In the next few articles, I will be discussing the impo
rtance of setting the body up for an easy adaptation to strength. Often times people train in a way that will make it hard for their body to adapt. Adaptation is easy when an adaptive reserve is high, but the reserve will run low as training progresses and strength increases. This is why I believe in Precision Point Training. It’s designed to pinpoint training variables that will allow a strength adaptation to be as easy as possible.
Putting the body in a state of emergency is often the method that is used for causing the body to make a strength adaptation. No doubt this method works for a while. However, it often quits working because the body can’t overcome the emergency stress when workout stresses are always kept at a maximum. Precision Point Training does not cause this to happen. An emergency stress is not required for an adaptation. Instead of an emergency stress, the body only requires an adequate stress for adaptation. Finding the threshold level of training that will trigger an adaptation is the key to setting the body up for an easy adaptation as opposed to a difficult, or impossible adaptation.
Thresholds to Adapatation
So what is the threshold level of training stress that is adequate for allowing an easy strength adaptation? The answer is that there are several of these key thresholds; I call them Precision Points. They are also transition point. If you truly identify Precision Points in your training and give them time to work, it makes life so much easier in the world of strength training.
Why are Precision Point so powerful when it comes to adaptation? Because Precision Points ask the body to make small, attainable adaptations instead of huge unattainable adaptations. The body is able to make huge adaptations early on in training, but not forever or we would all be lifting over a thousand pounds within a few years of training. Small adaptations that can be made over and over again is the answer to gaining strength over sufficient time. Small adaptations can be made at transitions points (also referred to as Precision Points), where there is a sudden transition in physiological state. That transition is noticed in training by simply identifying when there is a sudden transition from easier to harder.
Easier Is What the Body Wants
Easier is what the body wants. Harder is what the body wants to avoid. If you cross a threshold from easier to harder during training, stop. Don’t go farther and farther past that transition point, it’s not necessary. Going just a small amount past the transition point into a harder state will cause the body to want to transition back into an easier state. How can the body transition back into an easier state? Simple. It can adapt by getting stronger. Getting stronger will make the workout easier and your body will be able to avoid crossing over the transition point. If you find enough transition points and implement them into your training, gaining strength doesn’t have to be nearly as difficult as a lot of people would believe (unless they are lazy and think that any exercise is hard).
Where are the points where easy adaptation can occur?:
Stop at the point where reps transition between easier and harder. This means stop at your marker rep when rep speed and rep rhythm begin to decrease.
Stop at the point where sets transition between easier and harder. This means stop when you reach a set where your strength is decreasing as evidenced by a decrease in the number of reps that you can do compared to earlier sets.
Try using weights that are at 40%, 55% 70% and 85-95% of your one rep max:
Doing sets of 10 reps with 40% of your one rep max is a transition point where it becomes easier to do more sets with less effort. Two or three sets per workout makes a positive difference. It’s good for increasing training volume and building speed and better nerve signals to your muscles. Caution: Do not use high reps at 40%. Limit the reps to 10 or you will get an endurance adaptation instead of a strength adaptation.
Using about 70% of your one rep max is often a transition point where rep speed will start to slow down more than previous increases in weight. It is excellent for building strength and muscle.
Hitting your marker rep while using 55% of your one rep max allows you to reach the limit of your creatine phosphate system before transitioning into the more difficult lactate system. This will probably permit you to do 12-15 reps before hitting your marker rep. Caution: While one set is good, doing more than one set in the 12-15 rep range on a regular basis is a wonderful way to lose strength.
Lifting becomes significantly more difficult at about 85%-95% of your one rep max, depending on the exercise. This percent range is good for strength. There is often a very noticeable change in rep speed at this weight percentage. Find the edge of that change in rep speed and train right there. Don’t use a percentage of weight where your rep speed slows way down or adaptation will start to become harder in the long run. Easy adaptation is better in the long run.
As I say, if you put enough training variables together where easy adaptations can occur, your life will be much easier in regard to training progress. More on adaptation next time. Best of Training to you.