Are you confusing progression and peaking in your training? Before you roll your eyes and say of course not, keep reading.

Peaking is a temporary state—a summation of a training effort to be in an enhanced or optimal state for an event. Peaking for a powerlifting meet would be an easy example. And the new PR you set at the meet is not something you can hit again in the next week of training. Otherwise, it wasn’t a peak but a step in the training progression.

Progression in training is manipulating volume, intensity, and density so the body adapts positively, moving towards better performance (strength, endurance, etc.).

So why rush to the next step after accomplishing a new progression?

Achieving the new progression is a “temporary” peak, not a step to be rushed past.

Think about this for a moment. Maybe you were trying to progress towards the timed Simple standards. Or you took on the challenge of the SFG I StrongFirst Kettlebell Instructor Certification, and you were preparing for the snatch test, and while you made good linear progress for a few weeks, the progress stalled, and the snatch test eluded you.

You may have confused those temporary peaks for progression.

“Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.”—Saadi

Training progression would be better if students embraced this quote. Instead, we lack the patience to progress towards “easy” before taking the next step.

Take a Snatch Test Density Progression as an example:

4+4 x 14 sets OTM

5+5 x 12 sets OTM

6+6 x 10 sets OTM

7+7 x 9 sets OTM

8+8 x 8 sets OTM

9+9 x 7 sets OTM

10+10 x 6 sets OTM

(OTM—on the minute)

Students typically progress from one step to the next as soon as they have accomplished the one before. Did you achieve the 5+5 step without violating a StrongFirst Stop Sign? Then, of course, the next session will be the 6+6 step. But should it be?

While you accomplished the 5+5 step at an RPE of 8 and did not violate a StrongFirst Stop Sign, it was far from easy. So, instead of rushing to the 6+6 step, spend time working at the 5+5 step so the RPE drops to 6 for the same session.

Go so far as to have sessions at the 4+4 step and Timeless sessions of 5+5 tracking drops in the time required to complete the 12 sets. Spend time within the step of the progression so it is not a temporary peak but a solid foundation for the next step.

This is foundational to periodization and progression. Stabilization of adaptations is why mesocycles are typically six weeks in length, even though the first two weeks are where the quick adaptations occur.

From the Programming Improv manual:

“Why wait six weeks before introducing a new stimulus or training load? Why not change the training plan every two weeks when the stimulus has induced fast adaptation? The reason is that weeks 3 to 6 are necessary to stabilize the adaptations brought about in weeks 1 and 2.” (Olbrecht)

Apply patience to your progression, and do not confuse temporary peaks for progress.