At long last, here is the aforementioned video I promised.
You may have questions about this, and that is OK. It seems, at first, counter productive. But I and many others will assure you it is not.
Some things I did not cover, I will address now. If a given movement does not test well, you can test a variation. For example, yesterday I didn't get the desired test result for a deadlift. One handed deadlifts tested better, so I did them. Today, pull ups or chin ups did not test well, but staggered grip pull ups tested the best. You can vary an exercise a lot, and they are bound to test better or worse, depending on your own biomechanics.
If a given movement doesn't test well, do it's opposite. The other day I demonstrated this protocol to some people. Pressing overhead did not test well for them, but rows did. I then got asked if I was a "fucking wizard."
Follow the test. I haven't done normal squats for a while, because squats with my heels elevated have tested far better than any other variation.
You WILL get a PR every day. Write your shit down. You WILL get better at getting better.
Another note on logging progress: Write your start and stop times. Density is important. Charles Staley knows this. Measure your volume. These are where the PRs come in. Questions are welcome.
It sounds very interesting and I would like to know more. I have a question that I hope you can answer for me.
ReplyDeleteI understand that you test and determine whether an exercise is good or bad that particular day but I don't understand why the exercise is bad just because your hamstring flexibility goes down. Fact is that you are curling right - what does that have to do with the legs?
Ojo, a lot of the times--let us say I deadlift--a counter argument is that I 'warmed my hamstrings up via deadlifting.' The reality is that I can proceed exactly as I did and get to a certain weight and the test will fail, despite 'my hamstrings being warmed up.' For instance, the other day, I tested my deadlift weights, and when I got to 315, the test was worse than it was at 265. The overarching point is that we are not a collection of bodyparts, and that as a system, totally, each part affects the other.
ReplyDeleteIf I try to squat, and test it, a squat with an asymmetric stance might test better--it will be more advantageous to lift that way, as it were. I hope this helps, if not I will guide you somewhere better for help. Ultimately, fuck with it yourself and give it a chance.
but when you then decide to work on an exercise or movement do you then test a lot of different variations to see which one tests best that day?
ReplyDeleteSomething like that. Lately, as I mentioned, my squats with my heels elevated test the best. However, I want to train my powerlifting style squat. I test that first. It does test well, but I test a variant. The variant will test better, usually. Sometimes I will do another variant, and then the elevated heel squat lately has been the best.
ReplyDeleteThe other week, I did one handed deadlifts because they tested better than my normal DL.
I do the same for the BP. test Competition, Wide or Close (sometimes reverse grip) and pick the best. Hope this helps.
yeah thanks it does. I think I'm going to try this test-thing out in my own training and see if I can apply it.
ReplyDeleteThanks
There is absolutely no reason you cannot apply it.
ReplyDelete