You are currently exploring the Fundamentals Library, which is designed to provide a basic overview of the topics that are covered in other longer articles. This article is a part of the Exercise Execution section.
Exercise Assessment
A very important aspect of performing the exercise is, broadly speaking, assessing it. We do that by gathering certain information from the exercise through some sort of feedback, which ideally can be measured and documented for the purpose of future execution.
One of the very important aspects of exercise assessment that is also deeply related to training programming is exercise tempo.
Exercise Phases
Exercise speed is a variable that exists only in dynamic exercises. In static exercises, of course, we don't move, so the only thing we can count is the time of the hold, which is the number of repetitions in dynamic exercises.
Dynamic exercises can be broken down into phases. These phases are actually the lowest level of training organization, preceding the repetition of the exercise.
Simply put, there are 4 phases of the exercise:
- Lifting Phase
- Top Hold
- Lowering Phase
- Bottom Hold
Of course, both the lifting and lowering phases could be further split to include intermediate holds. But this is the exception to the rule, and we don't usually see it in programming.
Once we have this, it is very easy to express the tempo of the exercise. We can simply use the system of 4 numbers, each of which expresses the number of seconds that the exercise contains.
Sometimes when we want to communicate that a certain phase should be done as quickly as possible, we put the letter "X" in that phase. This is usually done in the lifting phase. In the lowering phase, it could mean that we want to lower in a controlled manner, but as quickly as possible under control (for instance, to reduce fatigue that we carry to the following lifting phase).
Putting "0" in the top pause or bottom pause phases suggests a lack of pausing, which in the case of the bottom pause means a so called "touch and go" strategy.
MIV & SST
Whenever we perform the lifting phase of the exercise, we have two different strategies we can use. As mentioned earlier, we can type "X" in our code, which will symbolize lifting as fast as possible. This method is called maximum intended velocity - regardless of the load, we lift as fast as possible in one repetition (put all our effort into it).
On the other hand, when we don’t do this, we use what is called the Self-selected Velocity strategy - we deliberately slow down the rep, even though we could lift it faster.
Both of these strategies have interesting implications for strength and hypertrophy training. We won’t however go over them in this article.
Instant & Delayed Feedback
The way I like to divide exercise evaluation is that it is based on immediate and delayed feedback. Important immediate feedback strategies are those that help us quantify the exercise. In the context of exercise pace, we will typically count seconds.
Counting seconds only in your head is an obvious strategy that needs no further explanation. However, it is not very accurate and puts a certain amount of mental stress on us that may not be ideal, especially as the number of repetitions or the duration of the set increases.
The easy ways to take the responsibility off our brain in this task is to have a training partner or, if you can find one, some sort of application that can count reps and/or pace in real time based on movement (like a pedometer) or by recording.
The added challenge of counting seconds is that our perception of time becomes quite altered, to put it nicely, when we are doing static holds of difficult exercises. If we don't have a partner or application to help us, I would recommend a metronome that provides us with audio feedback.
Regardless of immediate feedback strategies, it's important to reflect on your performance after completing a set. This is why I always recommend documenting your training in two ways: first, writing down all the numbers, and second, recording your sets and then reviewing the footage.
Of course, counting seconds on footage after a set is completed will not change what happened in that set. However, it can help us self-correct for the next set if we see that a certain prescribed duration or cadence was unmet.
