Diagnostic training refers to workouts that are designed to diagnose the type of training that your body responds to best. The three most basic things that you must diagnose consist of the following;
1. How hard you should push each set for best results.
2. How many sets you should perform for best results.
3. How often you should work each muscle group each week for best results.
Training Thresholds: The Starting Place for Diagnostic Training
My initial approach to determining the first two training factors listed above is to use training thresholds. The diagnostic training measure that determines how hard to push each set starts with the rep speed threshold. This simply means that you should identify how many reps you can repeat using a steady even rep pace with a given weight as this is a good measure for determining how hard you should push a set. The second diagnostic training measure is based on the strong set threshold. This simply refers to the number of sets you can perform for a muscle group while remaining at full strength. It is also a diagnostic training evaluation for determining how many sets you should perform for a muscle group.
Diagnostic Training for Determining Training Frequency
The diagnostic training method for determining how often you should work a muscle group is simply to start with three workouts per week for each muscle group. If it works, keep doing it. If it doesn’t work, you should monitor your energy level between workouts. If you are tired and lack energy between workouts, you may be overtraining and should cut back to two workouts per week for each muscle group. If you still feel sluggish, tired, and overtrained, cut back to two workouts every eight to ten days for each muscle group; and if you need to, you can cut back to one training session each week for each muscle group.
The opposite would be true for lifters who have an abundance of energy between workouts and feel as though they can handle more work. Such lifters can add a workout for each muscle group as long as they are recovering from the added workouts.
Diagnostic Training That Goes Beyond Training Thresholds
It is possible that your body does not respond optimally when using the diagnostic training system outlined above that is based on training thresholds.
Fatigue (lactate) Responsive
Some lifters are very responsive to fatigue, the type of fatigue that can only be achieved by pushing sets close to failure or beyond. This type of training puts a greater emphasis on the lactate system.
Low Fatigue (Creatine Phosphate) Responsive
Other lifters are at the opposite end of the spectrum as their strength melts away when they push to the point of fatigue within a set. These lifters stop their sets before they reach half way to failure. Such lifters must avoid the lactate system and focus their training on the creatine phosphate system or CP system.
It is possible that you fit into one of the extremes. You either do best with training that produces a high degree of intra set fatigue, or you do best in the absence of intra set fatigue. How can you use diagnostic training to determine this? One way is to run a fairly simple diagnostic training test. The test is based on four training blocks. Each training block is three weeks long and consists of using 70% of your single rep max for about 30 reps per exercise within a workout. Each muscle group should be trained two to three times per week according to your recovery ability. The four training blocks should be designed as follows:
First Three Week Block
Do 3 sets x 10 reps with 70% of your single rep max for each exercise.
Second Three Week Block
Do 4 sets x 7 reps with 70% of your single rep max for each exercise
Third Three Week Block
Do 6 sets x 5 reps with 70% of your single rep max for each exercise
Fourth Three Week Block
Do 10 sets x 3 reps with 70% of your single rep max for each exercise
Test Your Strength at the End of Each Block
At the end of each three-week block, test your strength. You can do this by doing a single rep max, or by choosing the same test weight at the end of each three-week period and going for max reps. The test weight should be somewhere between 80% to 90% of your single rep max, but make sure it is the same weight each time you test your strength.
Adjust Your Training According to Your Results
If your strength is higher at the end of one of the three-week blocks, the diagnostic training has helped you to determine what kind of training you respond to best. If you respond best to training that produces a lot of fatigue by the end of each set, you should incorporate this into your training. In contrast, If you respond best when minimizing fatigue at the end of a set, you should design a training plan that allows you to stop each set well short of failure. If you respond to an amount of fatigue that is somewhere in the middle, this should be reflected in your training plan.
Not all lifters are the same. People can vary to a substantial degree in terms of how they respond to the amount of fatigue that is produced within a set. Instead of assuming that a predetermined program that has worked for other lifters will work best for you, consider the use of systematic diagnostic training to determine what works best for yourself.
The diagnostic training describe in this article is just one form of diagnostic evaluation. There are many others, some of which will be discussed in upcoming articles. Best of training to you.