Variation in Powerlifting: Drills vs Builders

One of the best parts about programming for powerlifting is the amount of Squat, Benchpress, and Deadlift variation we get to use to drive progress across 3 individual 1 Rep Max lifts.  This sport is very quantitative, did the number go up?  The goal of using variation is to literally vary the stimulus of the training with the idea being that this novelty will create the desired adaptation we are looking for.  Gotta keep the body guessing!  There are several different training variables that we will be able to manipulate when programming for powerlifting, but the variation I am referring to today is movement variation and/or tempo variation. 

My favourite metaphor to describe the ability to manipulate training variables is the sound mixing board.  When engineering sound, it is important to find the right balance between bass, mids, treble, high frequency, low frequency, gain, reverb, etc.  Cranking everything up to 11 will not produce a sound that is enjoyable to the listener.  At the same time, different styles of music, with different instruments and voicing will require different mixes.  Even the room that the music is in can make a difference.  The same goes for programming training for the individual.  Unfortunately, we can’t crank every training variable up to 11, I might argue the Bulgarians tried, but I wouldn’t say that they developed the best sound.  If volume gets turned up, you may need to reduce intensity or adjust frequency.  If you crank the intensity, you may not be able to practice as frequently, at least at that intensity all the time.  Individual lifters will also require differing doses of training to provide the best results for them.  Some people need gangster rap for successful training, others need metal, while some weirdos will need some kind of fusion.   

Shoot the J!

There is a famous study on free throw practice that I always return to when I am thinking about skill development programming for powerlifting.  The study was simple, what is the best way to get better at free throws?  They divided the study into 4 groups.  One group only took shots from the free throw line, while the other 3 groups took shots from with increasing variation away from the free throw line i.e. they only took shots from in front of and behind the free throw line.  At first glance, specificity would make us think that the group that only took shots from the free throw line would get better at free throws by the end of the study, but the opposite happened.  The group with the most variable practice pattern ended up getting better at free throws.  While I am not saying that you should never practice your competition squat, bench, or deadlift, I am saying that using variation in training will probably yield better results than only using highly specific training with little to no variation. 

That brings me to my simple way I try to separate SBD variation, Drills vs Builders. 

Drills

Drills are exactly what you would guess, drills that are slightly different than competition style that will force you to work on a certain part of the lift.  Examples are things like Tempo Squats, Spoto Press, and Pause Deadlifts.  Something like a 3-2-1 Tempo Pause Squat will force you slow the lift down, teach you how to control heavier loads, let you teach yourself proper hip and knee position, build a lot of time under tension, while all the while the load is self-limited due to the nature of the drill.  This extended time under tension has been shown to be valuable in stimulating tendon and ligament restructuring and health. 

3-count pause Spoto Press is a great drill for developing strength just off of the chest.  For those of you that don’t know, Spoto Press is where you bring the bar down but pause it an inch or so off the chest and then press straight up from there.  The raw benchpress sticking point is usually right off the chest, so if we can develop starting strength at that point, in theory this should transfer to have stronger pressing through the sticking point on our comp benchpress. 

Pause deadlifts are a great drill for helping people teach themselves good deadlift position.  You can pause immediately off the floor, below the knee, above the knee, some sickos even do double pause deadlifts.   If a lifter loses position at a certain part of the lift, usually immediately off the floor, or as the bar crosses the knee, forcing them to stop and pause their deadlift at that point, and then reinitiate the movement from the position, can help build great deadlift position, teach patience, and build starting strength from the position where technique breaks down. 

When you are doing any of these drills, it is very important that you hold yourself to a very high standard.  Your 3-2-1 tempo squats should take a full 3 seconds to reach the hole, where you should pause for a full 2 seconds, and then stand up.  Your tempo should not accelerate as you approach the hole, your pause should be completely motionless, with no dipping or squishing.  If not, you are simply lifting with your ego, and doing the drill ineffectively.  The goal is to do the drill perfectly, and then see how it transfers to your competition lift.  When you are doing 3 count spoto press, your pause should be just off the chest and again be completely motionless, with no dipping or sinking. Similar standards will apply to your pause deadlifts as well.  If you are doing 1” 2 Count pause Deadlifts.  You should pause immediately off the floor for a full 2 count, and then stand up from there.  You should lose zero desired position off of the floor or coming out of the pause.  The goal is to execute perfect pause deadlifts, not to see how much we can camel back with a fake ass rolling stop.  Ideally, doing drills to a very high standard, and then progressing load from there as you get stronger, then transfers to your competition lift. 

