My Beef with Wave-Loading
Anyone who has read my stuff knows that I'm a huge advocate of singles over 90% for strength gains in advanced lifters. Lift heavy stuff with a focus on quality rather than quantity, and you'll get stronger.
I also love the stage system (e.g., 2x3, then 2x5). Post-activation potentiation has been proven in multiple studies.
I think cluster training is fantastic as well. All else held equal, do more work at a higher percentage in the same amount of time, and you'll progress faster.
And, we know that straight sets have gotten beginner and intermediate lifters strong for generations.
I'm going to be blunt, though: I think wave-loading is the biggest load of foolishness you'll encounter in terms of loading parameters in the strength-training world.
For those of you who aren't familiar with wave-loading, an example would be sets of 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1 (three "waves" of 3,2,1).
Your heavier singles make the subsequent triples feel easier (allowing you to get in more work at a higher percentage of your 1-rep max). This is the part I buy (and why I endorse the stage system); it's just post-activation potentiation.
However, it's also been "postulated" that on each successive wave, your singles will improve by some magical number (2.5% is one that I've heard) due to a "neurological phenomenon." I can't explain it, but perhaps the purple unicorn you train with could.
Let me ask you this...
If the secret to magically increasing your best lift is simply doing sets of 3 and then 2 before attempting a single, why haven't powerlifters started racing to the warm-up area to take sets of 3 and 2 between their singles on the platform?
Can you imagine Andy Bolton deadlifting 1,000 pounds
