Category: Strength training

The Less and More conundrum 

Confession time – I’m one of those people who keeps stuff. Not like a serious hoarder like you’d see on TV, but a collector of details. 

I can proudly claim to have a record of every s.i.n.g.l.e training session I’ve done with every client over the years, including group classes and workshops. I also have records of my own training going back to 1989 when I took up cycling firstly for touring then as a competitive cyclist. 

At first it just seemed like a good idea to see how progress is made with time per each training program but in reflection the historical details added value regarding the ‘how’ the progress was made. 

At times progress was made unexpectedly and wasn’t achieved when expected – ‘what the deuce’? 

Some common themes became identifiable: 

1. High Intensity (90%+) only works for the short term, like a booster button. But soon it wore off and continuing to hit that booster button lead to niggles and injuries. Short, infrequent use of high intensity seems valuable, like a 1 or 2 of sessions every 4th to 6th week. 
2. Repeatable efforts, repeated often lead to more ‘what the heck’ affects than any other effort. By repeatable or medium-high I am really describing an effort you could label as being in the:
   • Goldilocks zone.
   • Like an 80% effort or.
   • An effort where you always stop the set a few reps from really pushing it.
3. However, #2 is conditional on one big provision – consistency. Frequently training a focussed movement in hand with medium efforts leads to be best advancements. 

Regardless of whether the goal is maximal strength or endurance, frequent medium efforts with very infrequent bursts of high intensity delivers favourable results and to be honest, if you want to vastly reduce the likelihood of injury, leaving out the high intensity all together works just as well. Seriously!

Consistency transcends Intensity

Over the past few years I’ve used less and less high intensity work. Instead, I’ve favoured training 3-5 times a week where I follow one of two patterns. 

I either spend weeks just turning up, putting in some medium efforts, leaving the gym to return again the next time without strain or stress or injury or, I follow a 6 to 8 week program that gradually waves the number of reps I use upwards until on the final week or two I work somewhat harder, to achieve a new personal best or achieve a goal I had set. 

Overall though, the medium efforts used allow for another vital component of success, that of practice. By comparison, if you take a high intensity approach to training, near all of your focus is on pushing as hard as you can to achieve the set. Attention to form, correct breathing and safety is near zero! You are just too distracted by the effort to have any chance of remembering good form. 

By practicing at a sustainably comfortable effort, you can pay attention to what you are doing. 

Revisiting the ‘consistency transcends intensity’ idea, doing something well and often leads to progress via skill acquisition and good exposure to the target movements AND specific adaptations. Conversely, doing something sloppily every now and again leads to …. mmm, getting better at doing something sloppily. 

What sounds better – ‘100% of the time it works all the time’, or ’60% of the time it works some of the time’!

On this latter note, do consider that doing an exercise at high intensity does not allow for high frequency. If you again compare the high intensity model to medium intensity model, which will allow for more overall practice of doing something well over a year? 

I don’t think I need to answer that one.

So, rather than more is more or less is more, or minimalism is best, how about to clarify, more medium effort, less high intensity.

If you are one of those people who really enjoy the feeling of getting out of breath or pushing up a new weights personal best, how can it be done?

First off, I’d suggest you really question why you want to use high intensity? 

Is it because you think it will deliver results more quickly? 

Maybe you do actually enjoy the satisfaction of high effort? 

Perhaps you like to punish yourself for something, like eating, poor personal relationships or a crappy job? Perhaps you like showing off amongst your gym rat companions hehe! 

If it’s the latter you need a different outlay and help.

If it’s the former, you need to reread everything I’ve written above and the program idea below.

If it’s the second idea, well then, you need to look at your high efforts strategically and in keeping with a well structured program and a valid, realistic and attainable goal. 

Here’s a program for y’all. 

One of the simplest yet effective examples of working with medium efforts to achieve a new strength goal is outlined below (a Pressing program) and can be read about further in this post https://movestrong.studio/2015/08/19/consistency-trumps-intensity/  from a while back. It is one of my favourite easy-simple programs.

In habit coaching we often refer to working on your one thing, one thing at a time. This program does just that too. Each session increases in volume in a minimal dose, consistently over 3 sessions a week for up to 8 weeks. The volume just creeps up over the weeks without really affecting the perceived efforts. Your attention to technique grows steadily and you run next to negligible risk of injury. Starting a program healthy is a clear and obvious condition. 

There are many ways to play out this gradual or waving volume game in programs – this is just one. But it works with the model of consistent medium efforts over the long run. Dan Johns Easy Strength, Steve Justas singles program, Enter the Kettlebell – Rite of Passage are all examples of great medium effort programs that get you stronger. 

This program consists of 20 sets of Kettlebell Pressing. 

Over a 20 minute session, each set starts pretty much on the minute every minute. This is NOT obligatory of course. You’ll notice it’s written as 5 blocks of 4 sets, just for the purpose of writing the progressions. 

Rest between sets by shaking off tension to ready yourself for the next set whether it’s on the minute or not. Note: bigger guys with relatively bigger weights will need longer rests than the majority of people. 

Day 1: 1,1,1,1 x 5 rounds 20 total reps

Day 2: 1,1,1,2 x 5 rounds 25 total reps

Day 3: 1,1,2,2 x 5 rounds 30 total reps

Day 4: 1,1,1,2 x 5 rounds 25 total reps

Day 5: 1,1,2,2,x 5 rounds 30 total reps

Day 6: 1,2,2,2 x 5 rounds 35 total reps

Day 7: 1,1,2,2,x 5 rounds 30 total reps

Day 8: 1,2,2,2 x 5 rounds 35 total reps

Day 9: 2,2,2,2 x 5 rounds 40 total reps 

Do you see how the volume waves up and down? Three sessions progress in reps then, go back one step and continue. 

You continue until you achieve 20 sets of 4 reps, rest a few days then retest your max, 5 rep max or anything in between that you desire.

The total of 80 reps works fine for pressing however for squats for example, I’d work with 10 sets with the same rep scheme and more rest between sets (2-4 minutes). That does accumulate up to 40 reps but seems to work best for most people. 

This program works great also for Front Squats, Bench Press, Pull Ups or Rows. A similar concept can also be applied to many speed and endurance activities.

You could naturally conduct your own 10-15 years trial to see what works best or just use what I’ve found 😉 

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