of that problem and work really hard to develop that quality before raising the intensity. We are talking small muscles usually but they can become very significant weak links in providing stability around joints during the powerlifts.
Understanding the Time Course
Once the roadblock is identified you need to build some sort of plan to correct it.
Understanding the time course of adaptation is key to maintain motivation and clarity of goal, this is much more important as you become more experienced and the beginner gains have dried up. Real change takes time and the programming should reflect that.
The table below illustrates the different time course based on experience and level of lifter.
As you work towards the elite end of the sport or become very experienced with strength training you need a much longer line of sight to stay on the goal of being the best Powerlifter you can be.
Final Thoughts
The road to achieving your potential is a long one but can be made shorter with accurate diagnosis of the problem that is holding you back in your current state. There will be ups and downs and the solution will change as you work through your career and you inevitably age. But a system to highlight and address needs you can navigate them successfully time after time.
P.S. Are you tired of hitting plateaus and dealing with nagging injuries that hold back your powerlifting progress? After reading this framework for identifying your weakest links, you might be wondering how to put it into action effectively.
The Podium Program combines elite sports science with real-world powerlifting experience to help you:
Get an in-depth assessment of your technical proficiency, muscular development, neural drive, and injury risk factors
Receive personalised programming updated bi-weekly based on your specific needs and progress
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Don't let uncertainty about your weak points hold you back. Whether you need to build more muscle mass, enhance neural drive, perfect your technique, or overcome injuries - you will be covered.