The Pitfalls of Variation in Powerlifting
In the first article in this two part series, I talked about the potential use of variation to directly or indirectly ensure long term progress in training. In this article I’ll discuss common mistakes made when applying the principle of variation and my personal pet peeves in its overuse.
When I sat down to write this, two main issues sprung to mind: the overuse of variation with the lack of specificity in a program and the inappropriate selection of movement variations based on athletic ability.
Overuse of variation
The single most important factor in a training program, outside of straight up adherence, is specificity. This can be defined as: training that taxes and stimulates the underlying systems of the sport task.
In powerlifting, this means that training should be modeled around building your squat, bench press and deadlift one rep max (the powerlifts). This is done in order to build and execute a total on competition day. This training should involve a significant amount of training time spent on performing the powerlifts in order to enhance technical proficiency and stimulate the identical systems that would be used on competition day. In modern powerlifting programs (not to be mistaken for advanced or intelligent programs) it’s not uncommon to see entire 4,6 or 8 week training blocks without any competition variants of the powerlifts, nevermind competition specific rep ranges (i.e, singles).
Training blocks that include specific variations and rep ranges are commonly left to the last block before a meet, where training intensity is typically at its highest. Not only are you now inexperienced in and desensitized to the movements that you NEED to be proficient in, but you are now near maximally loading movements that you have little experience with. Of course there are some very specific variations that lead to overall technical enhancement (such as pause work and tempo work) however these are rarely done in single rep or high intensity sets where technical proficiency is REALLY enhanced. It's all well and good to have perfect technique with 60% on the bar, but that’s not where you’ll run into trouble and need to fall back on deeply ingrained movement patterns.
Misuse of variation
The misuse of variation in powerlifting comes down to two main cases: looking to change movement patterns to fit an imaginary ideal (movement bias) and prescribing variations where they are wholly inappropriate for the lifter's experience and technical proficiency in the powerlifts.
In part one of this article series, I talked about prescribing variations to give a fresh training stimulus to promote long term adaptations and avoid staleness in a program. With this in mind, you might think that any variation is good, and at a point down the road of athletic development, the weirder the better! Well yes, but actually no. This idea of “any variation will do” does not hold up to the slightest bit of scrutiny. Just because you’re unique doesn’t mean you’re useful.
Movement bias is rife in powerlifting. It's unfortunately common to see exercises in a program with the sole purpose of changing how an athlete performs the powerlifts in order to fit the visually “ideal” lift. Squatting with a completely upright torso, deadlifting with a completely straight back, extra wide sumo stance with an upright torso… the list goes on. This trend likely started by examining how the best lifters performed the powerlifts, lifters leveraged and blessed to move the most weight. Unfortunately, not everyone is built the same, and each lifter will have some nuance to their set up and execution of the powerlifts based on their proportions. Time and energy should not be wasted trying to make your lifts look pretty. In the powerlifts there are certain elements that must be present (e.g for the squat, upper back tightness, intra abdominal pressure, depth etc) and there are certain things that can vary (e.g for the squat, torso angle, shin angle, head position), don’t sweat about the things that can vary.
Another factor to consider when prescribing variation is the experience and proficiency of the athlete. Variation should be kept to a minimum for the beginner lifter, as they are still learning the basic movements of their sport and will progress with minimal volume and individualization. Variation to attack weak points is also highly overrated for beginner lifters. Beginners do not have “weak points”, they are weak, and will respond to variation in reps and intensity of the powerlifts while enhancing technical proficiency.