Part 1

Recovering from workouts is one of the keys to gaining strength. If you merely recover in a measure that is equal to the demand of the workout, you will stay at the same strength level previous to the workout. If you recover to a greater extent than what is demanded by a workout, it means your body has overcompensated for the workout. Your body overcompensates in response to workouts in order to give you added strength to make the difficulty of the workout easier. Overcompensation is what we want. Equal compensation of recovery is not what we want.

Overcompensation happens easily when a person first starts out training for strength. As strength increases, the demand of the workout increases and it takes more recovery power to recover from the workout. Eventually, the body will find it difficult to create enough recovery power to overcompensate for a workout. This is when training must become very intentional in order to create the right conditions for overcompensation.

Using Precision Point Training is one way a person can coax their body to overcompensate for the training by setting up conditions where the body finds it advantageous to transition from a slightly negative training state, back into a positive training state. However, there is another training strategy that can be used that I refer to as programming for overcompensation. Others may not refer to it as programming for overcompensation, but the basic strategy has been around for a long time. I will be referring to programming for overcompensation in the context of using a higher training volume for a period of time followed by lower volume training for a period of time.

Higher volume training can be done by increasing the amount of sets, reps, and increasing training frequency. The higher training volume will produce a greater energy expenditure during a workout than a lower volume workout, and it will require a greater magnitude of recovery in order to replenish your energy as compared to a lower volume workouts.  In addition to this, if you do workouts more often, your body will expend energy more often, and it will require your body to recover and replenish your muscles with energy at a faster rate than working out less often.

By doing higher volume workouts and/or doing them more often, your body will be programmed to anticipate that it needs to replace the amount of energy that your workouts have demanded, and it will be programmed to anticipate that it needs to do this at the rate that your training frequency demands. At this point, your body’s recovery ability will be maximized.

Once you have programmed your body to replenish itself with enough energy to recover from high volume, high frequency workouts, you can reduce the training volume, and/or the training frequency. Even though you reduce your energy expenditure by switching to lower volume training and/or a lower training frequency, your body will still be programmed to recover and restore your energy in the amount that was needed for high volume, high frequency workouts. This will continue for a few days or even a couple of weeks after you have reduced your training volume. The result will be an over stock, or overcompensation of energy. This energy storage can be in the form of extra glycogen, ATP, and creatine phosphate stored in the muscles. In addition, the nervous system and any other system that restores your energy after a workout will tend to be enhanced from this process. The result of this overcompensation is that it makes gaining strength easier.

Caution When Programming for Overcompensation

As I said earlier, this technique isn’t new and has been around for a long time. However, if misused it can backfire, and it is often misused. One problem that people run into is that even though training volume must be increased, it is easy to increase it too much by doing too many sets, or by doing sets of more than 15 reps that will take a person too far into the lactate energy system. Doing too many sets and too many reps can cause the body to choose an endurance adaptation at the expense of a strength adaptation. People who are naturally anabolic and have great recovery may get away with this, but those who do not possess these physiological gifts won’t. This is why I recommend staying within the boundaries of Precision Point Training principles when using higher volume training followed by lower volume training for the purpose of programming for overcompensation. Specifically, this means don’t go over 15 reps per set, and stop doing sets when you reach your limit set.

Another problem can occur when a lifter spends an extended time frame of more than a week training with higher reps and lighter weight to the exclusion of low reps with heavier weights. In this case, the absence of heavier weights will make it easy to lose strength. At the other end of the spectrum, when a lifter spends more than a week just using heavy weights and low reps to the exclusion of lighter weights with higher reps, muscle mass can easily disappear. This isn’t a problem for everyone as there are some people who have fantastic retention and can train with light weights for a long time without losing strength, and can also train with heavy weights and low reps without ever losing muscle mass.  However, if you don’t have this ability, you risk losing strength or muscle mass by only focusing on one phase of training for a long time period. This means that I believe that high volume and low volume training cycles must either be brief instead of long, or if a long cycles are used, then high volume training needs to have some integration of heavy weights mixed into it, and that low volume training needs some integration of lighter weights for more reps mixed into it.

