Any tips for bench peaking?

Jaybuk said:Got one week left of a 12 week idea I had, 5 sets as many reps as can after first hitting a heavy single, 1st week 120 2nd 130 3rd 140 An 4th 150 then repeat that wave twice more

Seeing big improvement at all weights so far An plan on maxing after but I’d like to get the most out of this as usually I get a small pb even when training is going really well, currrently it’s 160 an managed that again as my heavy single last week. Rep calculators all saying I’d be at 167.5-170 max now. Would be grateful of any advice to taper it down An
Maximize what has felt a very good training phase

AMH_Power said:
Everybody is different; you can taper volume over longer period, then intensity at the last minute (some people don't even drop intensity).
However, providing there is no crazy fatigue, I find a simple rapid taper to suffice, providing loading in the weeks prior was &rt;85%:
Mon: 3x3x75%
Wed: 3x3x60%
Fri: 3x3x45%
Sun: Compete
For what its worth, maximal strength has a residual of 2-3 weeks. In 'theory' you could do nothing (and even see some low level plasticity from IIa fibres back to IIb/x/B etc, but some people go into some sort oflow level shutdown (mental?) if training ceases which is why I opt for the above.
I supplement creatine all the way up to this taper (which DOES increase bodyweight by about 2% due to creatine concentrations and water retention). This 2% is lost within 5-7 days of cessation. So, I stop creatine (not needed for comp anyway) and increase calorie intake on this final taper to allow for any long term delayed training effects to realise and further influence the correlation between strength output and calorie intake.
If you have only been doing heavy singles, then there is nothing to taper from (and arguably heavy singles are the way to retain training effects while developing other attributes). If this is the case with you, I'd continue the heavy singles but dial them back slightly, then simply have 3-4 days rest prior comp. Otherwise, a simple taper as above will work fine.