Doing More Work in a Given Time as a Measure of Progression
Over the years, I’ve come across mega loads of ways to work out, so I thought I’d share a method that I believe can be effective and a nice change if you’re looking for variety. The person who invented this training is a man by the name of Charles Staley. Charles is a thinker and quite analytical in nature, so I like learning from him. One of the methods that he advocates for training is to choose a weight that allows you to perform about 10 reps of an exercise before reaching failure, but instead of doing 10 reps, you only do 5 reps. He advocates switching back and forth between two opposing body parts such as chest and back while doing sets. So for example, you would do 5 reps for a set of bench presses for your chest, and then switch to a set of bent over rows for 5 reps for your back. You would keep on doing sets of 5 reps for each exercise until you become fatigued and would need to drop down to a lower rep number, but you would still keep repeating sets until you reach a time period of 15 minutes. While doing this portion of the workout, the measurement that you are concerned about is to count the total number of reps that you could do for each exercise over the course of 15 minutes.
How to Progress
When using this training method, it’s very important to keep in mind that any number of reps can be done for each set as the goal is not the number of reps you can do for a set, but the number of reps you can do in 15 minutes. You may choose to use 4 reps, 3 reps or any variation of reps during the 15 minute time period. When you improve to the point where you can beat the number of reps you started with by about 8 reps, then you can add weight and start the process of beating your rep record with the added weight.
The Precision Point Version of This Method
One thing I love about this form of training is that it is simple but effective. You don’t need a lot of exercises and you don’t need to keep switching the amount of weight. It also keeps you moving without too much sitting. I have my own Precision Point variation of this type of training because I believe in staying within the right training state where you train to the limit of your ability to do strong reps and strong sets, but not beyond that point. So my version of this type of training is to pick a weight for the exercise that you are doing that will allow about 12 reps before hitting your marker rep. However, don’t do 12 reps for each set. You will use mini sets where you only do 3 reps per set even though you could do 12 if you pushed yourself to your marker rep. Rest one minute between sets and keep doing sets of 3 reps until you reach a set where you hit a marker rep on your third rep. A marker rep is when your rep speed slows down, or you have to pause before doing the rep. At that point, check how many sets you did and how long it took so that you have a measurement that you can try to beat in future workouts.
Method of Progression
The way to progress in future workouts when using the the Precision Point variation of this method is simply to keep repeating this workout until you can do the same number of sets in the same amount of time without having to slow down on the last rep of your last set. In order to improve even farther, your goal is to add one extra set of three reps within the same amount of time without hitting a marker rep on any reps. When you have accomplished this, you can add weight and start the process over.
I don’t recommend using this type of workout in every single workout unless it works especially well for you. Instead, I would recommend using this method once or twice per week so that you can use workouts that incorporate varying amounts of weight, while also allowing you to do some full sets where you push all the way to your marker rep instead of only doing mini sets. If you are looking for variety in your workouts, this method is another variation that you can try. Best of training to you.