Peak Week
Competition Prep
The final 7 days before competition are not the time to get fitter — they're the time to arrive sharp, recovered, and ready. This module covers everything you need to do in peak week, and nothing you don't.
Peak week is the most misunderstood week in a competitor's preparation. Most athletes either train too hard trying to squeeze out last-minute improvements, or they panic and do nothing. Both approaches leave performance on the table.
The purpose of peak week is simple: arrive at competition day in the best possible state to express the fitness and skill you've already built. You cannot get significantly fitter in 7 days. You can absolutely get to the venue feeling sharp, recovered, confident, and ready — or you can show up tired, stiff, mentally drained, and heavy.
1. Reduce accumulated fatigue — taper training volume so your body can fully express its fitness
2. Maintain sharpness — enough technical work to stay sharp without adding new fatigue
3. Arrive prepared — logistics, nutrition, sleep, and mental state all managed in advance
Everything you do this week should be evaluated against one question: does this make me more likely to perform well on competition day? Hard sparring on Wednesday before a Saturday comp does not. A light technical session does. An extra 30 minutes of sleep does. Stressing about your bracket does not.
Trust your preparation. Peak week is about delivery, not development.
Tapering is the systematic reduction of training volume in the final days before competition. The goal is to shed accumulated fatigue while maintaining the neural sharpness and technical edge built over weeks of training.
The key principle: Reduce volume, maintain intensity. Doing less total work but keeping the pace and precision of what you do keep prevents the flat, sluggish feeling that comes from too much rest, while allowing fatigue to clear.
| Day | Training | Volume | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days out | Last hard session if any | Normal or slightly reduced | Final stimulus — nothing new, sharpen what you know |
| 6 days out | Technical drilling only | 50–60% of normal | Begin taper — movement without fatigue accumulation |
| 5 days out | Light technical / positional | 40–50% | Stay sharp, reduce contact and intensity |
| 4 days out | Short flow roll + drilling | 30–40% | Keep movement quality, nothing at full intensity |
| 3 days out | Light drilling, visualisation | 20–30% | Sharpen mental image, minimal physical load |
| 2 days out | Very light movement or rest | 10–20% | Let fatigue clear — mobility work, walk |
| 1 day out | Rest — logistics and prep only | 0% | Full recovery, mental preparation, early bed |
| Competition day | Warm up at venue | Controlled warm-up | Activate without fatiguing — arrive ready |
Weight management is one of the most mishandled aspects of competition preparation. Large water cuts are dangerous, performance-destroying, and in many competitions now banned by same-day weigh-in rules. The smart approach is to arrive as close to your competition weight as possible through diet management, not dehydration.
The three weight scenarios and how to handle each:
| Situation | Approach | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Within 1–2kg of limit | Light diet management. Reduce sodium, processed food, and large meals in the final 3 days. Stay hydrated. Small reduction in carbohydrate intake. | Any aggressive restriction or water manipulation |
| 2–4kg above limit | Moderate caloric reduction from day 7. Reduce carbohydrate intake (not eliminate). Increase vegetables and lean protein. Limit sodium. 24–48 hrs of controlled water management if needed. | Diuretics, saunas, full water cut. These destroy performance. |
| 4kg+ above limit | Seriously reconsider the weight class. A 4+kg cut to make weight and then compete at the same event significantly impairs strength, reaction time, and endurance. | Extreme cuts. The competitive disadvantage is not worth it. |
Competition week nutrition priorities:
- Days 7–3: Normal eating — high protein, moderate carbohydrates, reduce alcohol, processed food, and excess sodium
- Days 3–1: Slightly reduce carbohydrates (glycogen stores don't deplete in 3 days), reduce fibre and heavy foods that cause bloating
- Night before: Familiar, easy-to-digest meal. Rice, chicken, or pasta. Nothing new or experimental.
- Morning of: Eat 2–3 hours before competing. Carbohydrates, moderate protein, low fat and fibre. Banana, rice, oats with honey.
Sleep is the most powerful performance enhancer available in peak week — and the most commonly neglected. Pre-competition anxiety, altered routines, and travel can all disrupt sleep. Managing this proactively is as important as any training decision.
Sleep priorities for peak week:
- Nights 7–3: Protect 8–9 hours. This is when your body is doing the bulk of fatigue clearance and adaptation consolidation.
- Night 2: Aim for 8 hours. Pre-comp nerves may start here — have a wind-down routine ready.
- Night before competition: Do not panic about sleep quality. Research consistently shows that one poor night's sleep does not significantly impair competition performance if the preceding nights have been adequate. Your sleep bank from earlier in the week matters more than this single night.
If you can't sleep the night before: Lie still with eyes closed. Your body recovers physically even without full sleep. Catastrophising about poor sleep is more damaging than the sleep deficit itself. Stay calm, stay horizontal, and trust your preparation.
Travel considerations: If competing interstate or internationally, arrive at least 24–48 hours early where possible. Jet lag and disrupted sleep from travel adds to pre-comp fatigue significantly.
Physical preparation gets you to competition day. Mental preparation determines what happens there. The athletes who perform consistently at competitions are not those with the least nerves — they're the ones who have learned to perform with them.
Managing pre-competition anxiety:
- Anxiety and excitement are physiologically identical — the label you attach to the sensation determines how it affects you. Practise reframing nerves as readiness: "I'm activated and ready to go."
- Reduce decision fatigue — pack your bag, plan your food, confirm logistics 2–3 days out. Every decision you've pre-made is one less mental load on competition day.
- Avoid bracket obsession — you can only control your performance, not your opponents' records. Looking up opponents builds anxiety without adding capability.
Competition day focus cues: Develop 2–3 simple technical intentions for your matches — not outcome goals ("I want to win"), but process goals ("I'll shoot on every tie-up" or "I'll maintain my frames"). These give you something concrete to focus on when adrenaline narrows your thinking.
Between matches: Eat and hydrate immediately after each match. Cool down — light movement, not sitting still. Avoid analysing losses in real time — process after the day. Stay warm. Stay in your own head.
After competition — regardless of result: Competition experience is training. Every match teaches you something a thousand drilling repetitions can't. Write down three observations within 24 hours while the memory is fresh. This is how you improve from competing, not just from winning.
Your day-by-day guide for the 7 days leading into competition. Tap each day to expand.
Use this checklist the night before and morning of competition. Tick each item as you go.