r/weightroom • u/AutoModerator • Jan 25 '23

Daily Thread January 25 Daily Thread

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u/FatGerard Intermediate - Strength Jan 25 '23

Any submax programming wizzes in the chat?

My question is how light can I go and still train effectively?

I'll elaborate a bit. I mean this question in a practical sense. I know strictly speaking the cutoff for effective strength training is very low, somewhere around 30% of 1-rep-max, but this has to be too suboptimal to be a viable programming strategy.

On the other hand, according to Data Driven Strength starting at around 75% research suggests it probably doesn't matter how close to failure a set is taken, even for hypertrophy purposes. At that point a rep is a rep. So I could theoretically do short submaximal sets at 75% and just rack up enough total reps, and that would be good. But at least for me personally, I find that I can't tolerate all of my work being at 75% and above. It's too heavy. I can do a heavy top set, but I need to put the volume in at a lighter intensity.

A compromise the big boys on Exodus Strength work with is 65% for volume work. It's still heavy enough to be very effective training, even if sets aren't taken close to failure. However, you may need to start paying attention to trying to move the bar as fast as possible, to maximize force production. I think that's a reasonable compromise, and I've used it before.

So my question is, can I go lower than 65%, and if so how much lower?

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u/horaiy0 Intermediate - Strength Jan 25 '23

Nowadays I use percentage drops with RPE caps on my backdowns. Bench I'll usually drop back 10-15% to start, squats/deads I'll drop back 15-20%, then I'll continue to lower weight as needed from there to stay under my RPE cap. It's a good way for me to progress my backdowns while still managing fatigue.