Kafui Hotsonyame
Background
The last year and a half has been quite the ride. I went from my first powerlifting competition in March of 2018 to competing for Team Canada at the World Powerlifting Championships and breaking a World Record!
How did I make this progress in such a short amount of time?
I played competitive soccer for about 13 years. I initially started working out because my coach said I was too small. After my first year of University I got into strength training which I did for the majority of my offseason. So before I started competing I still had a base consisting of 3 years of strength training. I didn’t just start lifting and magically build my total. It does take time and work to build your total.
Back in march of 2018 at the Vault Barbell Open I squatted (in pounds) 479.6, benched 308.6 and deadlifted 650.3 for a total of 1438.5. Fast forward to the World Powerlifting Championships June 2019 I hit a squat of 562.1 bench 353.7 and a deadlift of 718.7 for a total of 1644.6. In the span of a year and a half I added 206.1 lbs to my total.
Linear Periodization
For the most part I have used linear periodization to improve my strength. There are different variations and methods. Simply put linear periodization is over time gradually increasing the intensity and decreasing the volume throughout mesocycles of training blocks. For example if you were 4 months out from competition your might be doing 4 sets of 8 reps at an rpe of 7, 3 months out from competition 4 sets of 5 reps at an rpe of 8, 2 months out from competition 4 sets of 3 rpe 8-9 and then the weeks leading up you may start testing singles at an rpe of around 9. You can see here how the volume starts high but gradually decreases as the intensity (weight) increases.
There are a lot of popular strength plans that are built off the fundamentals of linear periodization like Jim Wendler’s 5,3,1 program. Understanding the basics of linear periodization can help you understand why and how some these programs are constructed.
Want to get stronger with a linear periodization program? Get yours here. Check out our strength coaching if you are looking for more personalized plans.