Builders

We know that muscle contracting is what moves the weight, so at some point we just need to build some bigger muscles. This is where I like to use brute force builders to hammer at a large range of motion, preferably larger than the competition lift, and potentially at a different angle than the competition lift.  Examples of Builders are things like High Bar or SSB Squats, Close Grip or Incline Benchpress, and then Romanian or stiff legged Deadlifts.  The idea here is that if we get stronger through a greater range of motion than the competition lift, this should make us stronger at the competition lift.  These movements will also put mass in the right places so that we can build our base bigger, again operating on the assumption that mass moves mass.  The load should be self-limited by the fact that it is not your competition lift, but still adequate to produce the results you want in the target area.    If your quads get bigger and stronger from high bar squats, you should squat more.  If your triceps and pecs get bigger and stronger from close grip benchpress, you should comp benchpress more.  If your hamstrings, glutes, and erectors get bigger and stronger from RDLs, you should be able to deadlift more.  I would still suggest that you lift with high quality technique.  Make sure that the builder you select is building strength and muscle in the area that you want it to. 

So how do we use these concepts in our own programming and training? 

While I don’t have the top-secret magic formula for how you should approach programming these variations into your training, I do have some suggestions based on what I have found to be successful in the past.  I know it is overstated in powerlifting coaching, but it really depends on the individual.  Strengths, weaknesses, volume tolerances, biomechanics, outside stressors, frequency, sleep, nutrition, etc., all these things are going to make a difference as to how you program, and respond to, different drills and/or builders.  To simplify, I will try to give options for a couple different SBD frequencies, and how you might schematically progress over a few blocks. 

2x Squat

Block	Squat 2	e.g.		Squat 1
1	Drill – Hyp	3 count Pause Pin Squat		Comp Squat
2	Drill – Str	3 count Pause Pin Squat		Comp Squat
3	Builder – Hyp	SSB Squat		Comp Squat
4	Builder – Str	SSB Squat		Comp Squat

This is a great way to set things up if you are using a specific drill post competition to fix a weak link you have found in your squat.  Spend two blocks using that drill as a corrective, and then with your newfound skill, spend two blocks squatting at a normal cadence, building muscle and strength on top of that new bit of foundation you’ve created.  Drills help to put new scaffolding in place, and builders show up to lay a bunch of new brick. 

2x Squat

Block	Squat 2	e.g.		Squat 1
1	Builder – Hyp	High Bar Squat		Comp Squat
2	Builder – Hyp	High Bar Squat		Comp Squat
3	Drill – Str	3 Count Pause High Bar Squat		Comp Squat
4	Drill – Str	3 Count Pause High Bar Squat		Comp Squat

This is a great way to set things up if you are simply looking to spend time building muscle after a meet, and then make sure things are dialed in and strong on meet day.  Spend two blocks using a builder to build some new muscle, and then spend two blocks teaching that new muscle to be strong, while keeping the absolute load limited slightly by the nature of the drill.  I realize that these strategies are simple inversions of each other, I think both are valuable.  It will all depend where you are in your own training, and what your individual needs are at that time. 

3x Squat

Block	Squat 1		Squat 3 - Drill	e.g.		Squat 2 - Builder	e.g.
1	Comp Squat		Drill – Light/Low Vol/ “Pow”	SSB 3-2- 0 Pin Squat		Builder – Hyp	High Bar Squat
2	Comp Squat		Drill – Light/Low Vol/ “Pow”	SSB 3-2- 0 Pin Squat		Builder – Str	High Bar Squat
3	Comp Squat		Drill – Light/Low Vol/ “Pow”	3 Count Pause High Bar Squat		Drill – Str	3 Count Pause High Bar Squat
4	Comp Squat		Drill – Light/Low Vol/ “Pow”	3 Count Pause High Bar Squat		Drill – Str	3 Count Pause High Bar Squat

If you can handle a 3x squat frequency, I recommend setting your program up like a prototypical DUP split.  Make sure you have the most rest before your competition squat, because this is the session that you should prioritize performance.  Follow this session with your drill 48 hours later, preferably low volume, lower absolute and relative intensity, think of this as a practice session.  Follow this with your builder 48 hours later, high volume, moderate relative intensity, probably more proximal to failure, like a hypertrophy session.  Because your hypertrophy session should have higher volumes, fatigue, and more muscle damage, we will make sure that we have 72 hours before our comp squat session, in theory prioritizing performance for our main squat day. 

