since u have much experiece with analyzing and tracking ur training...how often were/are u seeing trends in ur training...like for example...after a few weeks u noticed strength increase....or strength decrease...or a certain movement wasnt doing u any good etc...and whats ur mindset when deciding what to do next(increase volume, freq,intensity,effort,movement)...im sure this is obviously individual and once i have more months and months of training it will become more obvious of what may or may not be working and what to do next, all from trial and error...but ya just wondering how often u see something going wrong or right in ur training where u have to make some changes...
I need to cycle most bench press exercises every 3-4 weeks. The lift stagnates and I don't get as much out of it. The only exercise that I'll keep longer is equipped benching which will last 4-6 weeks depending on where I am in the macrocycle or if I am peaking. Trial and error works best. What works for me, may not work for you and vice versa.
since u have much experiece with analyzing and tracking ur training...how often were/are u seeing trends in ur training...like for example...after a few weeks u noticed strength increase....or strength decrease...or a certain movement wasnt doing u any good etc...and whats ur mindset when deciding what to do next(increase volume, freq,intensity,effort,movement)...im sure this is obviously individual and once i have more months and months of training it will become more obvious of what may or may not be working and what to do next, all from trial and error...but ya just wondering how often u see something going wrong or right in ur training where u have to make some changes...
thanks for all u do for the sport! Colin
I'm posting this from work, which is why I can't log in (in case you were wondering).
It depends on which variables we're talking about and what becomes "normal" to you. It will take longer to see trends in volume if you rotate exercises. It will take longer to see trends in stress if you're constantly cycling it around. In general, it takes longer to see trends in the volume-per-intensity-zone metrics and possibly in Average Intensity. Sets usually generate patterns pretty easily and NL isn't far behind.
It also depends on what becomes "normal" for you. For me, I typically am able to move up my est.1RM 2-5 pounds per week in each movement I do. If it's outside of this zone, then this is a primary indication to look for something else that may be wrong.
My new website will have a training log on it that will aid with some of this kind of analysis (the est1RM stuff in particular). It will show you what "normal" is for you on each movement.
Also, if you utilize the TRAC tool (which will also be on my new website), there will be further information on what the problem may be, specifically whether or not you're overtraining/undertraining. Once you have that information, TRAC will even help you with what to do about it.
As for noticing positive/negative trends and deciding what to do about them... that's a hard thing to answer right off the top of my head. Hopefully at some point, I can come up with some training tools to help people learn this. But for now, I can give general guidance. You have to use all the information you have (training logs, physiological monitoring, subjective feelings, performance, and other indicatiors) to form an idea of how things are going. This means some indicators will carry more weight than others. Once you have that, you have to use your training knowledge to find out what to do next. It's similar to the way a mechanic fixes a car or a doctor treats a patient. First, you use the tools at your disposal (not excluding intuition) to diagnose the problem. Then you use a different set of tools to fix the problem. This means the more knowledge you have to pull from, the more precisely you'll be able to fix the problems. You have to have the knowledge to properly diagnose the problem and you have to know which tools address that issue.
Another example, after the Arnold, I saw that I can make myself stronger, but it hasn't mattered because I have had trouble showing it at meets. Why? Because my training technique has not been good enough, which causes me to struggle at meets. That is the problem. So now how to fix it? It's USUALLY not good enough to say, "well, don't do that anymore." I had done that before and it didn't work. So I used other tools that I had at my disposal (video, changing exercises, looser gear) and it helped, but didn't fix it. So I developed and used some different tools (setup changes, mental ques for execution) and that seemed to take care of the problem.
Regarding trial and error.... First of all, I hate that term. I hate it because I think it paints an inaccurate picture. In the example I just gave, I suppose there is some trial and error because I had to "try" some tools to see if they worked or not and occasionally I was in "error". But "trial and error" sounds as if you just haphazardly try stuff, which is not true. You use your knowledge (of training, of physiology, of programming, etc) to make as good of an assessment as possible. Then you use the same knowledge to best apply the corrective tools you have to fix the problem. If it doesn't work, yes, try again. But if you make the proper assessment in enough detail and then precisely apply the right corrective tool, then your "error" will be greatly reduced. This is why continued learning about the training process is important. It makes the whole thing more efficient.