After reading this, it is my hope that you understand what programming for overcompensation is and how you can use it to your advantage. To summarize how programming for overcompensation works, remember the following principles:

1. Start with higher volume training to maximize your recovery ability. Higher volume training can be done by using lighter weights that permit up to 15 reps, or by increasing the training frequency (i.e. number of workouts per week). If you follow precision Point training principles, you won’t be fatigued from workouts and can recover quickly enough to do up to 5 or even 6 workouts per week.
2. Higher volume training should be followed by lower volume training where heavier weights and one to six reps are used, and/or training frequency is reduced to two or three workouts per week (or even one if you have fantastic retention).
3. Avoid going beyond the boundaries of Precision Point Training Principles by doing too many sets (going beyond your limit set) or by doing more than 15 reps in a set as either of these mistakes could lead to an endurance adaptation at the expense of a strength adaptation.
4. Avoid going for more than a week without including some heavy lifting during periods where high volume training with lighter weights with higher reps are being emphasized, and avoid going for more than a week without including some lighter training with higher reps when emphasizing low volume training with heavier weights and lower reps.
5. Never forget that workout state is what makes workouts work. This means stop doing a set when you reach your marker rep or limit rep, and stop doing sets when you reach your limit set.

In the next article, I will give examples of a series of workouts that can be used to program for overcompensation. Until then, the best of training to you.

Programming For Overcompensation Part 2: Example Routines

In a previous article, I discussed how you can program your body for overcompensation. It simply means that you use a period of higher volume of training to program your body to replenish itself more than the amount needed when you switch over to a lower volume of training. The result is temporary overstock, (i.e. overcompensation) of energy stored within the muscles. This overcompensation of energy will help you workout better and recover easier than if you had never programmed your body for overcompensation.

High volume training simply means to increase one or more variables more of the following variables which include: sets, reps, or training frequency. Precision Point Training is slightly different in that training would take you beyond the boundaries Precision Point Principles by doing more than your limit set, or going over 15 reps for a set are avoided. I feel it is better to stay within your limit set, and stay under 15 reps, while training frequency can be increased. Decreasing volume can be done by using heavier weight for lower reps and by decreasing training frequency.

So let’s look at some examples of how you program for overcompensation while using Precision Point Training:

In this first example, higher volume training is done during week 1 by using lighter weights for more reps, and four training days per week, which will speed up the metabolism so that it will be prepared to face a greater volume than what it will actually experience during the second week when the training volume and training frequency are  decreased.

Week 1 Higher Training Volume

Week 2: Decreased Training Volume

In this second example, there are three levels of training volume. The first week is the highest, the second week is a medium level, and the third week utilized a lower daily workout volume, but the workout frequency is increased. This example does not neatly fit into the overcompensation model as the training frequency increases during the third week, but you may be pleasantly surprised to see that it works if you try it assuming you aren’t pushing past your marker rep or limit rep.

Week 1: High Volume Training

Week 2: Medium Volume Training

Week 3: Low Volume Training

In this third example, training frequency is high the first two weeks in order to speed your metabolism and rate of recovery up to a faster rate. During the third week, both training volume and training frequency are cut back to allow for overcompensation.

Weeks 1 and 2: Higher Training Volume and Frequency

Week 3: Decreased Training Volume and Frequency

In this fourth example, overcompensation takes place within a single week training cycle. Training three days in a row with higher reps and lighter weights will speed up your metabolism and rate of recovery. The two days of rest must occur immediately after your metabolism and rate of recovery have been increased on order to create the conditions for overcompensation to occur. Once your body has stocked up on energy, it will be more than ready to handle the heavier weights on day 6.

One Week Cycle for Training for Overcompensation

All of these training routines are just examples. You can use them as they are if you would like to, or you can modify them according to training frequencies that you have found work best for you.  Best of training to you.