“No pain, no gain.” It’s a good philosophy as long as it works, but if you stick with it too long, it often turns into, “All pain and no gain.” I much prefer eight time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney’s philosophy, which is, “Stimulate, don’t annihilate.” Many lifters are obsessed with training with intensity instead of training with precision. Precision is focused on perfect form, perfect rep pace, and perfect stopping points. The perfect stopping point occurs when you can no longer do the same amount of perfect reps with the same amount of weight that you were using on your previous sets. Let me give you an example of how you can apply this concept.
Five Perfect Reps with 70% to 75%
You can begin a training cycle with approximately 70% to 75% of your single rep max for four or five basic exercises that cover your whole body. Simply do five reps per set for each exercise as long as you can maintain perfect form and a steady even rep pace for all five reps of every set. Rest two to three minutes between sets. If you reach a set where your form is compromised or your rep speed starts to slow down, stop doing that exercise and move on to a different muscle group if you plan to train other muscle groups. Do this two to three times per week for each muscle group and keep doing it for two to three weeks.
Four Perfect Reps with 75% to 80%
After doing two to three weeks with five reps using 70% to 75%, increase your poundages so that they range from 75% to 80% of your single rep max. Do four reps per set and keep repeating sets as long as you can maintain perfect form and a steady even rep pace for all four reps of every set. When you reach a set where your rep speed or lifting form are compromised, stop. Use these guidelines while working each muscle group two to three times per week for two to three weeks.
Three Perfect Reps with 80% to 85%
After doing four reps per set with 75% to 80% of your single rep max, increase your poundages so that they range from 80% to 85%. Do three reps per set and keep repeating sets as long as you can maintain perfect form and a steady even rep pace for all three reps of every set. When you reach a set where your rep speed or lifting form are compromised, stop. Do this two to three times per week for two weeks.
It is possible that you will feel limited to a small number of sets when you stop at the point where you can no longer lift with perfect form and perfect pace. If you feel undertrained when using this method, don’t increase the reps or sets as it is better to increase the number of times you train each muscle group each week. In other words, increase the training frequency until you reach the point where it feels like you are doing enough work to stimulate gradual strength gains.
When you finish the training cycle, start the cycle over again with five reps, but add 5 pounds to the poundages you used when you started the previous cycle.
High Intensity often leads to rapid short-term progress, but it also leads to training plateaus and sticking points. In contrast, precision leads to gradual long term progress and helps you to avoid training plateaus. Remember, the no pain no gain philosophy often leads to all pain and no gain. If you want to make long-term progress, strive to stimulate, but don’t annihilate. Best of training to you.