A few years ago this article was posted on t-nation.com http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/death_squat
I felt like attempting this and here is the video if the video doesn't play here is the link
Monday, January 9, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Pareto principle
5/3/1, Show and Go, Westside barbell, countless other programs share a similar trait emphasis on the first exercise or grouping of exercises. This emphasis isn't by coincidence and it isn't applicable solely to exercise.
The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule; the law of the vital few; and the principle of factor sparcity, states that roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. This rule of thumb comes from Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto after observing that 80% of the land in Italy in 1906 was owned by 20% of the people.
So what's the big deal? People are selfish assholes, always have been and always will be, right? I mean this fight is being fought right now by thoe occupy wall streeters. Besides, why should you care about what Italy was like in 1906?
Well, Pareto also observed that 20% of the peapods he had planted contained 80% of the peas he yielded. A similar study was done in 1992 by the United Nations which showed 82.7% of the worlds income belong to the richest 20%. Again, why does this matter?
Our job as trainers is to manipulate variables to produce a specific adaptation. That is how we get our clients to reach their goals. However, there is a flipside: Our job regarding program design also includes managing stress. To tie this in with Pareto's work, Drs. Vladimir Zatsiorsky and William Kramer found (I'm paraphrasing since I lent my book to a friend) up to 85% of our adaptations come from our first two working sets. Now how a working set is defined is a question I'm not ready to answer at this time - (I'm not smart enough.) But here is what I think a working set is, down to 90% of the day's max weight at the target reps.
Now lets circle back to us as trainers managing stress. I'm not going to lie - hiring a trainer can be expensive, so odds are most people with trainers work hard for the money, so hard for it honey. The lifestyle of many trainees is stressful - hell, life is stressful - so why would we want to add excessive stress to an already stressed person?
If we know that up to 85% of adaptations come from our first two working sets why are some trainers killing their clients on their 8th exercise set # 25 for the day? That's overkill especially if after the first few sets of the day you're only working on the last 15%. Probably uneducated trainers, or client is not being pushed hard enough in the first few sets. If there is such a minimal return on the energy invested, why risk potential injury - especially since the client is probably fatigued - by working as hard for the 15% as you would for the 85%? As Dan John would say, THE GOAL IS TO KEEP THE GOAL THE GOAL.
How do we do that: keep the goal the goal? First step would be to figure out a goal. From there figure out what it is I need to do to achieve that goal, and especially consider what can I get from the workout to get to that goal. What exercises do I need to be doing; what variables need to be manipulated to best achieve that goal. From there focus on improving those lifts through the chosen variables. Lets call this the Main Effort Lift(s) of the day.Tthis/these lifts (if supersetted) will be responsible for up to 85% of my adaptations. Kill this part of workout.
From there it's a battle against diminishing returns. The rest of the workout should focus on improving the main lift and correcting whatever the main lift messes up on your body ie. Horizontal push main effort days should be met with a lot of pulling motions so we don't get all upper crossed as well as some extra shoulder and tricep work (if the goal is to improve the bench). Then some specific corrective work: using the same example of benching: some rotator cuff work , core work, maybe some conditioning or vanity work if there is time.
The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule; the law of the vital few; and the principle of factor sparcity, states that roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. This rule of thumb comes from Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto after observing that 80% of the land in Italy in 1906 was owned by 20% of the people.
So what's the big deal? People are selfish assholes, always have been and always will be, right? I mean this fight is being fought right now by thoe occupy wall streeters. Besides, why should you care about what Italy was like in 1906?
Well, Pareto also observed that 20% of the peapods he had planted contained 80% of the peas he yielded. A similar study was done in 1992 by the United Nations which showed 82.7% of the worlds income belong to the richest 20%. Again, why does this matter?
Our job as trainers is to manipulate variables to produce a specific adaptation. That is how we get our clients to reach their goals. However, there is a flipside: Our job regarding program design also includes managing stress. To tie this in with Pareto's work, Drs. Vladimir Zatsiorsky and William Kramer found (I'm paraphrasing since I lent my book to a friend) up to 85% of our adaptations come from our first two working sets. Now how a working set is defined is a question I'm not ready to answer at this time - (I'm not smart enough.) But here is what I think a working set is, down to 90% of the day's max weight at the target reps.
Now lets circle back to us as trainers managing stress. I'm not going to lie - hiring a trainer can be expensive, so odds are most people with trainers work hard for the money, so hard for it honey. The lifestyle of many trainees is stressful - hell, life is stressful - so why would we want to add excessive stress to an already stressed person?
If we know that up to 85% of adaptations come from our first two working sets why are some trainers killing their clients on their 8th exercise set # 25 for the day? That's overkill especially if after the first few sets of the day you're only working on the last 15%. Probably uneducated trainers, or client is not being pushed hard enough in the first few sets. If there is such a minimal return on the energy invested, why risk potential injury - especially since the client is probably fatigued - by working as hard for the 15% as you would for the 85%? As Dan John would say, THE GOAL IS TO KEEP THE GOAL THE GOAL.
How do we do that: keep the goal the goal? First step would be to figure out a goal. From there figure out what it is I need to do to achieve that goal, and especially consider what can I get from the workout to get to that goal. What exercises do I need to be doing; what variables need to be manipulated to best achieve that goal. From there focus on improving those lifts through the chosen variables. Lets call this the Main Effort Lift(s) of the day.Tthis/these lifts (if supersetted) will be responsible for up to 85% of my adaptations. Kill this part of workout.
From there it's a battle against diminishing returns. The rest of the workout should focus on improving the main lift and correcting whatever the main lift messes up on your body ie. Horizontal push main effort days should be met with a lot of pulling motions so we don't get all upper crossed as well as some extra shoulder and tricep work (if the goal is to improve the bench). Then some specific corrective work: using the same example of benching: some rotator cuff work , core work, maybe some conditioning or vanity work if there is time.
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