John Haack's 5-Day Powerlifting Program: Peaking, Meet Prep, and RPE 9.5

John Haack's 5-Day Powerlifting Split

• 🗓️ The program is structured as a five-day split, with Saturday designated as Day 1, focusing on heavy squat and heavy bench work, often including heavy singles and drop-downs.
• 🏋️ Monday is dedicated to heavy deadlifts, also featuring a heavy single, followed by leg and back accessory exercises.
• 💥 Tuesday incorporates rep bench work, potentially with variations like benching with chains, and includes pushing accessory exercises.
• 🔄 Wednesday is for squat rep work, while Thursday and Friday can vary, sometimes including another rep bench day or a light speed, strength, power, and deadlift (SPD) day to improve joint mobility before the Saturday heavy session.

Peaking and RPE Strategy

• 🎯 Haack primarily trains at an RPE 9.5 for his heavy singles leading into a meet, gradually increasing weight weekly.
• 📈 He monitors progress by aiming for increased weight each week; if strength remains the same, it's an RPE 10, but if he gets stronger, it's still considered RPE 9.5.
• 🧠 While heavy singles involve 80-90% mental energy, other top sets might use 30-60% mental elevation, with the main focus on the heavy single performance.
• ⚖️ He manages weight cuts by starting prep around 205-207 lbs and cutting down to 198 lbs, utilizing supplements to aid strength gains.

Training Variations and Off-Season

• 💡 On squat rep days, he might use paw squats or straight bar squats, aiming for an RPE 8 initially and progressing to RPE 10.
• 🚀 In the off-season, his mental energy is spread across multiple bench days, incorporating sets of eights, sixes, and fours, with mental energy distributed around 50% for each.
• ⏳ Haack finds his optimal time to peak is around 5 weeks, after which he experiences diminishing returns.

Competition History and Decisions

• 🏆 After winning the IPF Worlds, Haack initially planned to retire from IPF but stayed due to the lack of a major untested meet.
• 🚫 He faced a suspension from IPF for competing in the US Open, leading him to decide against further IPF competitions.
• 🧪 This led him to experiment with SARMs and eventually other performance-enhancing substances to compete at a higher level against athletes like Ben Pock.
• 🗣️ Haack notes that public perception often misunderstands the peaking process, expecting high numbers year-round rather than during specific meet preparations.