2x Bench

Block	Bench 2	e.g.		Bench 1
1	Builder – Hyp	Close Grip Benchpress		Comp Bench
2	Builder – Hyp	Close Grip Benchpress		Comp Bench
3	Drill – Str	3 Count Pause Spoto Press		Comp Bench
4	Drill – Str	3 Count Pause Spoto Press		Comp Bench

The concept here is similar to your 2x/week squat.  Spend two blocks using a builder to build some new muscle, and then spend two blocks teaching that new muscle to be strong, while keeping the absolute load limited slightly by the nature of the drill. 

3-4x Bench

Block	Bench 1	Bench 3 - Drill	e.g.	Bench 2	Bench 4 - Builder	e.g.
1	Comp Bench	Drill – High-ish %, low RPE, Low Vol	Close Grip 3-2-0 Pin Press	Comp Bench	Builder – Hyp	InclineBenchpress
2	Comp Bench	Drill – High-ish %, low RPE, Low Vol	Close Grip 3-2-0 Pin Press	Comp Bench	Builder – Str	InclineBenchpress
3	Comp Bench	Drill – High-ish %, low RPE, Low Vol	Wide Grip 3 count Pause Benchpress	Comp Bench	Drill – Hyp	Close Grip Benchpress
4	Comp Bench	Drill – High-ish %, low RPE, Low Vol	Wide Grip 3 count Pause Benchpress	Comp Bench	Drill – Str	Close Grip Benchpress

I like to refer to this as the kitchen sink method.  We are just going to try to cram every type of training we can into one week.   While not everyone can handle or has time for 4-5 benchpress sessions per week, the frequent practice, and consistently novel training stimulus can go a long way.   2 comp benchpress sessions, one that targets mostly strength, another that is more of a strength and hypertrophy hybrid.  A drill that is low reps, low-moderate volume, higher relative intensity, but moderate RPE, more of a practice session.  Then for our builder we will swap between hypertrophy and strength protocols from block to block.  Keep each variation in for two blocks and then exchange them with a new variation for the next two blocks.  Same, Same, but different. 

2x Deadlift

Block	Deadlift 2	e.g.		Deadlift 1
1	Builder – Hyp	Snatch Grip RDL		Comp Deadlift
2	Builder – Hyp	Snatch Grip RDL		Comp Deadlift
3	Drill – Str	1” 2 Count Pause Deadlift		Comp Deadlift
4	Drill – Str	1” 2 Count Pause Deadlift		Comp Deadlift

No magic here.  The strategy is the same.  2 blocks using a brute force builder to bring up posterior chain strength through an extended range of motion.  Followed by two blocks of paused deadlifts to help you dial in your technique, practice patience, and perfect position,  as you approach your meet. 

If you are someone has minimal time, energy, recovery ability, or resources.  A more minimalist 3x per week approach can go along way.  I actually think it is under rated in powerlifting training.  Recovery is prioritized right into the training week, simply by training less days than you are resting.  As much as we always want to be killing it in the gym, training 4-6 weeks is not always the best strategy for everyone.  If you are someone who only has time or energy for 1 deadlift session per week, but two squat sessions, I would try to find squat variations that transfer to your deadlift as well.  Things like front squats, narrow stance high bar work, and pause work, are a good place to start. 

The Minimalist

Block	Squat 1		Deadlift 1		Squat 2 - Builder	e.g.
1	Comp Squat		Comp Deadlift		Builder – Hyp	Front Squat
2	Comp Squat		Comp Deadlift		Builder – Str	Front Squat
3	Comp Squat		Comp Deadlift		Drill – Str	3 Count Pause SSB Squat
4	Comp Squat		Comp Deadlift		Drill – Str	3 Count Pause SSB Squat

While there are endless ways to manipulate training variables, the goal here was to try to systemize your thinking about how you use and prescribe exercise variation.  By no means is this an exhaustive list, I just wanted to try to provide some samples and food for thought as to how I might apply drills and builders in peoples training.