A method to reduce peak power consumption during adaptation for an integrated circuit (IC) with multiple serial link transceivers including the steps of (A) inactivating equalizer adaptation loops until a triggering event occurs, (B) when the triggering event occurs, determining whether the triggering event is a minor change or a major change, (C) when the triggering event is a minor change, spreading out activation of adaptation loops in time, and (D) when the triggering event is a major change, simultaneously activating all adaptation loops.