Demystifying the Off Season

The ‘off season’ for powerlifters is typically defined by most athletes & coaches as an extended period of time off between 2 competitions, where you’ll have more time than what your typical ‘competition prep’ would look like, and that period of time is slightly different for every model, but we can safely assume that ‘competition prep’ probably lasts somewhere between 8 to 16 weeks depending on who you are, and how you like to do things. It’s very common nowadays to see someone post their Instagram competition recap, starting off by saying “things didn’t go as planned,” and ending with “time for a long off season.” This is all with good reason, because the off season can be some of the most productive periods of training if you approach it correctly, and like anything else, the devil is in the details. 

Most people view the off season as a time to do a ton of high rep work, and do more bodybuilding type work, with the idea of dropping specificity down a bit, build some more muscle, and just be in better general shape - and for some, that might be exactly what they need, but I think this is extremely general for most people. To be honest, when I write programming, things tend to look MORE tailored to the individual in the off season than they do in competition preparation blocks. Think about it - at competition, we’re all going to squat, bench press, and deadlift… So, within reason, a lot of training should look fairly similar, because you need to practice those lifts to some extent to get better at them, to help you peak for competition.

I think as lifters become stronger than ever, the talent pool becomes bigger, and the margin for error becomes smaller, we should be exploring different options. I’ve recently heard some well respected coaches just talking about doing more of what makes you strong, and it’s really had me thinking about how I typically write my off season training protocols, and my current way of thinking is ‘what does this lifter need / would benefit from that I have a hard time justifying heading into competition?” Coming up with this question that helps define my model for off season powerlifting development has helped me write training blocks that I feel more confident than ever about. It’s not just about building muscle and taking a barbell out of your hands for everyone.

If you’re someone who’s already heavy for your weight class, and is VERY lean (if it takes you longer than 5 seconds to ask yourself if you’re very lean and a hard water cut away from making weight, then this doesn’t apply to you), why bother spending any time doing non-specific bodybuilding type training? If this is you, and you need your joints to heal up from the beating they took in meet prep, first better learn to manage your volume and fatigue in the off season with the barbell, before ditching the barbell completely.

If your movement patterns are a bit janky, spend your time using training variations that are going to force you to move better, or reduce your lift frequency for a little bit.

Or, if you’re someone who doesn’t have any joint pains right now, why step away from the barbell? I fully understand the need to step back sometimes to heal up, but there needs to be a justified reasoning. Our powerlifting careers will not last forever, so it’s important to not lose sight of our goals within that window.

The point is, there needs to be more thought in your off season than just “time to do DB work for 8 weeks,” especially if you want to be at the top of the sport. I want to break down an experiment I did with an athlete, who I’ve been working with for a little over 7 months. When she first inquired, we talked about her performance and goals, and she was struggling to get her lifts moving after cutting down from the 57kg category. After getting down to the 52’s, her numbers stalled out a bit, and her deadlift actually dropped on paper, where she failed her 3rd deadlift at the same weight she hit at her previous competition. 

We started working together in April, and she then competed in August of the same year - she hit a 7.5kg PR on her Squat, 2.5kg PR on her Bench Press, and 2.5kg PR on her Deadlift, and all her previous bests were at a heavier weight class. So, success! We were both incredibly happy with her performance, and she finally broke what felt like a curse on her Deadlift, where it was stuck for around 18 months.

After this competition, I personally wanted more for her Deadlift, as did she. So, I decided to get away from my typical box of thinking, and went with a much more intensity focused approach for her Deadlift than I would’ve originally thought would work. Leading into her August competition, she was doing things like 4x5’s and 4x4’s, with singles tossed in, and that’s only speaking for 8 weeks out or less - before that, she was seeing multiple sets of 6 thrown in as well.

What I decided to, considering she was healthy, was give her less volume and much more intensity, like mentioned above - since she competed, she’s had a day of paused deadlifts, typically 3 sets of 4 reps, and a heavier competition style deadift day, where she’s doing things like 3x3’s, or 4x2’s - and she’s made more progress on her Deadlift since the end of August (end of October as I’m writing this) than she has in almost 2 years, where she just pulled her best Deadlift ever for a double @ RPE 9 or so.

My point isn’t to brag (yes it is) about the success she’s had on the Deadlift, but more so to help open up the eyes of those only looking through one lens - even if what you’ve done to this point has given you success, that doesn’t mean that it’s the only way, or will be the best way forever. What got you to where you are won’t always be what gets you to where you want to go. If you remember that for your training career, you shouldn’t be stuck spinning your wheels as often as most do.